Ezra Klein continues his Health Care Reform for Beginners series this week with Health Care Reform for Beginners: The Many Flavors of the Public Plan and Health Reform for Beginners: The Difference Between Socialized Medicine, Single-Payer Health Care, and What We’ll Be Getting.
You’ll want to read them both, but here I want to focus on the pretty pictures.
![4A1D80A1-453D-4CDB-8CCF-BEA973812CB8.jpg](http://pragmatos.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/4a1d80a1-453d-4cdb-8ccf-bea973812cb8.jpg)
On the evidence, the correct answer is “better”, but let’s move to the fun one. 30% of Americans polled think that I’m already getting socialized medicine (Blue Shield HMO, as it happens):
![970E8905-AC1D-4736-88C4-AF3B4F26F071.jpg](http://pragmatos.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/970e8905-ac1d-4736-88c4-af3b4f26f071.jpg)
Klein writes,
You’re reading that right. About 30 percent of Americans think HMOs are socialized medicine. Which implies a couple things. First, the term “socialized medicine” has been diluted beyond all meaning. Second, it’s no longer considered a terrifying outcome. And third, nothing that’s this amorphous — and actually preferred by a plurality of the population — is likely to prove a terribly effective attack against health reform. Socialized medicine has become such a stand-in for “not this system of medicine” that it’s begun to look good in comparison.