While the physician salaries in the U.S. are indeed much higher than in Germany, I believe the time to become a fully accredited doctor is roughly the same.

In the U.S. it's 8 years of school plus a 3- to 7-year residency program, versus 6.5 years of school plus a 5- to 6-year residency program in Germany.

But their admission letters all say they want to be a doctor "to help people."

I think you've hit on why it's also so hard to change the system in the US. Quite a number of people do have this great care. They work (or are trapped working) for big companies or the gov. who subsidize their health insurance. They simply don't understand when people say the US has all these issues because for them there are no issues.

This is just another example of the US being a place where the gap between the haves and have nots is extremely large.

Plenty of European countries offer the same if not better technology, health service, and professionalism. I had 3 surgeries in the US, 2 were so and so, 1 was "botched" in one of the most prestigious hospitals in the US (Stanford). Treated of course like no more than someone whose insurance is paying, not a follow up beyond what is required by law. I would much prefer to have my next (hopefully in a distant future) surgery in my native European country. And at least they tend to see you as a human and not a cash cow.