Britain shows how real socialized medicine works

Britain shows how real socialized medicine works

In the U.S., we throw around the phrase "socialized medicine" a lot, typically referring to a Medicare-for-all system like Canada's. But when you think about it, a single-payer insurance system leaves the whole medical industry out of the government orbit.

Enter the U.K.'s National Health Service. When it comes to socialized medicine, this is the real deal. Not only is almost all coverage provided as a public service, most hospitals are run by the NHS, where doctors work for the government: It's single-payer and single-provider (with some exceptions). How well does it work? Aaron Carroll explains below. --Ryan Cooper

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.