Shootinstudent, please show me an example of anything the government does more efficiently than private business. At this point I'm 100% certain that if I ran a lemonade stand, you'd say it sours you on free market principles.
If any mutual fund operated the way Social Security does, the board of directors would be in jail. Ditto for any insurance company that was run like Medicare.
There are three major reasons why health costs are higher than in years past. One is the biggie: advancements in technology, which are costly but incredibly more efficient. The second is Medicare. Doctors and hospitals treating Medicare patients are losing money on the deal, and so transfer the lost money to those with insurance. The third is the number of people who don't have insurance who are treated, and the costs for the free services are passed on to those with insurance.
If doctors and hospitals could bill Medicare at full rate, your health care costs would go down. Your taxes would go up astronomically, but your health care costs would go down.