Dispelling the myths of universal health care

Labeling universal health care as "socialism" in the US has been an effective argument against its implementation because it exploits the one of the greatest fears of Americans; losing their freedom. They perceive that guaranteeing health care access to all translates into them being forced to pay for others by their taxes being raised. To many, they see this as a regulation of their lives, and more importantly, their money. Those against a universal health care system are able to promote market-based plans by claiming they are giving Americans more control over their health care. In 2007,while trying to promote his health care plan, Rudy Giuliani was quoted as saying, "The American way is not single-payer, government-controlled anything. That's a European way of doing something; that's frankly a socialist way of doing something." It's this rhetoric that will continue to worsen the current health care mess and deprive middle-class families nationwide.

In a Letter to the Editor of the Times Union (http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=723285), the author points out the by allowing us to have the "option" or make "decisions" regarding our health care has left 45 million completely uninsured, and decreasing coverage for the "insured" who develop serious illness or are unable to pay increasing premiums. Americans should stop viewing health care as an industry and should not allow insurance companies to continue to maximize their profits by denying care to individuals who are in the most need. Health care should be viewed as a public service similar to the military, federal highways, social security, the postal system, etc.

In my opinion, there are not any completely socialized health care systems in Europe. Socialized health care means a complete take over of the industry. But any country that still continues to have private doctors and private hospitals cannot be considered to maintain a socialist health care system. What most countries in Europe have that provide health care to all, such as England and France, is a payment system that helps provide care to those who need it the most.