It seems to be working rather well in a large number of other first-world countries (I'm speaking from experience - I'm British, and my wife is half-French and grew up in France. Now we live in the US where we enjoy just about everything except for the healthcare system).
"single-payer gives consumers no incentive to consume less"
Having been fortunate enough to live in a country with a single-payer system, I never saw the kind of over-consumption you're hinting at.