Why are so many people against Socialized Medicine?

This is a question that has been bugging me.  How can anyone justify denying necessary medical care to anyone else?

Can we all agree that medical care should be available to everyone regardless of income or job status?

Apparently not.   Why is this?

Well, first of all, let's look at some numbers. Various polls suggest that greater than 50% of the American public believe healthcare should be available to all.

According to an article published by HealthAffairs.org, there have been 4 major initiatives for government funded healthcare between 1945 and 2000. In each case, public support for these plans has been greater than 50% when first proposed.

I'm saying 'when first proposed', because, in the cases of the two most comprehensive proposals, first by President Truman and then by President Clinton, major opposition campaigns were put into place, using the same scare tactics that are being used now. This amounts to focusing on "too much government, the cost of the plan, limits on choice of doctors, and the quality of care available"

So lets's take a look at these one by one.
  1. Too Much Government - Well, this one is used by everyone who doesn't want government oversight, from environmental regulation to minimum wage to safety standards. But all we have to do to see what occurs when there is not 'enough government' is remember the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, or read the headlines about collapsed buildings in Africa and India, and collapsed mining waste dams in South America. The sad truth is that without government regulation, irresponsible and corrupt entities are going to do stuff that will kill us in order to make more profits.  That's what is happening in the US system. 
  2. The Cost Of The Plan - Study after study shows that the US healthcare system costs far more in real dollars and is far less efficient than in countries where healthcare has been socialized. Our pharmaceuticals, just to pick one sector, cost anywhere from 200 to 1000 percent more than in other countries. Enough said? 
  3. Limits On Choice Of Doctors - This is ridiculous. First of all, seeing ANY doctor is better than seeing NO doctor, and secondly, no one is going to be prevented from seeing the doctor they've been seeing, unless that doctor opts out of the system, becoming a private physician. I am sure that wealthy people will be able to afford these private doctors in the same way they do now.
  4. Quality of Care - In a system that focuses on patients' needs rather than profit, quality of care will be maintained and in many cases, improved. Doctors and Nurses go into their practices to help people; they will not suddenly become less skilled and less caring under a new single payer system.

These are the scare tactics used by those opposed to universal healthcare. And who are the people opposed to it? Those who are making money in the current system.

Follow the money.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Have the bullies won?

I am so disheartened today.   I just watched a video made by a Pennsylvania state legislator, a Democrat, who'd just found out that the Republican leadership had been calling committee meetings for weeks, forcing the legislators and their support staff to come in close contact with a person who had tested positive for Covid-19. And the Republican leadership had KNOWN the man was positive and THEY HADN'T TOLD THE DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE!   This is criminal.   Plain and simple.   It's also a bullying tactic. Force the other person into a dangerous situation.   Bullies run this country. Bullies run the congress and the courts. There's a bully in the White House and the people he has surrounded himself with are also bullies.   Bullies own the Corporations. This is somehow an admirable trait when making a success in business. Fine. Until they decide to do something that is dangerous to the general population, or even dangerous to a sm...
Read more

They have all the guns.....

Last night I was telling Grace my fears that some of these Governors might feel the need to call out the National Guard to deal with these protesters.  I was heading to my concern that with Trump backing the protesters, this could lead to civil war, but she interrupted me before I got there. I'm paraphrasing here: "Who do the Guard report to?" she said, "Is it Trump?" "No," I said, "They are essentially a state militia. They report to the Governor." "Oh," she said. I went on to say one of my concerns was that someone high up would decide that Trump had to be removed by force.... "Who does the military report to?" she said. "Well, technically Trump's the Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces...." "So they would be on his side." she said. "Technically, yes, but what I'm talking about would have to involve people in Congress as well. Would have to be people from both Republi...
Read more

The Least Uncomfortable Position

Was thinking about plane travel. Long plane travel, when you're stuck in an airplane full of people, perhaps in a middle seat, for like 20+ hours. For me, this is horrendous. The noise, the crowd, the limited space for movement… it is just this side of physical torture. In order to survive that and not have panic attacks, I have to shut down large parts of my brain. I have to find the least uncomfortable position.  Because there is no comfortable position. None.  All positions are uncomfortable. The entire ordeal from walking into the airport to walking out at the destination is one long uncomfortable position.   So I shut down major portions of my consciousness. Develop tunnel vision. Lock away all feelings that aren't physical, and do my best to dampen those as well. That's the least uncomfortable position, soul-wise. And then I work to find the least uncomfortable physical position as well.   I do not think about how much I want to get out of that plane....
Read more