Of course, socialized medicine can also be used as a wealth redistribution tool. Most people will require hospitalization at some point in their lives, and these costs are a significant fraction of GNP; therefore how you pay for it will affect the distribution of wealth in society.
And though I agree with the spirit in which you approach the issue, this is where I part ways. I regard the issue as so large that socialized medicine cannot help but be a vast step towards state control of the means of production. In the US, combined local-state-federal spending is about 43% of GDP. If healthcare were fully socialized (it's already about 50% socialized), that would rise to about 50% of GDP. Frankly, I'm uncomfortable at the 43% mark already– when you talk about the state having direct, fiat control of so many entire industries vital to everyday living, and direct control of half or more of the entire economy... yeah, I have a hard time seeing that as anything less than socialist.
