Strictly speaking socialized medicine is a system in which the government operates health care facilities and employs health care professionals. There is a clear difference between socialized medicine and a single payer health insurance system, where the government finances health care but is not involved in care delivery.
Obamacare is not socialized medicine and neither is Medicare for that matter. The VA medical system is a form of socialized medicine however.
So when you hear someone railing about socialized medicine and Obamacare, tell them they are wrong. When they complain about the regulation of insurance, hospitals and doctors, remind them the fifty states have been doing this for decades.
What Obamacare is, is a massive, complex law that puts in place subsidies for millions of Americans, mandates new coverage and benefits, places a tremendous administrative burden on several aspects of health care from hospitals to employers and will eventually collapse under its own weight as Paul Ryan has said. While we are in a period of low inflation, that won’t last forever.
Health care costs will continue to grow at double general inflation, the cost of subsidies and premiums will increase. Enrollment in exchange plans will grow thereby further increasing public costs. Americans will become intolerant of high out-of-pocket costs and the false promise of affordable health care. Taxes will be increased and benefits adjusted to accommodate ever increasing costs
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