The issue has never been whether private healthcare providers should be allowed to exist. The question is whether a good publicly-funded alternative should be

The issue has never been whether private healthcare providers should be allowed to exist. The question is whether a good publicly-funded alternative should be available, to allow everyone treatment for the vast majority of conditions and illnesses that are lethal or significantly affect quality of life. Most countries that have the latter, also turn out to have much cheaper healthcare overall. This system doesn't solve or treat every problem, and the US system manages to provide better quality of care in some cases, but there's a serious morality issue here that it does fix. Along with many pragmatic socioeconomic benefits (e.g. healthcare for retirees, early-stage and failing entrepeneurs)