The momentum for socialized medicine is growing. Where is the GOP’s strategy?

[Right_in_Virginia]

The momentum for socialized medicine is growing. Where is the GOP’s strategy?
The Washington Post, Jun 5, 2016, Ed Rogers

Republicans should be on the lookout. While we try to muddle through repealing and replacing Obamacare, Democrats are sharpening their message on health care. In their race to the left, Democrats are increasingly calling for a full-fledged single-payer system. And considering Republican credibility on repeal-and-replace is damaged, if not shot, the Democrats’ message will be compelling to a lot of voters who sense nothing but confusion from the GOP. The momentum is shifting, and the stakes are getting higher for Republicans.

***
This new reality begs the question: Could it be that Republicans are on the brink of defending Obamacare as the only practical alternative to the Democrats’ march toward socialized medicine? On its surface, single-payer, universal health care will be hard to beat in the face of rising premiums and onerous deductibles that Republicans can’t seem to do anything about. A lot of voters will think that Democrats are trying to give them free health care and that Republicans are against it.

***
If Republicans don’t act fast, Democrats will pitch their plan for single-payer, universal health care as a choice between something that costs individuals less vs. more, that is simpler vs. more complicated, that leads to greater equality vs. more inequality. And in this fight, Republicans cannot just become the party of no. We cannot just complain about how hard the process is in the face of a growing liberal tsunami of single-payer nirvana.

The question for Republicans is: How will this all play out? If Republicans fail to stand up and speak with clarity, we may be forced to defend the remnants of Obamacare as the best option to ward off socialized medicine. The public senses confusion, and the Democrats sense an opportunity. Time is running out.


More: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/06/05/the-momentum-for-socialized-medicine-is-growing-where-is-the-gops-strategy/?utm_term=.f05793cee50c

[Jazzhead]

Why is the current system better than single payer?   From an employer's perspective,  it will free up millions of dollars for more productive use and make American workers more competitive with their foreign counterparts.   Designed properly,  it will encourage folks to visit the doc rather than rely on the emergency room.   It will provide peace of mind to the millions who lack health coverage today,  and free up those dependent on their employer's health coverage to change jobs and take advantage of opportunities.   Don't underestimate how our employer-centric system retards economic growth by retarding the mobility of the workforce.

Don't just tar single payer with the pejorative "socialized medicine" and fail to appreciate the many ways in which it can improve on the current hodge-podge system, which benefits insurance companies and lawyers.  Are there drawbacks to single payer?   Of course -  but as with everything else,  the quality of the design makes all the difference.   And that's where a Republican-designed system can make all the difference.

The recent debacle of Congress trying to fix the ACA is sobering.   The current system stinks, but there's no political will to fix it.  And the status quo ante was no paragon of fairness either.    I think it's time for conservatives to start thinking seriously about the merits of single payer and how to design a system that avoids the pitfalls of single payer systems elsewhere.

We can and must do better.  If I were advising Trump,  I'd tell him to give Congress the rest of the summer to get off its arse,  and if it can't come up with a fix for ObamaCare then do his populist thing and propose a framework of single payer for the good of the people and the economy.       

 

[Night Hides Not]

Until the focus is on health care over health insurance, we're all urinating into the wind.

The only political will in DC involves reelection, not the Constitution or the benefit of the country. Sorry to be negative, but history tells me that America's best days are behind it.

[Bigun]

Until the focus is on health care over health insurance, we're all urinating into the wind.

The only political will in DC involves reelection, not the Constitution or the benefit of the country. Sorry to be negative, but history tells me that America's best days are behind it.

It is abundantly clear that many people have a great deal of difficulty separating those two things!

[Frank Cannon]

Sorry Ed. You and your ilk in the strategist class have positioned the GOP in this "don't take a stand" role so you don't ruffle feathers. Now we have to sleep in that bed.

[skeeter]

The GOP's strategy is to once again become a minority party so they can tell us how hard they're working to stop the Godless liberals without actually being held accountable.

Single payer? By all means lets expand the VA model to include the rest of the country.

Going to the doctor will become a cross between going to the DMV and passing through TSA to board an airplane. Yippee.

[INVAR]

do his populist thing and propose a framework of single payer for the good of the people and the economy.       

That will KILL what is left of the economy and hand government the total and absolute power over everyone's life and make us little people 'serfs', officially.

No thanks. 

Single Payer advocate alone is worth taking up arms to prevent.

But the GOP wants it as badly as the Democrats do, precisely because it gives ultimate power to the state.