What do conservatives mean when they say that you have no "choice" in single payer

[Clintonista2]

I'm assuming they mean you don't have any choice about which doctor you want. But that's demonstrably untrue. In Canada, for instance, Canadians are given a health card which they can use (like a debit card) at ANY public medical facility in the country. It's my understanding that the NHS in Britain is the same way. So when conservatives say there is no "choice," what exactly are they referring to?

[aquart]

1. They're lying.

Or they mean you have no choice of which greedy insurance company you are required to allow to kill you. That could be it.

[Demoiselle]

2. They're talking through their asses, as usual, Clintonista. It's a Fascist lie.

I've been on Medicare for about a year, and I haven't had to give up a single doctor..

[phantom power]

3. Do you mean the conservative rubes, or the conservative puppet masters?

I'm sure the rubes think it means they won't be able to choose their doctor. But then, the rubes also think "Keep govt out of my Medicare" is a sentence that makes sense.

I'm sure the puppet masters mean 'keep govt from undercutting the fat profit margins of our insurance tycoon buddies'

[gateley]

4. I'm sure they have no idea - they're just repeating what they've been told. nt

[Scuba]

12. +1

[unpossibles]

5. propaganda

I know it's anecdotal, but everyone I know who lives with various forms of universal health care has more choices than I do.

[alc]

6. some proposals in the past have recommended that it be illegal

to pay for your own medical care. You can only get care and medicine that the single payer allows and available to everyone, and doctors cannot do other procedures or charge more than single payer allows.

I haven't heard talk about that recently (except from right wingers opposed to any reform) and I don't know if that's the "choice" you are referring to.

[librechik]

7. Oh, they think Liberals are crazy about "Choice" so they think they'll get us

with an appeal that claims something is anti choice. They are just lying as usual. It means NOTHING and if you asked them to please be specific they would change the subject or run away.

[Better Today]

8. I don't know if you really want an explanation, but if you do, this is what

conservatives around here are saying.

First they imagine that they will lose their doctor. As you point out, the card in Canada is for "public medical facility" and people here are afraid of having something similar to what's happening in Texas with Drs refusing Medicare patients. IE, they are afraid their favorite or usual Drs won't be "public" but will decide to stay private. Now my answer to this is that there won't be anything stopping anyone from getting additional private insurance, just like SS doesn't exclude personal or corporate pension plans. So I agree they are all wrong about this being worse than what we have, but that's their concern.

Secondly they imagine that with a government program, the government will decide what is and isn't covered and for whom. Of course that may end up being the case, but it certainly can't be any worse than corporate, for-profits doing that same thing as they have been for decades. So again a stupid point, but rather than seeing single payer incorrectly, it seems based in the idea that what happens now is something much rosier than reality supports.

[damntexdem]

9. What do conservatives mean when they say ANYTHING about healthcare or its reform?

Two rules:
1) Their words don't technically mean anything.
2) Their true meaning is "screw the American people, I support the rich and large corporations."

[DefenseLawyer]

10. They mean "I got mine"

That's as far as it goes.

[Rex]

11. It is all about control and they have created this grand illusion

of Big Brother Death beds. There is no REAL reason why they won't have a choice, they DON'T when it comes to auto insurance - you have to have it and I'm sure most Baggers do. Local Baggers I know have a history of going to the emergency room, getting treatment, then skipping out on the bill. In other words they are full of shit and trying to be scared about something they don't understand or care to.

[Unvanguard]

13. They mean choice of insurance company, i.e. you can't choose who will cheat and extort you.

A rather silly argument, really.

[treestar]

14. They convinced themselves, or let Rush convince them, that

the government would be running health care entirely, even telling people which doctor to go to - it appeals to their fantasy than anything involving the government means the government would control everything - they love to scare themselves with that.

So they imagine the government bureaucrat picking their doctor and deciding what treatment they would get, etc.

[gravity]

15. It means you have no say in your healthcare plan you have

Right now, if you have the money, you can choose between a variety of different plans with different costs and benefits.

In a single payer, you have to use what the government provides and that is it.

Those who have the money to buy a plan with additional benefits could not purchase buy it even if they want to. Other people might want a plan that offers less benefits than the government one at a lower costs.

I don't support a single payers health care system but I want strong public option that competes with the private sector. Many nations have similar type of healthcare systems.