"Socialized medicine" and "universal healthcare" are not the same thing.
Webster's New World Medical Dictionary has a good def. of "socialized medicine" here:
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=25521
Australia, France, Germany, and Canada have universal health care, but not socialized medicine. Spain, for ex., has socialized medicine, on the other hand. Neither Barack nor Hillary have ever suggested socialized medicine, just universal heath care, something to point out to the GOP supporters in our life. "Socialized medicine" is when doctors are essentially civil servants on the government payroll; universal health care just means everyone is insured and can see private practitioners by virtue of this.
Spain, which again is true socialized medicine, is #7 on the WHO's list that France, which does ot have socialized but which has universal health care, is no. 1 on. That's the same list that the USA is #37 on. Socialized medicine exists in the military sector of the US: army medics, flight surgeons like Ron Paul, VA hospitals, etc. All government controlled, all practtions on the government payroll.
I pointed this out on the G-Spot blog, too, wher it was mentioned most if not all of Europe had socialized medicine, which is not true. Most have universale health care, and a few countries have socialized medicine in addition.
-B.
W. Kiernan wrote:
"[N]o hordes of mouth-breathing voters freaking out over the phrase "socialized medicine" like they always do here in Jesusland. What's their excuse for not having patched that hole?"