Proposed Single-Payer Bill Touted As Step Towards Socialism

With a change in administration, the watchword among many analysts seems to be socialism, particularly when it comes to effort at rehabilitating the health care system in the U.S.

The media is rife with reports concerning the efforts of Democrats and the Obama administration, among others, to institution substantial changes in government policies that may point the way towards the further intrusion of socialistic ideas and programs.

Nowhere is this truer than in the case of the proposed single-payer health care bill, H.R. 676, the so-called “National Health Care Act.” Subtitled the “Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act,” the proposed legislation would be a broad revision of the current U.S. health care system.

Sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the proposal would offer comprehensive medical assistance under a single-payer. This payer would likely take the form of an agency similar to the current Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

With the program, benefits would be financed by public monies while most of the health care providers would be private. The point would be that all of the billing would be sent to a single-payer agency rather than multiple organizations. The bill would essentially provide for free “all medically necessary care, such as primary care and prevention, prescription drugs, emergency care and mental health services, ” according to the Congressional Research Service. Yet, it will offer much more in terms of removing unnecessary agencies and administrative costs.

While H.R. 676 is supported by a coalition of labor unions and thousands of health professionals, it is being seriously criticized by Republicans, especially strong advocates of free-market idea. They are worried that government intervention on this level could lead to a breakdown of the health care markets and loss of competition and growth in the insurance industry. For some government involvement of any kind is a just another word for socialism.