Is government health care socialism?

Myth: Health care reform is socialized medicine.

Fact: Health care reform will preserve the employer-based health care system, meaning an estimated 200 million Americans will continue to get their coverage through their employers.

Fact: For people buying coverage for themselves, there would be a range of private health plans to choose from. Also, the so-called "public plan" option would seek to give American consumers another choice if they can't find affordable, quality coverage in the private insurance market. The goal of the "public plan" is to give consumers the best value for their money and force greater competition among insurance plans for our business.

Fact: Every proposal that Congress is considering would allow people to choose their own doctors and hospitals.

Bottom Line: Health care reform isn't about a government takeover. It's about guaranteeing all Americans a choice of health care plans they can afford.

Myth: Health care reform is too expensive – we can't afford it.
Fact: The President and Congress have committed to producing legislation that will be paid for so it won't saddle our children and grandchildren with debt.

Fact: If we do nothing to fix health care, families with Medicare or employer-based health coverage will likely see their premiums nearly double again in the next seven years.

Fact: If we do nothing to fix health care, the share of your income spent on health care will nearly double in the next seven years.

Bottom Line: When one in three Americans say someone in their family skipped pills, postponed or cut back on needed medical care due to the cost; when countless bankruptcies are related to medical expenses; when the number of uninsured approaches 50 million; when government spending on health programs rises so rapidly that it jeopardizes other priorities; and when employers struggle to pay for the costs of health care, the fact is, we can't afford not to fix health care.

Myth: Health care reform means the government can make life-and-death decisions for you.
Fact: Health care reform will NOT give the government the power to make life-and-death decisions for anyone regardless of their age. Those decisions will be made by individuals, their doctor and their family.

Fact: No one, including the government or your insurance company, will be given power to make life-and-death decisions for you.

Bottom Line: Health care reform isn't about putting the government in charge of difficult end of life decisions. It's about giving individuals and families the option to talk with their doctors in advance about difficult choices every family faces when loved ones near the end of their lives.


aarp.convio.net...

America is the only Industrialized Nation on the face of the planet with no universal health care.

...and the only one in which hysteria has such a power that some people actually spread these myths, and even more actually believe them.

I feel there are two deciding steps the "public conscience" in the USA has to take; the first one is to recognize health care as a de facto basic right. This would eliminate this dreaded socialism debate, which is idiotic anyway as we´re simply speaking of economic models here, not the naive political baggage that has been associated with it over the years of McCarthyism et al.

The second step is to understand that emergency care does not equal health care. It is beyond me why so many times these two are used indiscriminately in discussion; of COURSE every hospital in the USA will treat patients in an emergency. Some people however do not seem to understand that the point in affordable, compulsory health care is to prevent these emergencies from happening by offering early recognization, long term treatment and patient education.

Originally posted by amari
....Every one wants to compare the government run Canadian Healthcare plan to the proposed government healthcare plan in the U.S. One slight problem we have 300,000,000 people in this country and Canada has 16,000,000.
...

You also have the tax payers, medical facilities and personnel equivalent to 300.000.000 people. Your number game is rubbish.