Healthcare and Socialism

With Barack Obama's universal healthcare plan, many Republicans are screaming "socialism," saying it will be the end of quality care and health services.

"Look at the UK! You have to wait months to get seen by a doctor. More people die waiting than are saved by the universal care."

The idea, then, is that universal healthcare will cause doctors to leave the country, and hospitals to go out of business.

The problem with that is that it is already happening. Over 50% of hospitals are in severe debt and at risk of closure. Over half have either already claimed bankruptcy or is close to it, and even more are slowly hemorrhaging money. And because more and more people are now uninsured due to the state of the economy, that number is expected to balloon.

Doctors are already leaving. Hospitals are already closing. And because people DON'T have insurance, that number is going to get worse.

As much as Republicans like to complain that universal healthcare is going to bring about the end of quality care, at this point that end is already just a short time away, and without universal healthcare, it's guaranteed to occur sooner, rather than later.