It really wasn't "alright 15 years ago"!!Getting rid of the root of the problem is an actual real course of action. Remember, it was alright 15 years ago. We aren't living in a totally different world to then. But we do have a much more cruel government who prioritises syphoning off money to their mates whilst telling everyone there is none for things like healthcare.
It was inefficient, poorly run, dysfunctional, **** systems, etc etc.
Issues during the last 15 years have simply exacerbated the problems (issues including population explosion (and that's not hyper-bole), aging population, continuing decline in healthy life styles for too many, covid, etc etc.)