I worked for 20+ years at one of the world's most famous hospitals (hint;it's in Boston).During that time I got a pretty fair idea of how American medicine works.Recently,having left the health care biz,I've done some research on Canada's health care system and have applied my findings to my knowledge of our system to make comparisons.Just a couple of examples of the differences.In Canada there's at least one category of heart surgery which,under their official government guidelines,can involve a wait of up to
six months (this info confirmed on an official Canadian government website).In the US one waits no more than a few days for even the most non-urgent heart operation (not all heart operations require *immediate*...meaning within minutes...action).Another example...last year a Winnipeg (Canada) newspaper ran a piece analyzing recently released Canadian government data on their health care system.It showed that in Manitoba government guidelines allow for a wait of
six months for a hip replacement and only
59% of those needing one in that province got it with that six month period.In this country one waits for a week or two,at most...the need of a hip replacement certainly not representing a threat to survival.I,an ordinary middle class,not powerful,not "connected" American,had my hip replaced a few years ago and eleven business days after having called for the initial consultation with the surgeon I was in the recovery room of a major Boston hospital sporting a new piece of titanium.
Basically,all Canadians are entitled to mediocre (at best) health care whereas here,most Americans receive outstanding care while the rest receive quite good care.
But there is a silver lining to that dark cloud called OsamaObamaCare....not one member of the Obama family,the Pelosi family,the Reid family,the Kennedy family,the Holder family or the Soros family will ever have to wait five minutes to have a hangnail treated,let alone for a heart operation.
God Help Canadians Needing A Hip Replacement