To understand whether Obamacare is really socialized medicine, we must understand what socialized medicine is. Here are two good definitions I found after googling the term:
The provision of medical and hospital care for all by means of public funds.
A government-regulated system for providing health care for all by means of subsidies derived from taxation.
The United States does have some programs that would qualify as socialized medicine, but they were around long before Obamacare was even being considered. They are Medicare, Medicaid and Veterans Hospitals -- popular programs that work well (when adequately funded) and which are supported by a large majority of Americans. Neither of these programs was changed by Obamacare, except to make them a little more fiscally sound (and to qualify more really poor Americans for Medicaid).
But those programs only affect those over the age of 65 and those who are destitute. The vast majority of Americans were not put on a government medical system by Obamacare. Most Americans will keep the private insurance plans they already have (whether employer-provided or privately purchased). The only real change (other than laying down some rules which private insurance companies must follow) is to make those who are trying to skate by without health insurance take responsibility by purchasing their own private health insurance.
That's a good thing because when those without health insurance pile up large medical bills and can't pay for them, then their care must be paid for by the rest of us (either through higher hospital and doctor charges or through increased private insurance premiums -- usually both). And to prevent this from being an onerous burden on those who can't afford the full cost of private insurance, the government will provide some people with subsidies to help them purchase private health insurance (and allow each state to provide insurance market groups to lower private insurance costs).
This is far from socialized medicine. Doctors and hospitals will still be private businesses. And while some more Americans (the very poor) will be added to Medicaid, the main effect of Obamacare will be to cover many more Americans with insurance provided by private insurance companies.
In fact, a good case can be made the the system of medical care in effect before Obamacare is much closer to socialized medicine than Obamacare is. Here is what Thomas L. Friedman says in his New York Times column:
. . .socialized medicine is what we have now! People without insurance can go to an emergency ward or throw themselves on the mercy of a doctor, and the cost of all this uncompensated care is shared by all those who have insurance, raising your rates and mine. That is socialized medicine and that is what Obamacare ends.
Personally, I am in favor of socialized medicine. I believe the United States would save money and provide excellent care for all Americans by going to a single-payer government run health insurance system (similar to those of Canada or France). But Obamacare does not even approach that. The biggest effect of Obamacare is to increase the number of people covered by private insurance companies.
Obamacare is NOT socialized medicine. It is not even close. And the craziest thing about this whole argument is that the same party now calling it "socialized medicine" is the party that originally came up with the plan -- the Republican Party. Obamacare is virtually identical to the plan proposed by Republicans as an alternative to the health care plan proposed by the Clinton administration (which was much closer to socialized medicine).
What most people don't get is that socialized medicine would free businesses up to re-invest the money they are now paying for employee health care back into their businesses. My last employer said that his employee healthcare bill every month was equal to one weeks wages and taxes he paid for each employee. He could have been using that money to hire another person or invest in new equipment. Why don't people understand this concept?
ReplyDelete