During the 2020 campaign, many Democratic presidential candidates will be eager to describe their healthcare proposals as “Medicare for all.” But it would be perfectly fair to characterize such a vision with another term: socialized healthcare.
The term “Medicare for all” is best seen as a marketing slogan, because liberals understand it’s a more popular way of branding their ambitions. According to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 62 percent had a “very” or “somewhat” positive reaction to the term “Medicare for all.” In contrast, the clunky, wonky term “single payer health insurance system” elicited a positive reaction from just 48 percent of respondents. “Socialized medicine,” meanwhile, was viewed positively by just 44 percent.
During the Obamacare debate, when the term “socialized medicine” got thrown around, Democrats had a fair rejoinder: The new program preserved employer sponsored coverage as well as private health insurance. But they have less of a leg to stand on when it comes to “Medicare for all.”
Though “Medicare for all” is a vague marketing term that could mean different things, it’s helpful to look at one leading proposal released by Sen. Bernie Sanders, because it was co-sponsored by likely Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, and Kamala Harris.
Under the proposal, within four years, all Americans would be enrolled in a government-run healthcare plan. They could not enroll in any private plan that offered any of the same benefits as the government plan, effectively doing away with private coverage beyond a possible small market for supplemental insurance.
All of this would fit pretty comfortably within the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of “socialized,” which is: “Made socialist; established or developed according to the principles of socialism; spec. (of an industry, company, etc.) financed with public funds, brought under public control.”
Clearly, the system that Sanders and other presumed 2020 contenders have signed on to would be financed with public funds and heavily controlled by the government.
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From @philipaklein: Yes, “Medicare for all” is socialized healthcare https://t.co/fGcUSLjvKb
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 3, 2019
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