The Republican Policy Committee, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (AL-06), on Friday released a policy brief warning of the downfalls of socialized medicine for the United States, including studies of rationed care, high wait times and denied treatment in countries with government-run healthcare.
The brief advised, “As debate continues [on systemic healthcare reform], it is essential to review patient outcomes across international models of socialized medical care. Decision-making between patients and physicians is generally based on individual circumstances or critical medical need. Socialized healthcare systems distance that relationship. Instead, socialized treatment plans are predetermined by bureaucrats, based on broad categorizations. Cost savings for individuals are achieved in exchange for rationed services, long wait times, and controversial ethical standards.”
In a statement coinciding with the brief’s release, Palmer said that socialized medicine in America would “cost human lives.”
For example, the brief noted that a 2014 report found that between 1993-2009, increased wait times in Canada may be associated with over 44,273 female deaths.
The Fraser Institute reported that Canadian patients in 2019 waited an average of 20.9 weeks from the time their general practitioner referred them to a specialist until they received treatment.
Additionally, the brief underscored that 18% of patients in the United Kingdom requiring urgent cancer care do not receive treatment within two months of referral.
Overall, the Royal College of Surgeons in 2019 found that more than 227,569 U.K. patients waited over six months for treatment due to National Health Service hospital backlog.
“Socialized medicine will not merely mean immense taxpayer expense and a bankrupt government: it will cost human lives,” said Palmer.
“Whether you call it Medicare For All, Single Payer, or anything else, the schemes pushed by Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Nancy Pelosi call for less patient choice, heavier burdens on doctors and hospitals, and government bureaucrats deciding who gets which treatment, and when,” he concluded.
In Alabama, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) has come out in favor of having a “public option” — meaning government-run healthcare that competes with private insurance companies. Alabama’s junior senator has also said that he will back the Biden-Harris ticket’s healthcare plan “if we cannot achieve Medicaid expansion.”
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Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
