Health Care in Canada is sick and dying

If you are an American who, for some reason, thinks that government-funded health care is the way to go, just look at Canada. As a Canadian, I, on one hand, appreciate the "free" access to health care. The US model is ridiculously expensive. On the other hand, I hate the fact that I have to wait in line all the time for even the most basic health care.

I pay more taxes than most, ergo, I should get better health care. That's simple. I should also be able to pay for even better health care out of my pocket (either through direct billing or through insurance). That's simple too.

Now, in typically American fashion, getting health care in the US is over-priced and ultimately about as stressful as whatever ailment required the health care to begin with! There has to be a happy medium. In an affluent society, everyone should be able to get affordable health care. However, people who can afford it should be able to get more timely health care. This is part of the privilege of being successful...oh, wait. Being successful is a bad thing in Canada. I forgot.

Perhaps a solution would be to have people OPT OUT of public health care altogether or perhaps some sort of percentage plan. That is, the government would only cover 50% of your health care costs. By opting into this, you would get a reduced tax rate. Good idea? I think so.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You get what you pay for.

There's a reason health care in the US costs a lot. Because it's better. You're paying for inferior health care. The Canadian government has no reason to provide you with superior health care. It has a monopoly. If your government released health care from its clutches to the free market, competition would result in superior health care at its actual market cost, which would probably be a little expensive. When a doctor diagnosed my grandmother with breast cancer, the hospital operated on her within two days even though she had what most of us would consider a sub-standard health insurance policy. She also paid very little out of pocket. It's amazing what the free market can do.

You're also exaggerating the difficulty of acquiring health care in the US. Most of us just receive a prepackaged health care plan through our employers at a reduced cost (because it's a group plan). (It's not a very agonizing decision even if we purchase health care independently.) We usually pay a monthly fee that's deducted from our paycheck. We also have county hospitals, free clinics, and government contigency health care for children, the elderly, and the poor. I think socialized medicine survives in countries like Canada and the UK because of the perpetuated myth that health care coverage in the United States is so uncommon or difficult to obtain. One British friend of mine said that government officials in the UK made him think that Americans were dying in the streets in large numbers because of a lack of socialized health care. Funny!

If you think you should be able to opt of public health care, then do you think you should also be able to opt out of other government programs or services you find inadequate or burdensome? I do, but I suspect you don't.

Because it seems to me that if you buy into the idea that taxes are necessary, good or even just (as you imply several times in your post), then you don't have any claim over your income. You're not handing that money over voluntarily and you don't think you ought to. It's not your money and it never was if the government can seize it without your consent. Why, then, would you assume that you have any right to dictate how the government spends its own money? You're trying to apply free market rules to a socialist system of involuntary taxes and government monopolies.
Steve said…
I don't think I ever implied in my article that taxes were a good thing. I think you inferred that simply because I am resigned to them being there. I also believe I should be able to opt out of all government "programs" as I think they are all flawed.

For accessible health care, the government doesn't have to "control" it. They can simply set themselves up as a less expensive health insurance corporation, and people who cannot afford personal health insurance pay into that. Instead of all of us paying taxes, you pay on a need-to-use basis.


Of course, as education is also subsidized here, that would go also. Right now, each and every doctor who goes through Canadian univerities does so with gov't support. It's funny that they then complain about not being able to charge what they want, and earn what they want. So, opening that up would mean no more subsidized education.

By the way, what would have happened if your grandmother had NO health insurance?

Also, your claims of health care in the US being better is ridiculous. Don't talk about what you don't know.

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