The concept of socialized medicine has had a negative connotation in the U.S., although most Americans cannot properly define it or provide reasons for disliking this system of healthcare. In general, socialized medicine is a system that strives to provide universal coverage through a publicly funded healthcare system. In some cases the government may own the hospitals and employ the healthcare providers such as in the United Kingdom. Other systems, such as in Sweden, are government funded and decentralized. Both models employ a single-payer system. The main reason socialized medicine is a pejorative in the U.S. is the system constitutes more government control over the delivery of healthcare and the fear of a single-payer system. The current Medicaid program in the U.S. is a form of socialized medicine. The U.S. government pays for the services, establishes the rules and regulations, and even dictates treatment protocols. A second reason that Americans express a dislike of socialized medicine is due to a perception that it rations services and has long wait times for appointments and procedures. “Rationing” is the number one healthcare buzzword that most frightens Americans and is used often in the healthcare debates in the U.S. There are “queues” for non-life threatening procedures in countries with socialized medicine but in most countries if you don’t want to wait a few months there is also the option to go to a private provider and the government will pay a portion of the bill. The ultimate measure of a healthcare system is satisfaction surveys and health outcomes. Citizens within the majority of countries with socialized medicine are happy with their system and the overall health outcomes are very high. Comparably speaking, Americans are not satisfied with the healthcare system and are ranked much lower than most of the socialized medicine countries.