Posted on 05/31/2010 5:21:49 PM PDT by SmartInsight
Pressured by an aging population and the need to rein in budget deficits, Canada's provinces are taking tough measures to curb healthcare costs, a trend that could erode the principles of the popular state-funded system.
British Columbia is replacing block grants to hospitals with fee-for-procedure payments and Quebec has a new flat health tax and a proposal for payments on each medical visit -- an idea that critics say is an illegal user fee.
In some ways the Canadian debate is the mirror image of discussions going on in the United States.
Healthcare in Canada is delivered through a publicly funded system, which covers all "medically necessary" hospital and physician care and curbs the role of private medicine.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Socialist medicine failed every place it was implemented, so the Dems shoved it down the throat of the American people, despite their objections.
We must vote in a Republican Congress and repeal Obamacare!
Another, different article on the same subject, with complementary information, posted by Libloather:
Canada: A hard look at the cost of health care (lifeblood sucking, aging population in crosshairs) by Christina Blizzard
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2524846/posts
keep
This cluster-Canuck is coming to America. Elections have consequences.
We must vote in a Republican Congress.
And they must repeal Obamacare.
Or we will get somebody who will.
I hope the Republicans understand this. I worry that they don't.
Being a Canadian, I tried to let them know this was happening,at the Huffington Post, in some discussions. I was called a liar and was booted for being too “anti-universal HC”
I wonder what they think now?
They don't think.
Dunno what action will be taken, but there's some speculation the patients are going to have to increase the portion they contribute.
Stupid demoRATs have no idea what they're in for.
We have a wonderful health care system here if: (a) you have a family doctor, (b) you need emergency care in a major urban centre, or (c) you have only minor or life threatening ailments.
There are hundreds of thousands of people (equates to millions in US terms), who do not have a family doctor, including me (I lost mine when I had to relocate to another province and the waiting list in this city is a minimum of five years - which means 5 to 8 hour waits at an after hours clinic or hospital emergency room).
Very few communities outside of the cities have adequate emergency room services. They are under staffed, under equipped and capable of handling only basic cardiac arrest and broken bone issues. Most trauma cases have to be immediately taken to the cities, often hundreds of miles away.
We do a great job of major surgery of an emergent nature, such as angioplasty, heart bypass, accident trauma, cancer removal. However, any major surgery which is not critical, can lead to waits of a few months to over a year. Hip replacements, knee replacements, eye cataracts, many heart bypass operations. Diagnostic procedures are also significantly delayed for cost control reasons, eventhough there are machines laying idle for long periods each day.
The simple reality is that the government ban on private surgical care has created a cap on supply which has caused significant rationing and has not controlled costs. The government is prepared to let people die in order to preserve the socialist notion of “equal” health care, ignoring the fact that the upper middle class, rich and connected (including politicians) can jump on a jet to the US and buy their health care while the rest of us rot on the queue. Socialism always leads to inequities far more severe than those which result from capitalism. And, unlike capitalism, you can’t work harder in a socialist system to get ahead. All you can do is try to join the party in power and hope to get preferential treatment ahead of the unwashed masses.
I’m in the same situation. No family doctor. I’ve been on a waiting list for a couple of years. I have been phoned about an available spot a couple of times, but asked that they give it to someone in greater need. I’m in relatively good health for now, but not getting the annual check-ups I should be getting.
....and socialism fails once again....go figure!
There are so many unintentional gems in this article, it’s hard to know where to start. Here’s a couple...
“”Why are we paying more or the same for cataract surgery when it costs substantially less today than it did 10 years ago? There’s going to be a finer look at what we’re paying for and, more importantly, what we’re getting for it,” he said.
Other problems include trying to control independently set salaries for top hospital executives and doctors and rein in spiraling costs for new medical technologies and drugs. “
Gee, they’re finally realizing that you need a competitive market to figure out the price of things? You can’t just arbitrarily set them?
“The losers could be drug companies and pharmacies, both of which are getting increasingly nervous.
“Many of the advances in healthcare and life expectancy are due to the pharmaceutical industry so we should never demonize them,” said U of T’s Golden. “We need to ensure that they maintain a profitable business but our ability to make it very very profitable is constrained right now.””
So they get to decide what’s very, very profitable - but they still want the medical advances.
“”If it’s absolutely free with no information on the cost and the information of an alternative that would be have been more practical, then how can we expect the public to wisely use the service?”
But change may come slowly. Universal healthcare is central to Canada’s national identity, and decisions are made as much on politics as economics.
“It’s an area that Canadians don’t want to see touched,” said TD’s Burleton. “Essentially it boils down the wishes of the population. But I think, from an economist’s standpoint, we point to the fact that sometimes Canadians in the short term may not realize the cost.””
They will find out soon, how hard it is to take away so called “freebies”.
So Canada is going to copy the Pre-ObamaCare-Socialist Health Care while the USofA attempts to copy Socialist Canada.
At least we can drive across the border to the Canadian Hospitals [and American doctors??] just like they used to do, to get good health care.
We Must Not Relax After The November Elections. We Must Keep The Pressure On Our Elected Officials To Do The Constitutionally Correct Thing.
One of the main reasons that Canada’s Tax Freedom Day is in June, compared to the American April 9th.
According to the Tax Freedom Chart of all countries, America still has the first date of all listed.
Except that Americans have nowhere to run to, unless you count Mexico.
They just didn’t try hard enough! We will do better!!!!
How naive! If it is free to the patient, he/she isn't going to care how much it costs the government. Hasn't she heard of the Tragedy of the Commons?
bump
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