If you like this question, perhaps you should consider voting for "Medicare For All" which indicates that  91.8%, or 41,517 votes in the last "Open for Questions" site favored a single payer system in just the first 30 questions on the subject.

No. A very bad idea.  If you think that Universal Healthcare is a good idea, I suggest you tour a VA (Veterans Administration) Hospital a few times and talk to the vets there about the "quality" (or lack thereof) of the healthcare received.  I'm a vet....government healthcare is horrible!!!!!

The VA is a poor example because it does not act like a universal health care system would work, there is a finite amount of money involved which is not affected primarily by the number of patients cared for.  While a universal health care system may not be feasible at this time, a competing government run system may work. In private insurance much of the money generated by charging premiums is consumed for administrative purposes rather than being utilized to cover costs paid out for medical care.  Since a government run system would be non-profit by nature egregious CEO and many non-medical paychecks would be avoided allowing the system to charge lower premiums and supply better health care coverage to a greater amount of people. In the current market private insurance agencies would not be able to compete since they would be unable to eliminate the positions which cost the company the most capital per position (such as the executives and others which are said to "reap the benefits"). Current insurance companies are able to act the way they do because that is the way their business works they ALL pay their bosses too much money for too little work. Competitive government run insurance under fair leadership would effectively bring the private insurance companies back to a market driven industry.

 The insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies are so incredibly powerful  that we may well be wasting our breath.
The citizenry are being milked like cows and once one has gone dry it's a short trip on the end of an electric prod. The government does not serve us.
Many people are opposed to a taxpayer sponsored system, but what they don't realize is that we are already paying for so much. From research paid for by "the people" and used to make money for drug companies to the monies we are handing to the auto industry (how big a part was their huge healthcare tab in their downfall?).
Every citizen (well, every human really, but let's not get ahead of ourselves) should have a right to "free" healthcare. Let's grow up and do what other first world nations do for their citizens (and in some cases visitors). Not only will it alleviate human suffering, but we are already paying for it (don't be fooled when they tell you that we're not!).
But, as I said, we're wasting our breath. The only change our new administration is passionate enough about to actually make the change is the abolition of the Second Amendment. (That's right folks, you've just met a "gun nut"  who believes we need universal, single payer health care for all. My other crazy idea is that each person has the inalienable right be able to defend their persons, families and homes).  I mean, why do cattle need guns anyway?

IS CHANGE.GOV A DECEPTION?

Why has Obama been ignoring the demand of his supporters for a single payer health care system?  Does he have political debts to the insurance companies, HMOs, and pharmaceutical corporations? Government officials don’t worry about “affordable” health care, they get it for free.  We should take health insurance off the backs of employers and have a generalized Medicare system for all citizens and resident aliens.  Are we who participate in this exercise being had?