How many Canadians would prefer having an American-style private medical insurance system, rather than our own, national system of univeral health care?
Personally, I've never met one.
With this question in mind, nonethless, view the film below Think of it as a sneak-preview of what the American health insurance lobby's response to Michael Moore's new film, Sicko, is going to look like:
Thanks to Andrew Sullivan, who originally linked to this video. For more on Richard Baker and his company, Timely Medical Alternatives, both featured prominently in the video, see this article from The National Review of Medicine:
"The Canada Health Act will come tumbling down," declares Richard Baker, the president of Timely Medical Alternatives, a Vancouver-based company that sends patients to the United States for faster treatment.
... Mr Baker's company has seen a sharp rise in demand for Canadian patients seeking faster treatment outside the country recently; their revenues have doubled in the last six months and they are seeing more and more patients (including, said Mr Baker, a deputy provincial health minister's wife whom he refuses to name).
A bit of Googling found Mr. Baker to have participated as a speaker in "Miracle Cure: How to Solve America's Health Care Crisis and Why Canada Isn't the Answer, " a September 2004 conference at Washington's Heritage Foundation.
The conference's synopsis:
America has wealth, innovation, and access to the best of everything. So why is our health care system so broken? Why does it cost more than ever and deliver less? How do we solve the problems of the uninsured and seniors who lack drug coverage? And equally important, why is the Canadian system, widely touted as a sparkling example of compassion and universal access, actually a disastrous model to be avoided?
The Heritage Foundation is a Washington-based right-wing think tank, largely financed by conservative billionaire, Richard Mellon Scaife (of Swift-Boat Veterans and Paula Jones financing fame). According to its mission statement:
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense..
For an example of where the Heritage Foundation stands on health care reform, see its June 2007 research paper, Competition: A Prescription for Health Care Transformation:
America is going to have either a government-run health care system in which politicians and bureaucrats make the key decisions or a consumer-driven system in which key decisions are made by individuals and families. Presented with a clear choice, Americans will support a market-based program that is compatible with their values, particularly personal freedom and personal responsibility.
Based on the company Mr. Baker keeps in Washington, would it be impolite to ask who exactly is financing all of his planned litigation to topple universal public health care in Canada? And for that matter, who financed the video above?
As to the key point in the video, it is well-established that unacceptable wait times for MRI's, consultations with specialists and certain surgeries are indeed the Achilles heal of our current system. I do not want to imply any position otherwise.
Inordinate wait times are one key area, in a health care system that is for the most part a godsend, requiring real attention and increased funding. This shortcoming is rightly a preoccupation in our national, political debate, and must be rectified.
The notion that ours is a "disasterous model", however, is pure spin. Public health care, flaws and all, remains, a source of comfort, pride and security to Canadians.
Let's be clear - there is absolutely zero appetite in Canada for an American-style system, its arbitrary HMO's, children with no medical coverage, and emergency care costs that lead to inevitable bankruptcy.
In any event, with Sicko opening this weekend, and with health care reform expected to be a major issue in next year's US elections, expect Canadian health care to be on the receiving end of relentless, ill-informed and undeserved criticism from the health insurance lobby and its conservative supporters south (and north) of the border.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Visit our Website: http://www.wiselaw.net/
5 comments:
This is quite interesting. You say Canadians would not wish to go back to having a US style system.
Do you know of any published independent data (opinion polls) that could confirm that to a person in the US reader fed on a diet of stories that say people travel from Canada to the US to see a doctor or risk dying in line for care? I need a link for a wikipedia page which can counteract the oft espoused notion.
Or failing that a new item from somewhere?
Anything with a reliable source really.
Take a look at "Health Care in Canada Survey Retrospective 1998-2003" (http://www.mediresource.com/e/pages/hcc_survey/pdf/HCiC_1998-2003_retro.pdf)"
"Satisfaction levels have remained stable over the past three years:
• quality of care: 70% satisfied (2003);
• range and comprehensiveness of care: 60% satisfied (2003);
• access to care in the community: 48% satisfied (2003); and,
• timeliness of access to care: 43% satisfied (2003)."
While "timeliness" is an issue, clearly, the overall satisfaction levels at 70% were quite high.
Contrast this with this 2004 report at Fox News: U.S. Trails Others in Health Care Satisfaction at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,136990,00.html:
"Americans are more dissatisfied than citizens of other nations with their basic health care (search) even while paying more of their own money for treatment, a five-nation survey released Thursday notes.
The study shows that people in the U.S. face longer wait times to see doctors and have more trouble getting care on evenings or weekends than do people in other industrialized countries. At the same time, Americans were more likely to receive advice on disease prevention and self-care than others.
One-third of Americans told pollsters that the U.S. health care system should be completely rebuilt, far more than residents of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the U.K. Just 16 percent of Americans said that the U.S. health care system needs only minor changes, the lowest number expressing approval among the countries surveyed."
Lest you think I am cherry-picking stories, I'll let you know that these links were on the first pageof my Google search using the terms "canada healthcare satisfaction survey"
See: http://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLJ_enCA222CA223&q=canada+healthcare+satisfaction+survey
Good man Garry! Excell-ent-o!
Dear Garry, Annie and Shashi,
There are no words to explain how deeply indebted we are to you, how we appreciate your expertise and how your firm IS without a doubt, the ONE firm that I know of that truly cares about and for their clients. As an experienced Law Clerk with over 20 years experience, I can say that I am so blessed to have you represent us and that everything that you do is for the well being of your clients! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for EVERYTHING that your doing and for caring about my son and fighting for his right to back support and especially due to his disability. There are no words that can or ever could appropriately express our gratitude and appreciate to ALL OF YOU and so ... all that I can now say is "THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS" and may God bless you and continue to help you to help those who cannot help themselves!!! You are the best and there are no questions and Annie, give the man a hug ... for us!!!!!
S & R
I understand that giveaways are attractive to those who are selfish and have no interest in the success of a society that awards achievement and self reliance. The fanatical bleating for socialization comes from the liberal pandering to those who are already addicted to "the check". The US system covers those 18 and under and 65 and over. Free emergency healthcare is universally available. Medicaid covers the indigent.
How are these services paid for?: higher taxes and higher medical costs. Seems like socialized medicine to me! Transition to a single payer system will introduce the overhead of another government bureaucracy into the system and reduce the availability of alternate care sources to the rest of the world, including Canada.
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