In the fall of 2019, a poll published by Gallup awarded America’s health care sector the ignoble distinction of being among the most hated industries in the country. With a net approval rating of -10, only the federal government and Big Pharma (itself a health care–related enterprise) elicited greater hostility. Even the likes of oil companies, advertising agencies, and lawyers registered as more popular.

You’d never have known it listening to many of America’s leading liberal politicians discuss health care in the various Democratic primary debates held that year: each one dominated by misleading talking points seeded by industry propagandists to stave off the mortal threat of socialized medicine (and punctuated, for good measure, by a barrage of ads from insurance companies during each and every break). The casual viewer could have been forgiven, in fact, for coming away with the impression that millions of Americans harbor deep affection for multibillion-dollar private providers — an affection matched only by their quivering fear that the evil federal government might step in and replace their plan with a public alternative.

This has never really been the case, of course, as illustrated in numerous polls showing majority support for a health care system that’s both universal and public. The Democratic debates were skewed not because people actually love their privately purchased or employer-provided insurance but because the multibillion-dollar health care industry has leveraged its bottomless war chest to buy off a sizable chunk of the political class and protect its profits in the process. By way of pushback, Medicare for All advocates often pointed (and still do point) to the popularity of public health insurance programs abroad — a tactic that makes perfect sense considering the ironclad approval ratings they enjoy in places like Canada and the UK.