Republicans have been blowing the "socialized medicine" dogwhistle since Medicare and especially, Medicaid came on the scene. Leaving aside that only the funding of medicine has been somewhat socialized, while the delivery of services and the services themselves have not, so what? One way or another those who get medical services have to pay, and without subsidy, the relatively poor and even the upper middle classes will either go without or go broke when the body falls apart, as it inevitably does.

Bypassing private insurers would save money. So would regulation of medical "best practices" and pricing of procedures and pharmaceuticals. So would the idea of salaried doctors, especially in underserved areas of our huge nation. So would expansion of medical training and licensure.