Universal healthcare results from a government mandated program to provide all citizens, and sometimes permanent residents, of a governmental region access to most types of health care regardless of ability to pay. Patients may pay for some portion of their care directly, but most care is subsidized by taxpayers and/or by compulsory insurance.The National Health Service (NHS), established in the United Kingdom in 1948, was the world's first universal health care system provided by government. Universal health care is provided in most developed countries and in many developing countries.

The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not provide universal health care.

The government covers a little over one-quarter of the population through healthcare programs for the elderly (Medicare), disabled (Social Security), military service families and veterans (Tricare and VHA), children (SCHIP), and the poor (Medicare). Federal law ensures public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. However, this unfunded mandate has contributed to a health care safety net that some analyses say is increasingly strained. Certain types of medical spending and particularly health insurance benefit from significant tax subsidies; in particular, employer-sponsored health insurance is a non-taxable benefit.

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