Because it didn't used to be like this. Healthcare in the US was 5 times cheaper in 1970. The cost has been ballooning up since then and no one can explain why

Because it didn't used to be like this. Healthcare in the US was 5 times cheaper in 1970. The cost has been ballooning up since then and no one can explain why or how to stop it. We don't necessarily need socialized medicine. If we just went back to the way things were done in 1970 everything would be solved. The money the government currently spends on healthcare subsidies could buy free healthcare for everyone at 1970 prices. Life expectancy was a bit shorter in 1970, but not by that much. And most of the increase is due to other factors than healthcare (e.g. the smoking rate has dropped a lot, cars are much safer, air pollution is reduced, etc.) And there have been studies done that show increased spending on health care doesn't really correlate with increased life expectancy.