U.S. Has Split-Personality On Health Care

Those on the right-wing have accused the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) of being socialized medicine. It isn't even close to that. Obamacare leaves health insurance in the hands of private insurance companies -- something socialized medicine would never do. A socialized medical system would be more like what the English have (where doctors work for the government and hospitals are government owned), or the Canadian and French systems (where doctors and hospitals are private businesses that are paid through a government-run single-payer health insurance system).

Many years of right-wing propaganda have convinced many Americans that any kind of socialized medical system is bad, including systems like those in Canada and France. That is clearly shown by a recent YouGov Poll (conducted on October 21st and 22nd of 1,000 nationwide Americans). That survey shows that most Americans say they prefer that individuals and businesses foot the bill for medical insurance.

That opposition to a government-run single-payer health insurance system includes a plurality of the general public (44%) and Independents (46%), and a striking majority of Republicans (73%). It is only among Democrats that more would prefer a government single-payer system, by a slim majority (53%). And the same is true of the government mandating participation in the health insurance system.  A plurality of the general public (43%), and majorities of Independents (50%) and Republicans (67%) say they do not support a federal mandate to participate. Again, only Democrats (67%) see the need for a mandate.

That would seem to be pretty clear, wouldn't it? Americans just don't want a government-run single payer medical system (socialized medicine), and they don't want citizens to be mandated to participate in the system. Or do they?

Medicare is socialized medicine. It is a government-run single-payer health insurance system -- and all seniors are mandated to participate in it, not to mention that all workers are mandated to pay for it (through payroll and other taxes). Looking at the two charts above, one might think that Americans would be opposed to Medicare and want to eliminate it. But that isn't true at all.

While Americans may oppose socialized medicine in the abstract, they actually like it in reality -- once the program is in operation.

Note that 55% of the general public would be opposed to eliminating Medicare, while only 30% would support that. And the same is true across the political spectrum. Among Democrats, those who want to keep Medicare is 37 points higher than those who oppose it. For Independents, support for Medicare is 24 points higher than opposition. And among Republicans, support is 13 points higher than opposition.

It shows that Americans have sort of a split personality when it comes to the health care system. They say they oppose a government single-payer system, but support the one that is already operating in this country. I suspect they would also support extending Medicare to all American citizens -- but only after it was in operation (and not before).