"I can't, in all honesty, explain to the British people why they should spend their money on two layers of bureaucracy," Starmer said in a speech in the northern English city of Hull. He said the change would mean money for more staff and lower waiting times.
The British government runs the health service in England through its health ministry, the department of health and social care. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland look after their own health systems.
NHS England was established in 2012 by a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government as a separate "arms-length" body to helps decide spending priorities, oversee the service in England and negotiate contracts.
Health minister Wes Streeting said in on Thursday it had resulted in duplication and too much focus on compliance rather than value for money.
Reform would be "difficult" but would deliver savings of hundreds of millions of pounds a year, he said.