Data is Beautiful

But in this graph it's correct, isn't it?

A bit of a strange choice of axis, but technically it's correct, I think.
We see how during COVID people died earlier although expenses went up (didn't check the dates, but I guess that's the thing?), and afterwards expenses went down, but people grow older again
Or do I completely misunderstand this?

I don't think they're cringing, this is perfectly correct.

I was asking rhetorically since the graph makes it pretty obvious, but actually re-reading this article it's a bit more complex than I recalled. There was basically some legislation in the mid 1970s that made them possible, the model grew through the 80s, but by the late 80s low-rent HMOs had taken over, and a crippling combo of regulation (to create new barriers to entry) and deregulation (for the existing guys) basically cemented the for-profit HMO/PPO providers that we all know and love (haha) by the 1990s. Had we held out for another decade we probably would have seen socialized medicine by the Clinton-era, but instead we got this graph, where we pay more and get less than everyone else, and half the country thinks it's a great idea.