"THAT's who'd suddenly turn against the idea, and join a coordinated effort among a whole bunch of wealthy interests: Insurance, Pharma, Hospitals, etc."

That would be me. I might be the only person here who has been subject to a government-operated healthcare system.

I don't remember it being that bad before COVID, but from spring of 2020 until I retired in August of 2023, the US military healthcare service was almost useless. Appointments for non-flyers were non-existent. You would just go to the ER at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Even for me as a flyer, appointments had to be made weeks in advance.

Then I retired, getting a private plan through Cigna Global. On the Tuesday after I retired, I called the general provider I had chosen. They asked if I could come in Thursday. I started laughing because it seemed so crazy.

I'm not against a government plan for those who want it, any more than I am against people who want to fly Spirit Air because it is cheap. But don't expect First Class service unless you're willing to pay first class prices. And that seems to be a big rub. That the quality and timeliness of the person buying the first-class ticket should be the same as that of the person buying the Spirit Air ticket.

BTW, Europe is chock full of different healthcare policies. It's not like the US has to start from scratch.