Pretty much, any politician against meaningful health care reform is quick to point out the "horrors of socialized medicine." The only health advantage we garner here is general satisfaction with, you guessed it, paid-for, elective services. That satisfaction is quickly and rightfully eaten up with the gross dissatisfaction regarding preventative treatments, costs for services, procedure inflation, etc., etc.
I'm always quick to discuss with people how being from a working-poor family, we were so damn reluctant to see a doctor for anything. I only got medical treatment for rather predictable childhood ailments -- tonsilitis and such -- and after my dad dropped me from the insurance (because my parents split up), my mom couldn't afford the payments (let alone the time off work) if any of us were sick. If NyQuil and Vicks couldn't treat it, that was the best we could do.
All things considered, I'm in decent health, but I'm far from good health. And, unfortunately, health care costs being what they are and how little my health insurance actually helps me out, I'm still in a bind. I can only afford to grin and bear my way through sickness, and I think a lot of working-poor know what that feels like.
