The failures of the Canadian healthcare system that Bernie and the fascist progressives want to hoist on Americans!
Mar 9, 2020 14:53:30 #
Bernie Isn't Showing You the Darker Side of Canadian Health Care
By Peter St. Onge | March 2, 2020 | 11:43am EST
“All Americans, regardless of political party, want access to timely, high-quality health care. The question is how to get there. Do we harness the power and innovation of the private sector, or do we hand it to the government and hope for the best?
Canada has chosen the latter route, and at one of the most recent debates among Democratic presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders once again touted its government-run health care system as a model for America.
Alas, Sanders’ sanitized version of Canadian health care doesn’t remotely fit the facts.
No more out-of-pocket expenses? In reality, Canadians’ out-of-pocket health costs are nearly identical to what Americans pay—a difference of roughly $15 per month.
In return, Canadians pay up to 50 percent more in taxes than Americans, with government health costs alone accounting for $9,000 in additional taxes per year. This comes to roughly $50 in additional taxes per dollar saved in out-of-pocket costs.
Keep in mind these are only the beginning of the financial hits from “Medicare for All.” Canada’s public system does not cover many large health costs, from pharmaceuticals to nursing homes to dental and vision.
As a result, public health spending in Canada accounts for only 70 percent of total health spending.
In contrast, Medicare for All proposals promise 100 percent coverage. This suggests the financial burdens on Americans, and distortions to care, would be far greater than what Canadians already suffer.
Canada’s limited coverage may surprise Americans, but the key is understanding what “universal” means in “universal care.”
Universal systems mean everybody is forced to join the public system. It emphatically does not mean everything is free.
Indeed, out-of-pocket costs are actually significantly higher in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway than they are in America.
More serious than the financial burdens is what happens to quality of care in a government-run system.
Canada’s total health costs are about one-third cheaper than the U.S. as a percent of gross domestic product, but this is achieved by undesirable cost-control practices. For example, care is ruthlessly rationed, with waiting lists running into months or years.
The system also cuts corners by using older and cheaper drugs and skimping on modern equipment.
Canada today has fewer MRI units per capita than Turkey or Latvia.
Moreover, underinvestment in facilities and staff has reached the point where Canadians are being treated in hospital hallways.
Predictably, Canada’s emergency rooms are packed. In the province of Quebec, wait times average over four hours, leading many patients to just give up, go home, and hope for the best.
Seeing a specialist can take a shockingly long time. One doctor in Ontario called in a referral for a neurologist and was told there was a four-and-a-half year waiting list.
A 16-year-old boy in British Columbia waited three years for an urgent surgery, during which his condition worsened and he was left paraplegic. One Montreal man finally got the call for his long-delayed urgent surgery—but it came two months after he had died.
Canadians have found a way to escape the rationing, the long waits, and substandard equipment. They go to the U.S.
Every year, more than 50,000 Canadians fly to get their surgeries here because they can get high-quality care and fast treatment at a reasonable price. They willingly pay cash for care that, for the vast majority of Americans, is covered by insurance, private or public.
Far from being a model of government-run health care, Canada serves as a warning of the unintended consequences of socialized medicine: high taxes, long waits, staff shortages, and substandard drugs and equipment. Those suffering the most are the poor, who cannot afford to fly abroad for timely treatment.
Far from the feel-good rhetoric, socialized medicine in Canada has proved a bait-and-switch that has never lived up to the promise.
In Washington today, there are very sound proposals on the table to reduce U.S. health care costs. They include reforms to assure price transparency, increase competition, and repeal price-hiking mandates. That is the best way forward.
Canada’s system of socialized medicine has created high taxes and suffering patients. That’s not what Americans want or deserve.”
[Peter St. Onge, Ph.D., is a Montreal Economic Institute senior economist. A former Taiwan’s Feng Chia University assistant professor and Washington, D.C. private equity fund general partner, he holds an economics doctorate from George Mason University.]
By Peter St. Onge | March 2, 2020 | 11:43am EST
“All Americans, regardless of political party, want access to timely, high-quality health care. The question is how to get there. Do we harness the power and innovation of the private sector, or do we hand it to the government and hope for the best?
Canada has chosen the latter route, and at one of the most recent debates among Democratic presidential candidates, Bernie Sanders once again touted its government-run health care system as a model for America.
Alas, Sanders’ sanitized version of Canadian health care doesn’t remotely fit the facts.
No more out-of-pocket expenses? In reality, Canadians’ out-of-pocket health costs are nearly identical to what Americans pay—a difference of roughly $15 per month.
In return, Canadians pay up to 50 percent more in taxes than Americans, with government health costs alone accounting for $9,000 in additional taxes per year. This comes to roughly $50 in additional taxes per dollar saved in out-of-pocket costs.
Keep in mind these are only the beginning of the financial hits from “Medicare for All.” Canada’s public system does not cover many large health costs, from pharmaceuticals to nursing homes to dental and vision.
As a result, public health spending in Canada accounts for only 70 percent of total health spending.
In contrast, Medicare for All proposals promise 100 percent coverage. This suggests the financial burdens on Americans, and distortions to care, would be far greater than what Canadians already suffer.
Canada’s limited coverage may surprise Americans, but the key is understanding what “universal” means in “universal care.”
Universal systems mean everybody is forced to join the public system. It emphatically does not mean everything is free.
Indeed, out-of-pocket costs are actually significantly higher in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway than they are in America.
More serious than the financial burdens is what happens to quality of care in a government-run system.
Canada’s total health costs are about one-third cheaper than the U.S. as a percent of gross domestic product, but this is achieved by undesirable cost-control practices. For example, care is ruthlessly rationed, with waiting lists running into months or years.
The system also cuts corners by using older and cheaper drugs and skimping on modern equipment.
Canada today has fewer MRI units per capita than Turkey or Latvia.
Moreover, underinvestment in facilities and staff has reached the point where Canadians are being treated in hospital hallways.
Predictably, Canada’s emergency rooms are packed. In the province of Quebec, wait times average over four hours, leading many patients to just give up, go home, and hope for the best.
Seeing a specialist can take a shockingly long time. One doctor in Ontario called in a referral for a neurologist and was told there was a four-and-a-half year waiting list.
A 16-year-old boy in British Columbia waited three years for an urgent surgery, during which his condition worsened and he was left paraplegic. One Montreal man finally got the call for his long-delayed urgent surgery—but it came two months after he had died.
Canadians have found a way to escape the rationing, the long waits, and substandard equipment. They go to the U.S.
Every year, more than 50,000 Canadians fly to get their surgeries here because they can get high-quality care and fast treatment at a reasonable price. They willingly pay cash for care that, for the vast majority of Americans, is covered by insurance, private or public.
Far from being a model of government-run health care, Canada serves as a warning of the unintended consequences of socialized medicine: high taxes, long waits, staff shortages, and substandard drugs and equipment. Those suffering the most are the poor, who cannot afford to fly abroad for timely treatment.
Far from the feel-good rhetoric, socialized medicine in Canada has proved a bait-and-switch that has never lived up to the promise.
In Washington today, there are very sound proposals on the table to reduce U.S. health care costs. They include reforms to assure price transparency, increase competition, and repeal price-hiking mandates. That is the best way forward.
Canada’s system of socialized medicine has created high taxes and suffering patients. That’s not what Americans want or deserve.”
[Peter St. Onge, Ph.D., is a Montreal Economic Institute senior economist. A former Taiwan’s Feng Chia University assistant professor and Washington, D.C. private equity fund general partner, he holds an economics doctorate from George Mason University.]
Mar 10, 2020 03:14:31 #
Mar 10, 2020 10:39:58 #
Kraken wrote:
What a crock of BS. 
I've said it many times. Gov't run health care works well for well patient care. And perhaps for emergency non surgical treatment as well. But breaks down for surgical and specialty phbysician appointments. the vwaits for these kind of things can be serious and occasionally life threatining. Furthermoe the unintended consequences, such as the closing of community hospitals as well as many physicians retireing, leading to a serious lack of doctors will occur. Medicare for all (gov't run health care) would be an absolute disaster.
Mar 10, 2020 11:20:00 #
boberic wrote:
I've said it many times. Gov't run health care wo... (show quote)
We have had health care for all since 1966 so when is this absolute disaster going to happen? A 2009
Harris-Decima poll found 82% of Canadians preferred their healthcare system to the one in the United
States.
Mar 10, 2020 11:25:39 #
Kraken wrote:
What a crock of BS.
No it isn't. Its true for a lot of people. I have friends in Canada who work in healthcare and one just retired from nuclear medicine. If you have a doctor that advocates for you - and not all do this - then it works well.
Mar 10, 2020 11:30:45 #
Rose42 wrote:
No it isn't. Its true for a lot of people. I have friends in Canada who work in healthcare and one just retired from nuclear medicine. If you have a doctor that advocates for you - and not all do this - then it works well.
As I said on previous post, 82% of Canadians are happy with our healthcare system. And that is pretty
good numbers since you can't please everyone.
Mar 10, 2020 11:42:26 #
Kraken wrote:
As I said on previous post, 82% of Canadians are happy with our healthcare system. And that is pretty
good numbers since you can't please everyone.
good numbers since you can't please everyone.
They need to ask those who've had serious illnesses not just the average Joe who has had no major issues. Many who can afford it go to the States for faster treatment.
No system is perfect. Ours sure isn't. For one thing drug prices are criminally high.
Mar 10, 2020 11:55:05 #
Kraken wrote:
As I said on previous post, 82% of Canadians are happy with our healthcare system. And that is pretty
good numbers since you can't please everyone.
good numbers since you can't please everyone.
Canadians Are One In A Million -- While Waiting For Medical Treatment
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypipes/2018/06/11/canadians-are-one-in-a-million-while-waiting-for-medical-treatment/#68ecc61f3e7d
Why Canada’s ‘best’ health-care system just got ranked last — again
https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/william-watson-why-canadas-best-health-care-system-just-got-ranked-last-again
Canada’s health-care system is third-last in new ranking of developed countries
https://globalnews.ca/news/3599458/canadas-health-care-system-lower-performing-compared-to-its-peers-study/
Is Canadian health care as great as we like to think?
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/is-canadian-health-care-as-great-as-we-like-to-think-1.3641544
Dying For Timely Health Care
https://c2cjournal.ca/2019/11/dying-for-timely-health-care/
Mar 10, 2020 12:06:04 #
Rose42 wrote:
They need to ask those who've had serious illnesses not just the average Joe who has had no major issues. Many who can afford it go to the States for faster treatment.
No system is perfect. Ours sure isn't. For one thing drug prices are criminally high.
No system is perfect. Ours sure isn't. For one thing drug prices are criminally high.
I have been around for 70 plus years and I have yet to talk to one single person that that has gone
themselves or heard of anyone else who has gone to the states for medical treatment.
I am sure that there are some that have gone but I guess I just don't travel in that circle of people.
Mar 10, 2020 12:17:37 #
Kraken wrote:
What a crock of BS.
What taste of your own medicine eh........
Mar 11, 2020 19:05:14 #
Kraken wrote:
What a crock of BS.
Every item is true.
Mar 11, 2020 19:06:33 #
Kraken wrote:
We have had health care for all since 1966 so when is this absolute disaster going to happen? A 2009
Harris-Decima poll found 82% of Canadians preferred their healthcare system to the one in the United
States.
Harris-Decima poll found 82% of Canadians preferred their healthcare system to the one in the United
States.
Who cares?It just proves canucks are not very bright.
If you guys were serious about it you would pass a law preventing canucks from getting ANY medical treatment in the U.S.
Mar 11, 2020 19:07:29 #
Rose42 wrote:
They need to ask those who've had serious illnesses not just the average Joe who has had no major issues. Many who can afford it go to the States for faster treatment.
No system is perfect. Ours sure isn't. For one thing drug prices are criminally high.
No system is perfect. Ours sure isn't. For one thing drug prices are criminally high.
It’s simple.....we even proved it here with HMOs. A national system is great for general health issues but fails when it comes to serious issues (cancers, hearts, etc.)
Mar 11, 2020 19:53:17 #
LWW
Loc: Banana Republic of America
Kraken wrote:
I have been around for 70 plus years and I have yet to talk to one single person that that has gone
themselves or heard of anyone else who has gone to the states for medical treatment.
I am sure that there are some that have gone but I guess I just don't travel in that circle of people.
themselves or heard of anyone else who has gone to the states for medical treatment.
I am sure that there are some that have gone but I guess I just don't travel in that circle of people.
I have a friend who fell on Canadian ice.
The hospital was kind enough to call them a cab to a Detroit hospital.
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