A Canadian Doctor Describes How Socialized Medicine Doesn't Work

IBD ^ | July 26, 2007 | DAVID GRATZER

[Kaslin]

I was once a believer in socialized medicine. As a Canadian, I had soaked up the belief that government-run health care was truly compassionate. What I knew about American health care was unappealing: high expenses and lots of uninsured people.

My health care prejudices crumbled on the way to a medical school class. On a subzero Winnipeg morning in 1997, I cut across the hospital emergency room to shave a few minutes off my frigid commute.

Swinging open the door, I stepped into a nightmare: the ER overflowed with elderly people on stretchers, waiting for admission. Some, it turned out, had waited five days. The air stank with sweat and urine. Right then, I began to reconsider everything that I thought I knew about Canadian health care.

[neverdem]

thanks, bfl

[monkeycard]

It had to be said and it is good.

[cowdog77]

Most of the problems we have with healthcare cost in this country now is the Gov meddling with the industry.
__________________
It would also ease our healthcare costs if we got rid of the chronic “worthless eater” welfare bums and the illegals. What a savings that would be!

[chaosagent]

Bookmarked

[Scotsman will be Free]

Read “The Cancer Ward” by Solzhenitsyn(sp). It will tell you all you need to know about socialized medicine.

[Fairview]

Think what a wonderful health-care system we would have if we weren’t trying to provide care for 20 million illegals and millions more welfare recipients. Inconceivable! But I guess it’s too much to hope that the welfare recipients take the jobs the illegals are presently doing.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Government researchers now note that more than 1.5 million Ontarians (or 12% of that province's population) can't find family physicians...our family physician of several years, who took over the practice from his father who was our family physician for many years, just packed up and moved to join an urgent care organization in North Carolina - he was tired of being paid ten dollars a visit by New Jersey Plus, the state sponsored health care plan for the otherwise uninsured - inept government meddling is damaging medical care in this country already........

[Southerngl]

Thanks for posting! I was debating with my best friend, an avid tree hugging, vegetarian liberal who is begging me to see Sicko because Canada has GREAT healthcare and she wants to move there (yes, she is all these things, I love her and she has been my ‘sister’ since 12 years old. She has a good heart, just misguided) I sent it to her a minute ago!

[Grizzled Bear]

Do they count the illegals and refugees in the calculation? Even if they aren’t “Americans” if they choose to count them they can skew the numbers.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

Speaking of Michael Moore, I was thinking today that under the fairness doctrine movie theaters ought to be required to run rebuttal films to “Bowling for Columbine”, “Mike and Me”,” Fahrenheit 911”, and “Sicko”. That is, or course, unless Mr. Moore agreed to have his movies labeled clearly as fiction.

[lepton]

More precisely, does free(er) enterprise medicine subsidize socialized medicine?

Absolutely. It's particularly clear in the pharmeceutical industry...where they've invented pretty close to nothing in the last half century, and have mandated that medicines sold in their country can only be slightly above production costs. All of the research costs have to be recouped in the U.S.

[ken21]

ah, yes,

canadians.

they all have this air of superiority when they visit socal

in the winter.

some of them even have their cars trucked down, and others, drive their own cars.

in addition to their arrogance, the canadians drive like farmers, impeding socal traffic.

si.

[peggybac]

Great article. Thanks for posting.

[river rat]

Folks who believe the Government should be running the nation’s medical system — haven’t taken a critical view of the Post Office, Civil Service, DMV, Border enforcement, Public School System —— K thru 12 or the Public University system.

The government is already involved it far more than it can handle......
Congress can muck up ANYTHING..... Nothing is beyond their ability to screw up... NOTHING.

Most folks who demand that Government do more - are the sorry asses who haven’t managed to do it for themselves..

Other things were more important to them, and then they discover too late that they screwed up and expect other taxpayers to bail their sorry asses out....

[peggybac]

The fact that Aykroyd is anti socialized medicine but votes Democrat drives me crazy.

[Reddy]

bookmarked

[hosepipe]

Capitalism creates wealth, Socialism uses it UP...
Same with health care or anything else.. with the two systems..

[TASMANIANRED]

Socialized medicine is rationed medicine.

[shield]

Man ain’t the truth great.

[Spyder]

bump