I don't know where the editor is getting his "facts" or how they effectively argue against a single-payer system of healthcare. (Source, please.) People do indeed make unhealthy choices. Are you suggesting that such people not be provided health care if they can't afford it? Who will make that determination? Talk about "death panels."
The whining about socialism is tedious. Over 50 percent of our health care is already paid by the government, yet we spend far more money on health care than other countries. Who cares if a single-payer system is called socialism? (It isn't under the actual definition of socialism.) That's just scare tactics.
What about being taxed to maintain roads, fire departments, police forces, veteran health care, research in medicine, etc etc etc? Is this socialism too?