The Truth About Canadian Health Care
This from Tim Challies' blog today, a revealing and objective analysis of Canadian health care from one who lives there. Incidentally, I've heard the same refrain from a close friend who moved here from Canada:
Americans are debating the future of their nation's health care and as they do so, they keep looking beyond their borders to the systems in place in other countries. And, very often, their attention rests on Canada. More often than not, at least today, it is conservatives focusing on Canada, telling stories of woe, describing the utter breakdown of health care. You hear of people who have been forced to mortgage their homes and travel to the United States in order to receive basic care; you hear of people forced south of the border by hospitals that have no free beds; you hear of people who are utterly unable to find even a family doctor. Believe the press and you'll think the Canadian system is in utter disrepair.
Now I am not much of one for politics, and especially so when those politics span two nations. Neither am I an economist who can talk about how Canada's health care system impacts the nation financially (though obviously it's a significant burden on the taxpayer). But what I do want to say is this: the truth about Canadian Health Care is that it's really stinkin' good. As a nation we are hard-wired to complain and we do tend to complain about our health system as we grumble about our politicians, hockey players and donuts. But we also like to boast and when we talk to Americans, one of the things we like to boast in most is the health care system (or the beer, depending on your personality type).
You can read the rest of Tim's fascinating article here.
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John--
ReplyDeleteJust a few thoughts here. First, in his article, he states:
"But for the average Canadian, the health care system is entirely adequate and we really have no good reason to complain."
I think that most American's would say the same. The ostensible reason for "reforming" American health care is not that everyone hates it, but its expensive and many fall outside the system. For those inside the system, most are generally satisfied, which is why President Obama has had to stress, "if you like your current plan, you can keep it."
The criticisms of the Canadian system are, like here, in the extremes. If you need very specialized, expensive medical equipment, then you must wait much longer than in the U.S. If you just need to see a doc for routine actions, then its probably ok--and that's what the article you reference points to.
What people often do NOT mention is the supposed cost reduction of the Canadian system is due mostly to the fact that the Canadian population is MUCH younger than the U.S. population. As you know, we spend much of our health $$ in the last 6 months of an American's life (I've seen estimates as high as 1/3). So you should expect--even at the exact same level of care--for the U.S. system to be more expensive. And of course, the U.S. system has more "options" so it is even more expensive.
I think you should open this discussion up to the intersection of this political issue and our responsibilities as Christians. For instance, consider the following questions:
1) What right or obligation do we have to pay for another's health care?
2) Under what biblical basis can we say that someone must purchase health insurance or be fined?
3) To whom do we turn for healing?
and there are many others. We must think biblically about all issues, including health care. And noticably absent from the article you referenced is any discussion of that aspect.