Base

History

The reason the US doesn't have nationalized healthcare:

1. Wage freezes during WW2, allowed businesses to add healthcare as a non-cash comp increase

2. Truman tried to nationalize the healthcare system after the war, labor unions and doctors (AMA) did not want it. So lobbied the Democratic admin / Congress to nix it.

3. Healthcare tied to work became further entrenched, led to the rise of a massive healthcare insurance industry

4. When Obama had supermajority in Congress (filibuster proof!), Democrats let insurance companies and AMA weaken the law. There was nothing Republicans could do to stop the law from being passed. Just special interests.

5. Further, Republican Congress under Trump did not repeal Obamacare despite claiming to want to (because many Republican congresspeople are from high healthcare use districts). And conservative majority Supreme Court upheld the law!

https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/7871.pdf