Socialized medicine is a system for providing medical and hospital care for all at a nominal cost by means of government regulation of health services and subsidies derived from taxation. Because of the U.S. cultural's historically negative associations with socialism, the term is used primarily and usually pejoratively in United States political discussions concerning health care. The term was first widely used in the United States by advocates of the American Medical Association in opposition to President Harry S. Truman's 1947 health-care initiative. The term may be used by some in referring to a system of universal health care.
Read more about Socialized Medicine: Background, History of The Term, History, Political Controversies in The United States
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“Socialized medicine, some still cry, but it’s long been socialized, with those covered paying for those who are underinsured. American medicine is simply socialized badly, penny wise and pound foolish.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)