A Layman’s Take on Socialized Medicine  

We are about to see our health care system tested by this looming pandemic. It will cause the Hegelian Dialectic – Problem (Pandemic), Reaction (Panic), Solution (Socialized Medicine) – leading to Socialism in general.

Socialized Medicine is a wonderful concept. Putting Socialized Medicine into practice is another matter entirely.  For this “Take” on Socialized Medicine I will assume that the reader actually has an understanding of “socialism” or the act of doing something (health care) for the society as a whole, as opposed to individualized medicine. Socializing things like waste removal, trash collection & disposal, sewers, etc… lend themselves well to socialisms one-size-fits-all central planning approach. Centralized planning standardizes practices and saves costs for functions such as waste removal, or other government functions’ provided to society as a whole.

On the other hand, Health Care is an individual need; humans vary widely in their physical makeup, health, diseases, diets, genetics, age, etc.. as well as their individual perceptions of those differences. Standard treatment methods work for some individuals, yet fail for others. Alternative treatment methods may be required for yet others. Add in the factor of varying individual perceptions of any given treatment on the eventual health outcomes and you can see where I’m going with this. How an individual perceives their treatment sometimes has as much to do with their outcomes as the treatment itself. 

Our understanding of medicine and health care is really at its beginning, with a long way to go. Each generation of health care providers thinks themselves at the pinnacle of medical knowledge. Sure, we do know more that we used to about medicine & health care, but we are woefully far down-slope of the pinnacle.  I often think that my best doctors are only slightly above “witch-doctor” status; sprinkling potions from a chicken foot, doing a little dance, reciting a chant, rolling the bones and hoping for the best. Even so, all of medicine now is far better than when I was young and I am certain that my life has been preserved by those advances from just the last couple of decades.

 As far as health care goes, and in my estimation (and recent experience), the best treatment for the lowest cost is going to fail on both objectives; Best Care and Lowest Cost. “Best Care” suffers under socialized medicine because we turn the profession of physician into just another government job. Who would spend the considerable time, effort and money to obtain a medical degree only to have their income potential capped off by a single payer bureaucracy with the power to set prices? It won’t even be setting prices, but paying a wage to a health worker. What company would likewise invest the huge research and development monies into pharmaceuticals and medical devices?  The government would have to take over those functions.

The costs would go way up because only the government funded agencies would be developing drugs and medical devices, as well as costs of bloated government agencies to oversee those. To train sufficient quantities of doctors, medical education would have to be socialized as well. The costs will go up and the quality of the care will go down. Eventually, health care will need to be rationed, and yes, “Death Panels” will decide if you are “worth” the cost to save medically. The worst part will be that your health care will no longer be a matter decided by you and your doctor, but instead by a bureaucrat in a government Medicare or Medicaid office. I have recently experienced this myself. After a decade long disability, on Medicaid, I rejoined to workforce as a working poor person. I suffer “Obama-Care” in the form of the states Medicaid Buy-In program. 

My primary care comes from a Nurse Practitioner (NP) who is currently really great, being overseen by a medical doctor that I have never met personally.  I have been using the same clinic for a decade and had like five NPs in that time. Prior to that, when I had private insurance, I Had the same General Practitioner MD (GP) for 19 years. Granted, both the NP, and the GP review my condition, and depending on what is needed, treat me or refer me to a specialist.

Recently, and more than once, my NP and I agreed on a treatment plan only to have some Medicaid bureaucrat overrule us and force me into the “one-size-fits-all” drug and/or treatment plan that Medicaid would pay for. One of the decisions made between my NP and myself was a treatment plan for me to use a particular medication that Medicaid declined to pay for. Since I did not want to use the medication that Medicaid would pay for, I said; “Fine, I’ll just pay for it out of pocket.” Guess what? There are procedures and medications that, once denied by Medicaid, are simply not available to you, even if you elect to pay for them yourself!  Unbelievable as that sounds. I suppose that Medicaid would seem less omnipotent if individuals such as myself could circumvent their judgement and purchase a drug for $14.00 a week when they were going to pay more than 10 times that amount, $163.00 a week for the Medicaid mandated medication. That is how Medicare for all will “Save Money.“

This Layman (no special knowledge or expertise) sees the lure (bait) for the general public for socialized medicine, a single payer system;  “Medicare for all,” as simply a toe-hold, a foot in the door, toward socialism in general as a form of government. The reality is as stated; the costs will go up and the quality of health care will go down if we shortsightedly vote in this agenda and the politicians advocating it. Medicare for all will not turn out well. Especially if there is no private option allowed. 

Government, “Society” (meaning you pay for it) would necessarily have the government socializing the education of health care workers (nurses, doctors  & specialists). Free Education is already a stated goal of the socialists. The government would necessarily have to socialize the research, development and manufacture of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, or “Nationalize” (confiscate) existing manufactures to come anywhere near a single payer “Medicare for all” system.

Should any of that happens, and I’m sure it will, it will not turn out well