Why do many Americans consider public healthcare akin to communism but on the other hand think public education is absolutely normal?

8 comments

1. They generally dont consider it akin to communism. It’s a stereotype made up of people who dont trust the government to manage healthcare

2. Cultural momentum.

   I guess I should also point out that there are a number of conservatives that do want to weaken the public education system in favor of something more privatized.

3. I’ve never actually heard anyone describe public healthcare as communism

4. It’s not seen as communism. The argument is that working Americans pay for their healthcare while others get it for free. There is also a fear that the quality of services will decline if it is made public by government

5. This sounds like a loaded question. But to answer, opponents of universal healthcare are typically the same folks who are in favor of pushing more privatized education in the form of school choice and voucher programs.

6. I think you mean to use the word “socialism” instead of “communism” here. I have never heard anyone refer to it as communism before.

7. I think you’re confusing communism with socialism. The people making that argument want fewer social programs because they don’t want to pay for other people to have things.

8. Public schools are already in place and accepted and understood. They aren’t perfect but they work pretty well.

   Public healthcare is a nebulous, undefined monster that the loudest supporters claim will fix all the problems with the current system, which is a mixed public-private system.

   As someone who most definitely supports healthcare reform and leans against an all public system, my problem is that the loudest voices have no concrete ideas, or have conflicting ones. The current system has huge numbers of small problems and some big problems adding up to on overpriced, underperforming system that is functional despite its problems.

   But here are a few big issues with public health care.

   1) The idea that switching to an all public system could solve administrative bloat is ludicrous. The government is not known for reducing bureaucracy and I’ve heard no arguments as to why this would be an exception.

   2) The government already has the biggest prescription drug provider in the Medicare program, which theoretically should push prices down for everyone. Except that they are literally prohibited by law from negotiating drug prices, so instead it pushes prices up for everyone. Then there’s the VA system, which ranges from good to horrific depending on what region you’re at, which is *exactly the same* as private hospitals, only with even less choice on the part of patients. With that kind of track record, why would I offer unconditional support to an all-public system?

   3) I’ve got no interest in forcing almost all doctors and nurses into being public employees. That would be an enormous change which would push many people out of the profession for no reason other than the fact that it is a forced change. This may or may not be on the table, but frankly, that ties back to how nebulous the idea of a public system is.

   I could go on, but what it comes down to is that big changes tend to create big problems, and nothing about the debate over Healthcare has convinced me that going all public is a solution instead of an escalation.