Republican Senator Says Universal Health Care means "Slavery" for US Doctors

Republican Senator Rand Paul made a bizarre pronouncement last week during a committee hearing that if people have a right to health care it would mean “slavery” for doctors and nurses. Here’s the clip:

This is absurd on its face. Governments around the world have found ways to provide universal health care as a right to its citizens without “enslaving” doctors. In the U.S. every senior citizen has a right to health care through a single payer system called Medicare. Doctor and nurses are obviously paid for their services, have the freedom to live and work anywhere they choose and see as many patients as they want. The only difference for doctors and nurses is that Medicare pays the bill instead of a private insurance company. That’s for a single payer program. Under Obama’s health care bill every American will have health insurance coverage. Doctors working for private companies or non-profits will see as many patients as they like and bill their services to private insurance companies. Calling this “government slavery” defies logic.

Luckily, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders was there to point out how laughable this claim is. In the below clip he asks Dana Kraus, a physician at a community health center in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, whether or not she feels like a slave. “I love my job,” she replies.

-- NPR