Socialized medicine is often conflated with single-payer health care and universal health care, but those are different concepts. Although universal coverage and single-payer health care are common around the world, truly socialized medicine for a country's entire population is actually quite rare. The British National Health Service is an example, as the UK funds health care with tax revenue and also employs the country's medical providers (people can opt-out of the NHS and obtain medical care privately, but this is rare). Within the U.S., the Veterans Health Administration is an example of socialized medicine, although it only covers a small fraction of Americans. Universal coverage or universal health care simply refers to a system in which everyone has access to health coverage and/or affordable medical care. This can be provided via socialized medicine, but a more common approach is a mix of public and private coverage and care. Single-payer health care refers to a system in which the government pays for medical care for its citizens. That care can be provided at government-run medical facilities (as is the case in Britain's NHS), but it's more commonly provided at private medical facilities.