What socialized medicine is — and what it isn’t.
Ronald Reagan spoke out against the evils of socialized medicine as part of an American Medical Association campaign against Medicare in 1961.
Does President Barack Obama support “socialized medicine?”
That’s the mantra of some conservative commentators. Rush Limbaugh has mouthed it. So have a writer from the Cato Institute and several congressional Republicans.
Mr. Obama brought it up himself recently during a speech to the American Medical Association in Chicago. He said some critics say his proposed health care reforms were “an attempt to, yes, socialize medicine.”
Those who think that understand neither socialism nor medicine. No one at the White House or in Congress has suggested anything remotely like socialized medicine.
The second-favorite criticism of Mr. Obama’s proposal is that it calls for a “Canadian-style health system.” That, too, is wrong.
“Socialized medicine” describes a system in which the government owns hospitals and clinics; employs doctors and nurses; and pays for everyone’s care.
That’s a pretty good description of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. It also accurately describes the U.S. military and Veterans Affairs medical systems. But not Canada’s.
Primary-care doctors north of the border are mostly private practitioners, just like in America. Specialists are usually employed directly by hospitals. Most hospitals are what we’d call non-profit corporations.
Canadians don’t even have single national health plan. They get care through one of 13 different plans run mostly by the provinces, not the federal government.
The Canadian system isn’t perfect; it’s faced serious funding problems in recent years. But the quality of care it provides is often equal to that in American hospitals, and its health outcomes are better.
Canada has a lower infant mortality rate and higher average life expectancy than the United States. It also has 6 percent more hospital beds per person than we do. Yet the Canadian system costs about half as much per person as ours.
One description that accurately applies to the Canadian system is “single payer,” because governments pay for most health care.
Some people have tried to turn that phrase into an epithet like “socialized medicine.”
But more than 40 million Americans already have a single-payer system: Medicare. Surveys show those enrolled in Medicare are happier with their insurance than younger adults with private health policies.
Some right-wing commentators, trapped by their misuse of the term, have tried to broaden the definition of socialized medicine to include any system that “socializes” health costs, meaning extending individual costs to the country at large.
That means the current U.S. system already is socialized because we all pay — directly or indirectly — for everyone else’s care. The “free” care that hospitals (most of which don’t pay taxes) provide to indigent patients soon causes others’ insurance rates to rise.
In a way, private health insurance is “socialized medicine.” After all, insurance companies pool premiums paid by everyone to cover medical costs incurred by a few sick members.
The United States is the only developed country that doesn’t have some form of national health insurance. But that doesn’t mean other countries have socialized or Canadian-style systems.
In Switzerland, everyone is covered by private health insurance. In France, most people get coverage through their jobs. Germans are covered by a compulsory state insurance program jointly funded by workers and employers. Some Japanese get health insurance through their jobs, the rest from a national plan.
Each nation pays for and provides health care a little differently, because each nation’s system evolved differently. That means models from Australia, the Netherlands or anywhere else in the world probably wouldn’t work well here.
Which gives them something in common with the American health system: It doesn’t work very well here, either.
Most of this is basically a lie. It’s not what the Obamanation is telling us that scares me, it’t what they aren’t telling us, but will happen in the future. Socialism in this country is not going to happen with the stroke of a pen. No, it is the trickle theory. The gov will offer a gov plan to “compete” with private. First, the unions will opt out and people will be forced to go into a gov. plan. When private rates go to high for the few people still left on them, companies will quit offering it and all those people will eventually be forced into the gov. plan. The few not participating will of course be the very wealthy who will of course end of with the best healthcare.
The only option to pay for this is to change hospitals to for profit and all bills will be paid by the government and not the hospitals, but this has not yet been mentioned as no politician will stick their neck out.
You are so lying about Canada it isn’t even funny. Shame on you!
Where oh where does the “editorial staff” propose we get the $1.6 TRILLION to pay for “non socialized” healthcare?
When will we see the “editorial staff” lay out the other side of Obamacare argument? I bet it will be soon after they endorse someone other than the democrat for President (something that hasnt happened for over 50 years).
Kinda’ laughable how the local Obama 527 organization coordinates their health care editorials to coincide with Obama’s press shop push.
And if President Obama says we’re going to single-payer government directed plan, who is JGC to tell us otherwise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ-6ebku3_E&feature=
From JGC’s Canada.pdf link:
- Serious issues plague the Canadian health care system
- Health costs total more than 40% of provincial government budgets
- Their Atlantic provinces’ premiers recently stated their belief that the
country’s health system could collapse without more federal funding
- Canadians express serious disillusionment with their health care system
- 66% responded they had to wait longer than reasonable for medical service
- concerns about waiting for specialists, emergency room treatment, diagnostic tests such as MRIs
- resources are scarce; only 2.1 doctors per 1000 persons - listed as “25% lower than the average in other leading industrial countries”
Sad. It didn’t used to be that way in Canada.
“Ontario sent more than 160 patients to New York and Michigan for emergency neurosurgery … “broken necks, burst aneurysms and other types of bleeding in or around the brain.”“
Makes you wonder…
“Why are [we] rushing into a system of government-dominated health care when the very countries that have experienced it for so long are backing away?”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124451570546396929.html
Thank you P-D for finally laying this out. Despite what another misinformed poster claims, this is dead-on. As for conservatives branding every compassionate health care system as `socialism,’ this goes back to what I’ve argued for years: that most conservatives are mentally lazy. It’s much easier to engage in black-and-white thinking — or paint with a wide-brush — than to plumb the shades of gray that make up most issues. For the most part, conservatism is mental welfare at its finest. It’s fat thinking passed down from generation to generation to generation to protect the status quo.
Oh, I forgot to write that I love the graphic of Reagan, particularly the point about him `speaking out’ against socialized medicine. Funny he couldn’t speak out against McCarthy while the senator was ruining people’s careers and livelihoods. Rather, as Screen Actors Guild president, Reagan ducked under the kitchen table with his tail between his legs to protect his own acting career. And conservatives still claim Reagan to be a brave man. Either they’re wearing blinders or they’re clueless.
Actually, we are already paying for Single Payer Universal Health Insurance - we just aren’t getting it.
See this study by the OECD (top graph of page 13): http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2009doc.nsf/LinkTo/NT00000B6A/%24FILE/JT03259332.PDF
The United States Government already pays out more money for health care, per person, than any country in the world, except, Norway.
That means, in theory, that if we had France’s system (consistently argued as the best in the world) we could all get a TAX cut.
So the Government already collects enough taxes and has been doling out enough money. The government could flip a switch tomorrow and you’d have, basically, free (because you are already paying for it) health insurance for life.
That means, “Public Option” shouldn’t be the Obama compromise. Instead, “Private Option” should be the compromise.
Since we are already paying for it, the government should just flip the switch and insure everybody. But - if you want to keep your private health insurance as well, you would be able to, though, it would be redundant coverage.
The rest of us who don’t want the “Private Option” could roll into work on Monday morning, ask the HR department to monetize the insurance benefit and roll it into our pay check. The resulting increase in purchasing power would create so much aggregate demand that we could walk out of our current “Great Recession” tomorrow. As an added benefit many of our industries would be suddenly competitive and jobs would then be added to the economy.
Under the current system, 18,000 of our fellow Americans will needlessly die this year because they didn’t have health insurance - even though, as tax payers, they were already paying for it. That’s 6 times the amount of people killed on 9/11 or when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
All insurance is a form of socialism: I pay my car insurance, you have an accident, my money goes to fix your car - from each that has, to each that needs.
Last fall when 3000 of some of our richest fellow citizens stood to lose money, our government cooked up a $700 billion welfare plan for them in three days time. When it looked like some of that money was going to benefit main street by way of the auto companies, they made those companies crawl on their hands and knees. These are the companies that helped win World War II by actually making something. It took 3 months, a change of administration, much wailing and gnashing of teeth to just barely pass something for the other 320 million of us.
Our health care system is killing our economy, our industry and letting our own fellow citizens die. The government is already paying out enough money to give us all excellent health care - but it doesn’t. As many as 75% of the nation agrees we need profound health care reform that includes a ‘public’ option. When such bad policy is held up for the sake of 3000 billionaires and near billionaires at the expense of the entire nation and all of us, and don’t forget you pay a premium on top of your taxes for the privelege of helping the billionaires and near billionaires, it’s obvious that this is no longer a democracy, if it ever was. It’s just a plantation. And guess what? You aren’t a plantation owner.
………Bob, it seems to me that you are lacking in compassion for the manicured-fingernail private jet set and their army of Washington DC lobbyists who run our current health-care system. Don’t you realize that their golden empire is being threatened?
So the left-wingers at the Post-Dispatch say it isn’t “socialized medicine.” This editorial won’t settle the issue for anyone, it’s just another poke in the eye to the few conservative readers they have left. And I’ll bet they don’t even know how silly it looks for them to say it. These are the people who, in the Illinois gubernatorial race, chose a crook over a Republican - and still haven’t apologized for the misjudgment born of their bias, even though their man has been impeached and indicted.
As far as the point being made by this editorial, you folks are wrong again. What most people consider “socialized medicine” doesn’t require that the government employ all medical practitioners and own all medical facilities. Most would consider it “socialized medicine” if the government was the single provider of payments for healthcare services, and unilaterally set the rates and controls access. That you don’t consider that “socialized medicine” is a reflection not of misunderstanding on the part of conservatives and libertarians, but rather an effort on your part to obfuscate the intent of the most bold economic transformation effort in my lifetime.
You are right, it isn’t socialized healthcare. It is fascist healthcare. Private onwership controlled by the government. Let’s look north of the border, a place I have great experience running healthcare companies. OHIP, the Ontario program limits how much a doctor can earn a year. I am unsure of the limit today, but about ten years ago the limit for an eye doctor was $125k, I’m sure it is more now. That’s it. After that, they work for free, OR, they just don’t work, which, of course is what they do. Most can earn that much by March and take the rest of the year off, at least they did until they were able to do elective LASIK surgery which was outside the program, however, they did not see routine eye patients. If you ever wonder why you see so many Canadian doctors on vacation in Florida this is the reason.
You like State or Provincial control. this also leads to venue shopping. Get sick, move to the state where you get the best coverage. That really sounds like a great idea.
The quality of Canada’s healthcare is the same as ours. I agree. They have great medical schools and many are trained here. There is very little if any differnece in the skills. What you left out of your sentence was: the outcomes are as good or better WHEN YOU CAN FINALLY GET SEEN. Canada only works because their overflow comes here. Where will we go? Will there be rationing? Try putting 10 pounds of something into an 8 pound bag without stretching the bag.
There is a need to improve our system. allowing government bureaucrats to decide the standard of care isn’t the way.
The true “progressive” platform:
We’ll create a huge federal bureaucracy to control U.S. health care.
BUT, IT ISN’T SOCIALISM.
We’ll let Washington bail out then control private corporations.
BUT, IT ISN’T SOCIALISM.
We’ll have the federal government dictate policy for the states.
BUT, IT ISN’T SOCIALISM.
We’ll control education, transportation, energy, agriculture, manufacturing, medicine, employment, housing, commerce, and all civil and criminal justice from Washington, D.C.
BUT, IT ISN’T SOCIALISM.
Although our plans are absolutely collectivist and follow the ideals of Marxism;
WE ARE NOT SOCIALISTS, WE ARE NOT SOCIALISTS, WE ARE NOT SOCIALISTS, WE ARE NOT SOCIALISTS, WE ARE NOT SOCIALISTS, WE ARE NOT SOCIALISTS!