The shadow never seems to fade away

Often when I go to Kaiser, when they ask for my medical record number they mention that it has to be one of the lowest, in other words, earliest numbers they've seen. And, it is, my parents joined when they moved here from Chicago. I was two; and I have somehow managed to stay with the organization since then.
Then there are the people, mostly ones that I work with, that as soon as you mention Kaiser they start on a litany of how they'd never be part of that plan; "you don't get to choose your doctor", "it's socialist and really bad."
I don't argue any more, why bother? Am I going to convince people of something they're reconciled to believe? Probably not, so I just sit with my patronizing smug self and know better.
There are few things more fucked up in this world than people without access to, I won't even say health care, I'll just say medical assistance. Because, that's what it is. It's not a concept or an idea, nor a theoretical paradigm. It's a given.