Among those who say they have at least some understanding of socialized medicine -- any system of medical care that is publicly financed, government administered, or both -- 45 percent say it would be better, 39 percent say it would be worse, 12 percent do not know and 4 percent say about the same.

The poll, by the Harvard School of Public Health and Harris Interactive, found 60 percent believe that Medicare is socialized medicine, 47 percent feel that the veterans healthcare system is socialized medicine.

Fifty-five percent of younger adults ages 18 to 34 are more likely to view socialized medicine positively compared to seniors age 65 and older at 30 percent.

Nineteen percent of the uninsured think that a socialized medicine system would be worse than the current system compared to 57 percent who think it would be better.

The telephone survey of more than 1,000 adults was conducted twice, once in January and once in February has a sampling error of plus/minus 3 percentage points in 95 out of 100 cases.