Canada Still Working Towards Health Care For All
You probably didn’t notice, but Canada will have a federal election on May 2. It’s a big deal up there — and the number one issue is — you’ll never guess — health care! It’s eleven percentage points more critical than jobs and the economy, according to this poll.
Canada, of course, is the model for so-called single-payer, government monopoly health care. But the polls tell us that all is not well. The monopoly has been effectively closed since 1984, when the federal government prevented doctors who operated in the system from balance billing or operating outside the system. If any country should have gotten its act together on ensuring access to adequate care, surely it would be Canada.
Or, it would be if government planners could bring about such outcomes. In fact, five million Canadians have no access to a primary care physician. (That’s about 15 percent of the population.) Remarkably, the Canadian people’s response to this astounding government failure is to support government-run health care by a ratio of nine to one.
The real question here is how any politician (Paul Ryan, Rick Perry, Rick Scott) could resist promising “universal” health care – the resulting dependency is embraced by the people it victimizes, and vastly increases politicians’ power.
The Liberal Party of Canada, which introduced “universal” health care, has learned its lesson well. Its big campaign promise for next week’s election? A National Food Policy! Canadians have done without one for centuries. I wonder how long it will take for five million Canadians to go hungry, after the Liberals impose their National Food Policy?
John,
We have a slew of American socialists trying to convince everyone in this country that national health insurance is paradise.
People suport socialism in Canada because they cannot visualize how things could be different.
Canada is a country that is proud of its universal coverage and has had medicare for years. That health care is the no. 1 issue in the upcoming election speaks volumes about how difficult to provide something when the price is free and the demand infinite.
Canadians tend to think that free market health care is care they cannot afford. They are of course wrong. They are affording it right now thru their taxes.
Even with universal coverage, 15% of Canadians lack access to a primary care doctor? Maybe they need to pass ultra-universal coverage for all, providing 2 insurance cards per Canadian, and set up a 1-800 number and a website. That might work. Or we could send them Andy Griffith.
Universal care in Canada is only an issue because the conservative party now rules Canada and they simply want to toss their citizens to the private sector.
Pure propaganda.
The lack of primary care physicians has been an issue for years. Canadians who cannot get into a primary care practice enter the system through the ER.
It has nothing to do with whether conservatives or liberals are in power.
Linda,
My in-laws are Canadian, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland respectfully. It is all about politics and the conservative party being in power. I have never heard any one of them, both young and old complain about access. Now they do have waits for lifestyle enhancing procedures but then again, so do we.
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