I agree, it would be nice if the government could help alleviate things such as basic welfare and health care benefits. Unfortunately for the USA, we are in such a massive amount of debt that it would be impossible* for the government to do such a thing. And between health care and the military spending, we're pretty much diving deeper and deeper.
* We could do it, but I doubt that any legislators would go for such a thing.
I think you would find that if the Govt. took over healthcare in the US it would probably save the country as a whole money. The US pays more for healthcare per capita than any other OECD nation, and still doesn't manage to cover all its citizens. A minor increase in the corporate tax rate would mean that the state could cover the cost of health cover and then companies wouldn't need to pay stupid money to cover their employees. An all round win-win.
* We could do it, but I doubt that any legislators would go for such a thing.