Say It Isn't Socialism, But What's the Point?

One thing I forgot to mention about the healthcare reform rally I attended this past weekend was several speakers’ insistence that universal, single-payer health coverage is NOT socialism. I believe the exact refrain was “publicly financed, privately provided.” I was confused at first about why they felt it necessary to include this remark in their speeches—I guess for the benefit of any non-liberals in the imposing crowd of 50? I don’t have the typical American aversion to all things socialist, so I don’t feel inclined to defend my political stance against the charge. Apparently, the speakers didn’t feel this way.

I don’t understand the widespread disdain for some degree of socialized medicine in the U.S. given the gross inequities of our market-based system. Sure, I’m well aware of the horror stories of lengthy wait times and extreme care rationing in the U.K. and Canada that critics love to trot before our eyes whenever anyone even suggests we need a national plan that covers all residents. I also believe a publicly financed system might somewhat stifle our turbo-paced quest for innovative miracle drugs and technology. But, I fail to recognize what’s so miraculous about innovations that are extraordinarily costly, few and far between, and beneficial only to those who can afford them.

And, it’s not like we don’t have lengthy wait times here. In fact, you’ll wait until you’re damn near dead if you don’t have insurance. If you are insured, you’ll put off routine care with your “consumer-driven” health plan because you can’t afford your high deductible and coinsurance. Eventually, you’ll risk an unnoticed death in an ER overcrowded with the uninsured and under-insured who, by the way, aren’t really uninsured because they can always come to the ER for care, which they have in great numbers.

Oh, and care rationing is alive and kicking fiercely in our current system. Private insurers have their thumbs on all contracted providers. Take a look at your current health plan and note the number of limits and maximums in place. Anything short of a life-threatening emergency requires preauthorization. You think you’ve got choices, but you really don’t unless you’ve got the cash to buy your way out of the contract.

I suppose what it boils down to is that a lot of rich players stand to lose big if the government (i.e., the people) decides to, ahem, redistribute the concentrated wealth of the healthcare system to benefit everyone. Where will this wealth come from? Well, Big Pharma will have to learn to live off its bloated profits for a while because significant negotiation will drive drug prices down. Corporate hospital systems, if they want to survive, will have to get back to the basics of providing quality care to everyone in the community rather than investing in hotel and spa-like amenities to attract the rich. Private insurers will have to retrain themselves to provide some other service. Physicians will have to re-evaluate whether they’re really committed to health promotion and prevention when they’ll no longer be financially rewarded for service volume, but for quality of service.

Here’s a thought—let’s socialize the U.S. healthcare system with ruthless efficiency. The rich players will bleed out of the system; the market will adjust itself, right? Let’s make healthcare a right and a responsibility, but let’s get one thing straight. The only people who abhor socialism are those who are rich enough to buy their way out of the social contract and those who’ve been duped into believing they just might have a chance in proverbial-Hell of doing the same if only they’d suck it up and work harder. The truth is that the latter will continue dying early, needless deaths from inadequate care while the former will continue clucking their tongues at such a tragedy and championing individual responsibility as a cure for every conceivable social ill.

The injustice makes me sick. There’s no need for healthcare reformers to pander to the haters. You can’t wink your way around them. Deep down, it doesn’t matter what you call your plan because if you believe in healthcare justice for all, you will be labeled a socialist. And, right about now, a socialist isn’t such a bad thing to be.