Healthcare in the US has little that is really socialized, at least for the middle class. The ACA had NO public option, despite efforts to include it. So unle

Healthcare in the US has little that is really socialized, at least for the middle class. The ACA had NO public option, despite efforts to include it. So unless you're poor (Medicaid) or elderly (Medicare), you have no hope of anything "socialized". Healthcare in the US is a racket -- pure and simple. It puts our health into the hands of middlemen, the insurance companies. And the funny thing is, they don't insure a damn thing. They make you pay thousands of dollars, typically, before even attempting to do their part, and even then, they will charge for preventive visits and other things that are supposed to be 100% covered irrespective of deductibles/etc. They rely on the bureaucracy of the system to force people into the path of least resistance which is to pay the bill. The simple fact is insurance providers, hospitals, and now doctors, do not care at all about patients. They care only about money. Until we, as a people, take back control, nothing will change. I would ask doctors, what happened to "do no harm"? Financial harm is harm. And I agree with you. It either MUST be fully capitalistic (get rid of the state boundary crap, make it easier to get affordable individual insurance, etc) or it MUST be fully socialized (single payer). There is no in between that will ever work for patients. And I'm skeptical of the fully capitalistic approach simply because it can still become a racket with price-fixing. As an aside, part of the problem lands solely on the doctors. Far too often they roll people through like it's an assembly line. Far too often they don't even listen to the patients, especially women, and just think people are hypochondriacs. Far too often they prescribe needless medicine to treat symptoms and never try to find root cause and treat _just_ that. Of course, we have no choice but to "trust" doctors when the time comes, and that's what they and pharma banks on. The family doctor truly is a relic of the past. EDIT> Bring on the downvotes, it's always a pleasure, Internet.