The Canadian Medical Association in partnership with Maclean’s magazine is holding a number of public town halls titled “Health Care in Canada: Time to Rebuild Medicare”. The public is invited to attend these events and join some of Canada’s leading health professionals to discuss Canadian health care reform. The first event is scheduled for January 26, 2011, at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I’m sure many of the patients currently waiting on lists for access to health care are interested in discussing health care reform. Ironically, if you want to attend this event you’ll have to put your name on a waiting list. You can also watch a live broadcast of the event on the Cable Public Affairs Channel at www.cpac.ca
When there is a shortage of doctors, and they are only allowed to see so many patients per day, they are in charge of our healthcare….them and the province.
I had to leave Canada because my wife was crippled by a 2 1/2 year wait for foot surgery, and I had it done in California for $2,300 after a 2 day wait.
Now I bring Canadians to the US for affordable medical care. It’s amazing how affordable it is when you make them compete.
Check our http://www.MediBid.ca and see how simple it is.
Ralph,
What a great idea! There are many patients in Canada who need to leave the country to access medical care. Thanks for providing this option to Canadian patients.
The fundamental problem with health care in Canada is that it is centrally financed and planned by government. Furthermore, it is based on price controls. World history and basic economics discredits these ideas as nonfunctional. In essence, they formed the basis of the Soviet economy and the Soviet economy failed just as Canadian health care has failed.
A completely new paradigm needs to be embraced in which individuals rather than government control the flow of dollars. The sense of entitlement runs very deep in Canada and a laissez-faire capitalist system (of which the American health care system is NOT), would not be politically palatable to Canadians. Instead, deregulate prices, give Canadians individual accounts with money in it for them to spend on health care. Competition would arise, distribution problems would be solved and the problems with access would be solved. Look at Lasik eye surgery, this is a medical service, not subject to price controls, not subject to government control and prices have dropped, access has increased and quality has improved. It is simply a fact that capitalism works and socialism does not. “Rebuilding” it is not an answer. As for the poor, they too could have money in accounts to spend. Health insurance should be returned to its proper role of compensated for large unexpected financial losses, not routine care. This is not what Canadians want to hear but it is the truth. Over and over, countries have tried to make socialism work and it does not and never will.
Lee, I agree that we need to embrace a new paradigm when it comes to Canadian health care. I first realized the fallacies of a government-run, single-payer health care system in 2006 when I had to leave Canada to seek medical care in the United States. Since then everything I’ve learned about our system and its disregard for the basic principles of economics supports what you are saying. We need to hear the truth! Thanks for your insightful comments.