

“paternalism”
I’m a father myself and if my kid was out on the street, you can bet your ass I would be too, because as long as I have a roof, so do they.
How did paternalism come to mean patronizing those who are less capable and treating them like subhuman chattel, instead of treating them like someone we love in our care?

You can just remove the word mental there.
It must be said that the USA DOES NOT have a healthcare system, as that implies some kind of structure, regulation, standards, etc.
The USA has a complex overlapping patchwork of insurers, whos goal is to maximize profits.
What we call patients in the civilized world are just paycheques in America. The only system that exists is one to squeeze every drop of blood from the stone, and when the stone is utterly broken, squeeze their insurance for more.
That is a system, but it is not healthcare