Editing Socialized medicine (section)

==History in United States==
{{See also|Health care in the United States|Health care reform in the United States|Health insurance in the United States}}
The [[Veterans Health Administration]], the [[Military Health System]],<ref name="Boffey NYT">{{cite news |author=Phillip Boffey |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/opinion/28fri4.html |title=The Socialists Are Coming! The Socialists Are Coming! |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424142836/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/opinion/28fri4.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin |archive-date=April 24, 2009 |url-status=live |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 28, 2007}} Editorial on U.S. "socialized medicine" in the military, the Veterans Health Administration, and Medicare</ref> and the [[Indian Health Service]] are examples of socialized medicine in the stricter sense of government administered care, but they are for limited populations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ihs.gov/prc/resources/resources-regulations-136-12/|title=Resources: Regulations - 136.12|date=October 1, 2007|website=Indian Health Service|access-date=April 11, 2020}}</ref>

[[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]] and [[Medicaid]] are forms of [[publicly funded health care]], which fits the looser definition of socialized medicine.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} Part B coverage (Medical) requires a monthly premium of $96.40 (and possibly higher) and the first $135 of costs per year also fall to the senior, not the government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://questions.medicare.gov/cgi-bin/medicare.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2100 |title=Medicare rates}}{{dead link|fix-attempted=yes|date=October 2024}}</ref>

A poll released in February 2008, conducted by the [[Harvard School of Public Health]] and [[Harris Insights & Analytics|Harris Interactive]], indicated that Americans are currently divided in their opinions of socialized medicine, and this split correlates strongly with their political party affiliation.<ref name="Harvard School of Public Health">{{cite press release |title=Poll Finds Americans Split by Political Party Over Whether Socialized Medicine Better or Worse Than Current System |publisher=Harvard School of Public Health |date=February 14, 2007 |url=http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2008-releases/poll-americans-split-by-political-party-over-socialized-medicine.html |access-date=February 27, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217230522/http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2008-releases/poll-americans-split-by-political-party-over-socialized-medicine.html |archive-date=February 17, 2008 }}</ref>

Two thirds of those polled said they understood the term "socialized medicine" very well or somewhat well.<ref name="Harvard School of Public Health" /> When offered descriptions of what such a system could mean, strong majorities believed that it means "the government makes sure everyone has health insurance" (79%) and "the government pays most of the cost of health care" (73%). One third (32%) felt that socialized medicine is a system in which "the government tells doctors what to do".<ref name="Harvard School of Public Health" /> The poll showed "striking differences" by party affiliation. Among Republicans polled, 70% said that socialized medicine would be worse than the current system. The same percentage of Democrats (70%) said that a socialized medical system would be better than the current system. Independents were more evenly split, with 43% saying socialized medicine would be better and 38% worse.<ref name="Harvard School of Public Health" />

According to Robert J. Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health, "The phrase 'socialized medicine' really resonates as a pejorative with Republicans. However, that so many Democrats believe that socialized medicine would be an improvement is an indication of their dissatisfaction with our current system." Physicians' opinions have become more favorable toward "socialized medicine".<ref name="Harvard School of Public Health"/>

A 2008 survey of doctors, published in ''[[Annals of Internal Medicine]]'', shows that physicians support universal health care and national health insurance by almost 2 to 1.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN3143203520080331?&rpc=22&sp=true |title=Doctors support universal health care: survey |website=Reuters |date=March 31, 2008}} (first reported in Annals of Internal Medicine).</ref>