This comment doesn't track for me. I'm not an expert, but I don't think you're using the term elective like a Doctor would - I believe they refer to that for su

This comment doesn't track for me. I'm not an expert, but I don't think you're using the term elective like a Doctor would - I believe they refer to that for surgeries that aren't really emergent and can be done as desired, like joint replacements, for instance. And I don't think private insurance has ever covered purely cosmetic surgeries. I assume there is also some cosmetic surgery that is medically advisable for quality of life even if it's not strictly necessary that might be covered in private or public systems. I'm also pretty sure that medical debt is dis-chargeable; it's student debt that is essentially permanent in the US. I can agree that profit motives for healthcare are probably inherently problematic.