There is no doubt that, while it made some improvements, Obamacare didn't solve the worst parts of our broken health care system -- the failure to cover all citizens with insurance and the failure to curb the cost of insurance and medical care. And the Republicans just made things worse with their changes to Obamacare. Those changes increased the number of uninsured Americans and increased the cost of insurance premiums, while doing nothing to curb the rising cost of medical care.
Something must be done. The question is what. The Republicans have no plan at all. They clearly showed that in the last two years. Now Democrats are once again floating ideas to fix the health care system. The most popular idea is a government-run system that would cover all Americans -- something like Medicare (which has been enormously successful in providing health care for seniors).
The Republicans are aghast at the idea. They are screaming SOCIALISM! And they are right. Medicare is a socialist program (just like Social Security, free public schools, unemployment insurance, food stamps, labor unions, housing assistance, VA loans & hospitals, SBA loans for small businesses, progressive income taxation, etc.). But just because a program was a socialist idea, doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I think most Americans would agree that the programs listed above are good programs that help Americans -- and should be continued and protected.
Health care should be considered a right of all American citizens (just like the right to have food, housing and education). It is inhuman and immoral to deny these things to anyone. A Medicare-For-All system would solve the nation's health care dilemma by covering all citizens, and allowing the government to negotiate prices for drugs and health care. It would hold costs down, provide everyone with critical preventative care, and it would do so at less cost than the U.S. currently spends on medical care (since we spend twice as much per capita as other developed nations who cover all their citizens).
What does the public think? More and more people are starting to realize that the best way to provide decent health care for all American is through a government-run national health insurance system. Note on the chart above that 54% of the public agrees with that idea (while 41% disagree and 5% are unsure). This is a good thing -- and with more Americans supporting the idea, it is time for a national debate on it.
The chart above reflects the results of the latest CNN / SSRS Poll -- done between January 30th and February 2nd of a national sample of 1,011 adults, with a 3.8 point margin of error.
