Maybe. But we do have a small percentage of people who are born with serious problems. How do we deal with that? Or a 40 year old who has a major stroke? We just can’t let them whither. Families can’t possibly take care of them financially. We have to have a little compassion. After all, we’re supposedly the party of life.
Medicare and Medicaid were started in 1965 and SS in 1935. There were a 127 million people in the US in 1935, and 197 million in 1965. Americans did ok with out them before they became law.