As we’ve seen, the Beveridge Model countries (such as Britain, Spain, Italy, Cuba) do provide health care in government hospitals, with government paying the bills. This model, with government serving as both provider and payer, probably comes closest to the concept of socialized medicine that Americans have in mind. But even the Beveridge system isn’t fully socialist. The GPs in Britain, who provide most of the care, are private businesspeople—and they can be ferocious capitalists, like my stout, prosperous physician, Dr. Badat. The National Health Insurance countries (e.g., Canada, Taiwan)
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