People seem to think they can just break the loop by dumping insurance companies because hospitals have done a very good job of painting themselves as the victims.

If we try that, I'd expect medical expenses keep going up and confused_pikachu.gif until people figured out that hospitals were never on their side. If this takes long enough, "bring back insurance companies" will be the solution, and then it won't work, and then we're back in an infinite loop with a longer cycle.

Hospitals need countervailing price pressure, and anyone who doesn't accept that is liable to vote for catastrophically bad policy.