"Health Care in a Free Society: Rebutting the Myths of National Health Insurance"

As the debate about "health care reform" heats up in Colorado, many of the advocates of socialized medicine attempt to point to the alleged benefits that such systems have delivered in other countries. Although it is important to keep sight of the fundamental moral arguments against socialized medicine, it can often be helpful to cite real-world facts to bolster the moral case. Hence, papers such as "Health Care in a Free Society: Rebutting the Myths of National Health Insurance" can be very informative. This article, written by John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis explodes a number of commonly-cited myths, such as the following:

Myth #1. In Countries with National Health Insurance, People Have a Right to Health Care

Myth #2. Countries with National Health Insurance Deliver High-Quality Health Care

Myth #3. Countries with National Health Insurance Make Health Care Available on the Basis of Need Rather Than Ability to Pay

Myth #4. Although the United States Spends More per Capita on Health Care Than Other Countries with National Health Insurance, Americans Do Not Get Better Health Care

Myth #5. Countries with National Health Insurance Create Equal Access to Health Care

Myth #6. Countries with National Health Insurance Hold Down Costs by Operating More Efficient Health Care Systems

Myth #7. National Health Insurance Would Benefit the Elderly and Racial Minorities

Myth #8. Countries with National Health Insurance Have Been More Successful Than the United States in Controlling Health Care Costs

Myth #9. Single-Payer National Health Insurance Would Reduce the Cost of Prescription Drugs for Americans

Myth #10. Under National Health Insurance, Funds are Allocated So That They Have the Greatest Impact on Health

Myth #11. A Single-Payer National Health Care System Would Lower Health Care Costs because Preventative Health Services Would Be More Widely Available

Myth #12. The Defects of National Health Insurance Schemes in Other Countries Could be Remedied by a Few Reforms

Each myth is dissected in detail, with numerous citations to support his refutation of each one. His discussion of myth #12 is especially good, because he shows the the problems of nationalized health care are necessarily and inevitably part of a socialized medical system, when politicians and bureaucrats are put in charge of health care decisions, rather than patients and doctors. Hence, they cannot be reformed by just tweaking the government system a little bit. In essence, the problems arise because health care decisions are based on the politics of pull rather than the judgements of individual patients and doctors seeking their own best interests in a free market.

During some of the recent exchanges in the opinion sections and online comment boards of the newspapers, I've seen several of these myths asserted. Goodman's paper provides some valuable intellectual ammunition to combat these falsehoods.

(The above paper is about 26 pages long. Those who want to read an even more detailed version can go the related article by John Goodman and Devon Herrick, "20 Myths About Single Payer Insurance", which runs well over 100 pages!)