Posted on 07/12/2004 12:37:27 PM PDT by RetiredArmy
Dear America…
by Klaus Rohrich
Last week John Kerry called for a national healthcare system in the U.S., like the one in Canada. If you Americans are planning to institute a national universal healthcare system similar to ours, you might want to look somewhere other than Canada for the ideal model.
To give you a brief overview of Canada’s Universal healthcare system, it all started off well enough and ran like a top for many years. I remember when it was normal to call a doctor and get an appointment the same day, when one could get to see a specialist the next day or when someone needed a by-pass operation he or she didn’t have to wait a year to get it. Of course, in those days health care wasn’t exactly free, either. You see, all Canadians (except those who truly could not afford it) had to pay a monthly premium for their coverage.
Then the federal Liberals (the equivalent of your Democrats) decided to pass the Canada Health Act, which made medical coverage a basic human right. The act stipulated that health care was to be provided by the government only and that any form of private care was illegal. It put the burden of paying for healthcare into the hands of taxpayers, as the service would now be paid from the government’s general coffers.
In addition, there were numerous other provisions, such as controlling costs by limiting doctors’ salaries and keeping nurses and other healthcare professionals at relatively low wages.
So the first thing that happened was that the doctors threatened to go on strike. The government called their bluff and told them to go ahead, but the doctors chickened out. Next, many of our best doctors moved to the United States, where government was not going to limit the amount of money they could earn.
Of course, the end result is predictable. Most jurisdictions in Canada now have a doctor shortage, despite the government’s denial of this stark reality. Anyone without a family physician is forced to attend a soviet-style walk-in clinic to receive routine medical care. As transient physicians staff these clinics, there is no relationship that develops between the doctor and his patients and items such as annual physical examinations are not available in these clinics. If one’s family doctor should retire, move or become deceased, then all of the doctor’s patients will be scrambling to find a new doctor. Yet, the government appears to be creating this doctor shortage on purpose, as enrollment in medical schools is strictly regulated and only a certain number of applicants are ever accepted, regardless of their academic standing.
The patient to doctor ratio varies from 2,000 to 4,000 patients per doctor, depending on geographical location. And many tests and procedures are beginning to be de-listed; meaning that the public healthcare system will no longer pay for them. Among these are items such as PSA examinations, which is used to screen for prostate cancer in men, physiotherapy or chiropractic treatments, certain dermatological procedures, such as the removal of skin growths and eye examinations.
The province of Ontario has recently decided that its "free health care" is now subject to an annual premium (spelled T-A-X), imposed on every taxpayer in the province. While this has angered most Ontario taxpayers, the government is refusing to look at any other alternatives to the way it currently provides healthcare.
While on a recent visit to Toronto’s Orthopedic and Arthritic Hospital, a facility specializing in the treatment of bone and joint problems, I overheard the harried receptionist at the clinic explaining why the patient would have to wait four to five months to receive surgical treatment.
"There are only so many orthopedic surgeons to go around." She explained. The patient was fortunate to have seen a surgeon and was waiting for a date for his procedure. Prior to his appointment with the surgeon, the patient had to be referred in writing by his family doctor, which usually takes from four to six weeks. After the initial visit, the surgeon likely requested an MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging procedure to determine the severity of the problem. Getting an MRI in Canada can take up to six months, although many Canadians choose to cross the border into the U.S. where they can get it next day for about $450.
After the MRI, the results of which can take as long as six to eight weeks to get back to the doctor, the patient has to make another appointment with the surgeon to find out if the procedure is warranted. From there an appointment is made, which usually takes two to three months. So from the time that one is aware of a serious problem, such a herniated vertebral disc until the time, the problem is actually dealt with, as much as a whole year can pass.
Other procedures can take longer, as in the case of hip or knee replacements, which can take three to four years of waiting.
Those Canadians who can afford it (including, by the way Paul Martin, our Prime Minister) will get their medical treatment at private clinics in the U.S. to avoid waiting. Often individuals who do this are vilified by other Canadians as "line jumpers", even though they jump the line outside the public healthcare system and pay for it themselves.
From where I sit, the U.S. healthcare system looks pretty good. Yes, it’s expensive, but the facilities are in place to provide care in a timely fashion. Those unable to afford medical treatment can still receive treatment provided at charity or county hospitals.
The Canadian healthcare system is currently threatening to collapse of its own inertia. Yes, it’s a good system we have here in Canada, so long as you make sure you never get sick. That’s why Americans would be well advised to look at a more flexible system than ours.
Klaus Rohrich is President and Creative Director of Taylor/Rohrich Associates Inc., a marketing and advertising firm that specializes in niche marketing residential real estate developments www.trmarketing.com. Email: klaus@trmarketing.com.
Gee, if Canadian upper class is jumping the lines, can you imagine what the John Kerry's and Heinz's will do???? hmmm, lets presently they get preferential insurance and health care for life, they get bennys and special stipends for life, so of course they would want to lead the other Socialists to the line of the clinic, by being first in line???? And being a man of the people, he would give up all his "priviledges"? When jellybeans fly outta a ducks $#$%^!!
Then with the greatest chutzpah and corlones in American history, try to ride into power with a Canadian system.
No one seems to have a problem with the U.S. health system from a quality aspect, its only the price which is driving this movement to socialization.
It seems to me that socialized medicine is throwing the baby out with the bathwater as there's no evidence that the same quality of care would be any cheaper, especially since no socialized system is yet able to provide the quality of care that the U.S. system does in order to do any sort of cost comparison.
Yet the same people who are pushing for this, are against any sort of meaningful tort reform, which puts major upwards pressure on healthcare prices, and are also against eliminating the layers of government-imposed regulations on healthcare professionals both within and without the government-funded "insurance" organizations. Not to mention the quagmire that is the FDA...
We used to have quality health care that was affordable, and it was before the government and the trial lawyers got involved. More government certainly isn't the solution.
The Left by definition is superior to the great unwashed. There will be two systems, one for the elite, one for every one else. Average folks just need to do as they're told.
"Socialized medicine has nothing to do with fairness or efficiency but everything to do with raw power and control."
You both make the same point, and I agree with both of you wholeheartedly.
Our friends lived in Alberta, where are you?
I guess we have to wait for the official Canadian rebuttal to see how this is all Bush's fault.
Your first hand information is appreciated.
The other major problem has been fed by liberalism - cradle to grave healthcare entitlement.
People also are far removed from the costs of the care they receive. Case: A buddy of mine showed up at soccer practice (for the kids) with gauze, bandaids and other evidence of a hospital visit. He said he had been feeling a lack of energy lately and told his doctor ($10 copay). The doc referred him for a full host of heart/stress/health tests that included a CT scan (?) and other high-tech procedures ($35 copay). He's fine - just needs to fix his diet and exercise more. His feeling was that it was a good deal for $45! I know the argument - if the procedures found something wrong that could be fixed, then it was money well spent.
Everything is inflated at every level. There are no easy answers.
"Y Wonder how it will affect the cash flow of lawyers such as Edwards who depended on the deep pockets of private medical practitioners and organizations as a source of their malpractice mega-awards for birth defects such as cerebral palsy? The federal gubmint may not be as lucrative a target"
it's all a part of their marxist plans, my friend.
first they destroy it (trial lawyers)
then the sound the alarms in the media and proclaim it a crisis.
then they replace it.
>>but we need our RNC boys and girls to come up with a solution before the voting public without insurance becomes the majority.
Allow me to explain how we got into this mess in the first place. Health care was never considered to be part of a person's employment package until the government implemented wage and price controls during WWII. Then, employers started offering health insurance as a way to attract employees without violating the wage and price controls. Somewhere along the line, the IRS said ( perhaps by a law ) that health insurance benefits were not taxable. Once companies took the responsibilty of paying for health care services away from the consumer, the whole thing went to pot. HMO's were a direct result of the spiraling health care costs 20 years ago and were promoted by the government. Of course, the fundamental problem of not having the consumer paying for goods and services directly only got worse with HMO's and now politicians, being who they are, go after HMO's as the culprits.
The solution to the crises of health care costs is simple: Make it a taxable benefit like all other benefits. Then employers will stop offering it to employees. Once employees spend their money on health care services like consumers, the costs of health care will decline dramatically and everyone will have enough money to pay for catastrophic insurance ( with a ~$2-~$3 deductible ). The solution is simple. Howerver, implementation will be impossible with the economic nitwits running this country. The level of economic ignorance demonstrated by the sheeple is truley outstanding.
Somewhere in this solution is a place for tort reform which will help as well.
>> The Democrats would love to make voters dependent on them for their health care.
The republicans passed the perscription drug benefit plan.
>> if he did not have to pay up to 50% taxes on all his income!
You seem surprised. Between fica, medicare, federal, state, property tax, sales tax, phone tax, gas tax, etc, I pay 40% to 50% of my income in taxes. If I include my state ordered alimony and child support ( a whole other issue ), 5/8's of everything I make is stolen from me by the government. Now are you surprised?
I'm in Ontario. My father and aunt received good care here when they were ill with terminal cancer. My father's prognosis was very bad and he declined treatment with chemo, which probably wouldn't have done any good (kidney cancer, already metastasized when found). My aunt got into treatment very soon after her lung cancer was discovered, but alas it couldn't save her.
My uncle in Alberta recently had some chest pain and other problems related to the heart, and he got to see a specialist and had a coronary stent inserted into the narrowed vessel quite soon after the problem appeared.
OTOH, for problems that are more of a quality of life issue, like hip replacements, the waiting list can be quite long, like more than a year - a long time to live in pain with limited mobility. Also I have certainly heard stories of people diagnosed with cancer who had to wait weeks before they could get into treatment, although that partly had to do with a shortage of trained cancer treatment workers, which has happened in the US, also. But then the free-market US system is better at luring nurses and health care workers away from other countries, including Canada, when such shortages arise - it's all the US's fault ;) <-- note winky smiley.
>>I am firmly convinced the "rat" party is destroying the US medical system via its trial lawyer contingent.
The republicans passed the perscription drug benefit plan.
I have been to the 3 western provinces Nova Scotia & New Brunswick. You have a beautiful country that I have always loved & respected. I was very surprized to learn that all Canadians didn't feel the same about us. It hurt my feelings actually.
Yeah I can vouch for the heart attack and cancer treatments, my dad had a big heart attack and he was rushed bigtime, he also had no wait for a bypass in his leg, went in on a Saturday, Dr told him to meet him at Victoria General Sunday afternoon, bypassed Sunday evening...
I lived in BC, electives could take some time. My wife had a toe that was in an awkward position due to breaking it and not getting it fixed, she waited 3 months for a quick fix day surgery.
Critical takes priority (why let a good standing tax payer die right)...
The taxpayer has quite a burden in Canada, with a population that is about 10x smaller than the USA, the Feds really stick you with the taxes.
In my opinion, at least, the great vast majority of Canadians have nothing at all against Americans, but a lot of them do exhibit anti-Americanism against the country as a collective entity, if that makes any sense at all. I get the same sort of feeling here quite often.
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