One of the biggest obstacles to creating a universal health care program in the United States that's frequently cited is the sheer size of the population. It's also difficult to create a system that accommodates both major metropolitan areas and isolated rural communities.

However, there's one country that can act as a model for a health care system that covers everyone while covering a lot of real estate – Australia, which offers its Medicare national public health insurance to all Australian citizens and even visitors from countries with reciprocal health care arrangements.

Australian Medicare is not restricted to citizens of a certain age; it's available to all nationals and permanent residents. The program covers most medical services and prescription pharmaceuticals as well as some optometry services, and citizens obtain private insurance for dental and other specialized healthcare services. About half of Australia's population has contracted for additional coverage through private insurance, which gives them access to private hospitals as well as coverage for specialty and sometimes dental care.