Single-Payer Health Plan
Rejected 4 to 1
February 10, 2003
Last fall, citizens across the country were closely watching the Oregon ballot initiative that called for a single-payer health plan in that state. If passed, it would have created the first universal health care system in the country.
On November 5, 2002, voters rejected the initiative (Measure 23) four to one (79 percent against, 21 percent in favor).
Single-Payer Advocates Aren't Giving Up
Even though they failed to get a single-payer health plan established in Oregon, supporters of universal health care say they'll try again. They note that it took many years of debate to pass Social Security and Medicare.
But proponents neglect to point out that it took a lot of political manipulation and misleading of the public to pass Medicare. When people have honest information about plans to socialize health care, they resoundingly say no. President Johnson knew that was true in 1965 (the year Medicare was enacted) so he falsely promised Medicare would not become the socialized program it has grown to be.
Let's hope future politicians won't get away with misleading the public on critical policies that affect something as important as health care.
This article was originally published in the November/December 2002 issue
of Health Freedom
Watch, the bimonthly watchdog report published by the
Institute for Health Freedom.
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