For the vast majority of Americans, their only interactions with the federal government are through social security and through medicare--two of the most widely popular functions of government. Government has plenty of failures, but that's the nature of enterprise writ large.
This is largely true.
Notice how easily our government, "with the stroke of a pen", can fully fund state-sanctioned violence and institutions of violence.
And we the people have no problem with this; some of us even cheer it on; some encourage their sons and daughters to join up to these institutions of violence. Others shake the hands of those who already are a part of it, and say "thank you for your service" - in almost reverent fashion.
I'm not saying we don't need these people or those institutions - they do serve a needed purpose - but let's not pretend that need is anything but ultimately for terrible violence.
Yet - we and our government somehow has a problem fully funding things like healthcare, education, infrastructure, and a whole host of other programs, which again could be easily done, "with the stroke of a pen". But we'll hem and haw on that all day long...
...our teachers will never be thanked "for their service" in reverent fashion.
Unless of course they were veterans of those institutions of violence.
It's easy to say "it's too hard, and the government will futz it up," but "the free market" produces predatory companies pursuing profit.
The current healthcare environment is not a free market, government is involved heavily at every level. Which is the main reason it sucks.
How do you explain all of the successful socialized medicine in other countries, if government involvement = healthcare sucks?