> Not only that, most of those countries have socialized medicine -- but socialized medicine isn't exactly an anti-poverty program. When the government takes an

> Not only that, most of those countries have socialized medicine -- but socialized medicine isn't exactly an anti-poverty program. When the government takes an extra $1 from someone at the mean income and then provides them with $1 in health coverage, it shows up as $1 in government spending, but that's not redistributive. Well, socialized medicine also takes $1.5 from someone at 1.5× mean income, and $0.5 from someone at 0.5× mean income, and provides to both $1 in health coverage. In this sense it is redistributive and anti-poverty.