Canadian Brand Socialism: Failing the Sick, (Young) and Poor

Pajamas Media . Com ^ | 11/23/05 | Heather Cook

[llevrok]

Canadians are proud of their social safety net. Growing up in the True North, Strong and Free, I was never afraid of not being able to afford to go to the doctor and I knew that there were programs out there that magically took care of the sick and poor. Though I’ve never had to take social assistance, family members of mine have.

But it wasn’t until I started paying taxes that I started to hold the system to higher expectations. And it wasn’t until I started getting some real world experience that I realized that in some ways the system is very broken.

If US health care is broken due to its inaccessibility, Canadian health care is broken because it’s too accessible. Imagine that US health care has ten doors with different admission costs. The line up for the ‘free’ door is long, but there’s still a steady stream at the other end where the entry is so expensive that there’s a sign overhead reading “if you have to ask - you can’t afford it”.

In Canada, there’s one door. And, lucky you, there’s no admission. Well, unless you count the provincial health care fees you have to pay if you make more than the accepted poverty level. And those pesky taxes.

But that one door? It has a heck of a lineup.

[llevrok]

too long to post fully- but a thought provoking read.

[SunkenCiv]

Somewhere around here I read that federal control over health care would combine the efficiency of government with the compassion of insurance companies. ;’)

Nationalized healthcare (which is an oxymoron anyway) serves as a prop, or a crutch if you will, for the Dhimmicrats — but only during the campaign. As with the liberation and rebuilding of Iraq, they ran on one platform, then didn’t do anything once they won.

Y’know, because they’re not concerned which way the horse is headed, as long as they’re the ones holding the reins.