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Socialized Medicine and the Current Healthcare Debate

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Socialized medicine and the current healthcare debate One of the most demonized terms in American political discourse is 'socialism.' When various healthcare reform proposals are being discussed, it is common to condemn them as 'socialized medicine' if they call for greater government intervention to enable universal coverage of all Americans. However, socialized medicine refers to a very specific system of providing healthcare and virtually no American politician has dared to propose what would constitute a truly 'socialized' system of medicine. Additionally, many nations exist which provide universal coverage for all citizens without deploying a single-payer system. It is important to understand truly what socialized medicine 'is' and what it is not, as well as its benefits and detriments, when debating healthcare policy in America. If the US were to adopt the single-payer system, as exists in Great Britain under the National Health Service (NHS), "a single-payer system would be setup such that one entity a government-run organization would collect all health care fees, and pay out all health care costs.... In a single-payer system, all hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers would bill one entity for their services. This alone reduces administrative waste greatly, and saves money, which can be used to provide care and insurance to those who currently don't have it" (What is single payer, 2012, PNHP).
One of the reasons that there is so much bureaucracy

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