Canadian Premier: 'My heart, my choice,' Williams says, defending decision for U.S. heart surgery

The Canadian Press ^ | 02/23/10 | Tara Brautigam

[AtlasStalled]

An unapologetic Danny Williams says he was aware his trip to the United States for heart surgery earlier this month would spark outcry, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the controversial decision.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Williams said he went to Miami to have a "minimally invasive" surgery for an ailment first detected nearly a year ago, based on the advice of his doctors.

"This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla.

"I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."

[A_Former_Democrat]

Sometimes irony just writes itself

[Principled]

so let’s see now....

you’re admitting the best care is in the US and you say it’s your right to get the best care.

so... why can’t you undo your socialized med and go to free market like i hope [and you hope too] we stay more or less - hopefully more.

[brownsfan]

Where will the wealthy Canadians go if or when Obama and his band of commies make our healthcare system the equal of the Canadian system?

Where are the smug Canadians telling us how superior their healthcare system is compared to ours?

[applpie]

this makes me absolutely livid. how dare he? how dare he say it was ‘his choice’ when his system (and ours) takes away the choice of the average citizen. in the US, a medicare patient with the same issue would be committing an illegal act if they sought healthcare outside the system once medicare says no. if medicare says ‘die’, you ‘die’. in this country the congress was VERY CLEVER (under a Republican President and Democratic Congress)—they made it illegal for both the physician and the patient to go around the government program.

JUST HOW STUPID IS AMERICA TO LET THIS HAPPEN? We expect socialism from Dems but Republicans you have shirked your duty for years to let us get in this position.

[Oldexpat]

We spent six weeks in Newfoundland a couple years ago. American’s tend not to know much about it, but Newfoundland was a colony of the UK until after the war. After the war, the UK could afford to keep it and they voted to become part of Canada. At the time, they actually had closer ties to the US in many ways. When people left Newfoundland for economic reasons they tended to go to the nearby NE US.
They really had no cash economy and few roads until WWII build up when thousands of US troops and contractors came and built airbases and port facilities. They also have been robbed of their resources..fish, oil and hydropower from Labrador(Ladrador and Newfoundland are the same CN province). There is even a independence movement in Newfoundland.

[ezfindit]

All Canadian pigs are equal, but some hypocritical leftist pigs are more equal than others... What a shameless Marxist!

[FormerACLUmember]

There is video of this snake Williams defending socialized medicine against all criticism.

He is a vomitous lying disgusting hypocrite when it comes down to it.

Hey Lowlife Danny! How about allowing the slaves in your country the same freedoms you have to access private care?

[TribalPrincess2U]

i tell you, the socialist have a brain cell missing.

[Nevermore]

Well, I can certainly understand Williams seeking the best available health care...but then why didn’t he go to Cuba?? /s

[Republic of Texas]

“Your choice”? Not under ZeroCare!

[avacado]

Socialism: A Master Class and a Lower Class... nothing in between!

[american colleen]

Love Newfoundland - have many relatives still there and have visited myself as well. If I remember correctly, they were one vote short of joining the USA in (I think it was) 1950. It was Joey Smallwood pushing to join Canada (big mistake, they are basically a welfare state now that they've been raped of their natural resources).

Cousin with Crohn's - waited about 10 years to have surgery to control it. 2nd cousin, a young girl, had TMJ since she was 10 or 11, many days out of school over the years due to the pain and headaches it caused as she grew. Finally, her dad ended up paying 17k (in Canadian dollars) to have it fixed in the USA when they just couldn't wait anymore on the Canadian Healthcare 'list' to get it fixed.

Newfoundlanders are the kindest people in the world - and they actually like Americans.

In keeping with the post though, it is amazing to me that Canadians don't see the irony and hypocrisy of the PM coming to America for health care.

[Alberta's Child]

It's worth noting that private health clinics are illegal under Canadian law, yet many provincial governments sign contracts with them for certain types of medical procedures. How 'effed up is that?

I've lived in Canada myself, and I find that most Canadians are not much different than Americans. We just draw lines at different places when it comes to personal liberty, freedom, natural rights, etc. In my mind, the typical Canadian I know is someone who desires nothing more than to live a simple life and die quietly. This is why they have always been some of the most docile people on the planet.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

you’re admitting the best care is in the US and you say it’s your right to get the best care.

I'm not sure if he's saying that about the health care system. There could be many factors, a particular doctor (for example), a particular facility related to his particular condition, or perhaps a combination of things, like distance and time and other factors (like being on the same continent and close to his home country.

You would probably have to ask him for the analysis of what went into his decision... but for a "general ranking" of the world health care systems, you can see the following...

Just on the basis (alone) of the year 2000 rankings of health care systems in the world, he could have gone to these countries, too.... being better than Canada...

France, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, Singapore, Spain, Oman, Austria, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Monaco, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Colombia, Sweden, Cyprus, Germany, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, or Morocco ...

And if someone in the United States wants to go to a better health care system in the world, they can go to these countries, according to that ranking...

France, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, Singapore, Spain, Oman, Austria, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Monaco, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Colombia, Sweden, Cyprus, Germany, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Morocco, Canada, Finland, Australia, Chile, Denmark, Dominica, or Costa Rica ...

---

Ranking Health Care Systems in the World, from year 2000 rankings.

1. France
2. Italy
3. San Marino
4. Andorra
5. Malta
6. Singapore
7. Spain
8. Oman
9. Austria
10. Japan
11. Norway
12. Portugal
13. Monaco
14. Greece
15. Iceland
16. Luxembourg
17. Netherlands
18. United Kingdom
19. Ireland
20. Switzerland
21. Belgium
22. Colombia
23. Sweden
24. Cyprus
25. Germany
26. Saudi Arabia
27. United Arab Emirates
28. Israel
29. Morocco
30. Canada
31. Finland
32. Australia
33. Chile
34. Denmark
35. Dominica
36. Costa Rica
37. United States of America
38. Slovenia
39. Cuba
40. Brunei
41. New Zealand
42. Bahrain
43. Croatia
44. Qatar
45. Kuwait
46. Barbados
47. Thailand
48. Czech Republic
49. Malaysia
50. Poland
51. Dominican Republic
52. Tunisia
53. Jamaica
54. Venezuela
55. Albania
56. Seychelles
57. Paraguay
58. South Korea
59. Senegal
60. Philippines
61. Mexico
62. Slovakia
63. Egypt
64. Kazakhstan
65. Uruguay
66. Hungary
67. Trinidad and Tobago
68. Saint Lucia
69. Belize
70. Turkey
71. Nicaragua
72. Belarus
73. Lithuania
74. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
75. Argentina
76. Sri Lanka
77. Estonia
78. Guatemala
79. Ukraine
80. Solomon Islands
81. Algeria
82. Palau
83. Jordan
84. Mauritius
85. Grenada
86. Antigua and Barbuda
87. Libya
88. Bangladesh
89. Macedonia
90. Bosnia-Herzegovina
91. Lebanon
92. Indonesia
93. Iran
94. Bahamas
95. Panama
96. Fiji
97. Benin
98. Nauru
99. Romania
100. Saint Kitts and Nevis
101. Moldova
102. Bulgaria
103. Iraq
104. Armenia
105. Latvia
106. Yugoslavia
107. Cook Islands
108. Syria
109. Azerbaijan
110. Suriname
111. Ecuador
112. India
113. Cape Verde
114. Georgia
115. El Salvador
116. Tonga
117. Uzbekistan
118. Comoros
119. Samoa
120. Yemen
121. Niue
122. Pakistan
123. Micronesia
124. Bhutan
125. Brazil
126. Bolivia
127. Vanuatu
128. Guyana
129. Peru
130. Russia
131. Honduras
132. Burkina Faso
133. Sao Tome and Principe
134. Sudan
135. Ghana
136. Tuvalu
137. Ivory Coast
138. Haiti
139. Gabon
140. Kenya
141. Marshall Islands
142. Kiribati
143. Burundi
144. China
145. Mongolia
146. Gambia
147. Maldives
148. Papua New Guinea
149. Uganda
150. Nepal
151. Kyrgystan
152. Togo
153. Turkmenistan
154. Tajikistan
155. Zimbabwe
156. Tanzania
157. Djibouti
158. Eritrea
159. Madagascar
160. Vietnam
161. 1Guinea
162. Mauritania
163. Mali
164. Cameroon
165. Laos
166. Congo
167. North Korea
168. Namibia
169. Botswana
170. Niger
171. Equatorial Guinea
172. Rwanda
173. 17Afghanistan
174. Cambodia
175. South Africa
176. Guinea-Bissau
177. Swaziland
178. Chad
179. Somalia
180. Ethiopia
181. Angola
182. Zambia
183. Lesotho
184. Mozambique
185. Malawi
186. Liberia
187. Nigeria
188. Democratic Republic of the Congo
189. Central African Republic
190. Myanmar

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

In keeping with the post though, it is amazing to me that Canadians don't see the irony and hypocrisy of the PM coming to America for health care.

I'm not really sure about that, considering that a lot of goods in our own stores, come from China, and cars that come from Japan or Korea or somewhere in Europe, and then a lot of oil from the Muslim countries (to say nothing about some of that oil coming from the great country of Venezuela... LOL...), and you can go right down the list of things we've all got in our houses and that we wear and that we consume from all other places than right here in this country.

It would seem that the consumers in the U.S. do a lot of "supporting" of many other countries in the world...

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

Sometimes irony just writes itself

The real irony is him coming to a country that ranks 37th in the world health care systems (according to year 2000 rankings, which may have changed today... somewhat).

You would have thought he would have picked a country that had higher rankings than Canada...

But, I'm sure that there were other factors in his decision, like same type of culture, maybe a specific doctor (or team of doctors) that had a reputation that fit his condition, or that particular facility that ranked high as compared to other facilities... and so on.

So, just the world ranking of the health care systems may not have been the primary factor...

[american colleen]

Oh I agree about the irony of us supporting economies like China, etc. Some stuff you just can't make up ;-) Especially when we need jobs in our own country. But that is paying the piper - we want cheap goods and don't and haven't seen the big picture of what wanting/demanding cheap goods does to your own economy (attention Walmart shoppers!).

But healthcare is so much more of a personal choice and our government doesn't yet make it illegal for us to seek medical attention outside of our own country.

[Star Traveler]

I have no idea who this author is, so one can read the information and glean whatever data is worthwhile. Other Freepers quote various "Examiner" articles here, so I've seen this publication show up numerous times, but I think that all sorts of views can be printed in this publication, so take it as you will...

---

Why change? The US has the 37th best health care system in the world

July 2, 2009 - 12:17 PM
Extreme Weight Loss Examiner
by Mark Rubi

Yes, it is true that the US has the 37th best health care system in the world, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Fortunately for the ego of the United States, the WHO stopped doing the ranking in 2000 due to the difficulty of compiling the data.

The top ten are France, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, SIngapore, Spain, Oman, Austria, and Japan.

11-20 are Norway, Portugal, Monaco, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Switzerland.

21-30 are Belgium, Columbia, Sweden, Cyprus, Germany, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Morocco, and Canada.

31-40 are Finland, Australia, Chile, Denmark, Dominica, Costa Rica, United States of America, Slovenia, Cuba and Brunei.

41-50 are New Zealand, Bahrain, Croatia, Qatar, Kuwait, Barbados, Thailand, Czech Repubic, Malaysia, and Poland

Although our health care system is the ranked behind nearly every other industrialized country, the US can proudly boast that we pay more, a LOT more, than anyone else for our care. Not only does the United States spend more than $1 trillion more per year than anyone else on the planet, we also pay more, a lot more, per capita for our health care.

The World Health Organization says, “The U. S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance.” This puts to rest the tired notion that the American “free market” pushes for the most efficient and least expensive system. In fact, we are the least efficient healthcare in the industrialized world.

The graphs from the Kaiser Family Foundation represents expenditures from the latest worldwide data, from 2003, when we were spending a mere $5,711 dollars a year per person for our health care. That number is now nearly $8,000 a year. Our health care costs, as a percentage of our Gross Domestic Product, have gone from 7% in 1970 to 15.2% in 2003. President Obama, in numerous speeches, points out that at current growth rates the cost of our health care will be 20% of our GDP by 2015.

Only one other country, Switzerland, pays as much as 11% of their GDP for their health care. Two out of three pay less than 10%. Most of the advanced nations in the world see health care as a right, and to quote the well known credit card commercial, “priceless.” In the United States, however, health care is NOT a right, and it does have a price, and a very high price indeed.

For all the money we spend, it would be nice if the health of Americans reflected that expenditure. But are we the healthiest country in the world? No, but we are the fattest. More than 30% of the adult population in the US is now considered medically obese. That 30% more than doubles the rate of most European countries, and triples the rates in France and Denmark.

The health care industry is going to spend billions of dollars to defeat health care reform. Thousands of “Health Scare” stories will be published in our newspapers and magazines. Millionaire lobbyists in high priced suits will be paying lots of visits to your elected officials. Advertisements will be all over the television, radio, and the internet. All of the effort will be made to convince the American public and their elected representatives that reforming health care would be too costly. And it would be too costly… to the health care industry.

The reason the folks in the health care industry are going to spend billions to defeat health care reform is because it works. Time and time again, the best interests of 300 million Americans have been pushed aside for the welfare of the very few. One of the leaders of the fight against reform is Rick Scott. He founded a group called "Conservatives for Patient's Rights," whose motto is "Tell Congress to listen, too."

It's interesting that Scott is promoting patient's rights since he was forced out as head of the Columbia/HCA health care company after the company was found guilty of fraudulent billing of state and federal health plans. Columbia/HCA was fined a record $1.7 billion for their infraction.

That’s because the health care industry believes that they have a “right” to your money. And they believe that they have the “right” to deny you health care if it gets too expensive. The insurance companies don’t want to compete with the government but are adamant that they be “free” to deny coverage to whomever they choose. Medical care, especially in our overpriced system, can be a serious hindrance to profits. That's why they like to dump high cost patients onto the government and US citizens who pay with their taxes.

Americans have long held the attitude that, as Americans, we have “rights.” These “rights” set us apart from much of the world. However, much of the world has caught up and even passed us by recognizing that health care is a basic human right, and not a commodity. If that doesn’t make you think, try this: Failure to fix the health care system will bankrupt this country.

For more info: Find out the facts about US health care costs. Don't let the commercials and articles extoling the wonders of our care fool you. The health care industry has been ripping off the country for a long time. Tell your elected officials that we want to get what we pay for. Tell your congressmen and senators that you want the same health care rights as the rest of the industrialized world.

© Mark Rubi, July 2, 2009

[TexasRepublic]

Politicians should be forced to live within the nightmares they create, along with the rest of us. To Hell with the elites.