Mythbusting Canadian Health Care

[Echo In Light]

Mythbusting Canadian Health Care
Sara Robinson

2008 is shaping up to be the election year that we finally get to have the Great American Healthcare Debate again. Harry and Louise are back with a vengeance. Conservatives are rumbling around the talk show circuit bellowing about the socialist threat to the (literal) American body politic. And, as usual, Canada is once again getting dragged into the fracas, shoved around by both sides as either an exemplar or a warning -- and, along the way, getting coated with the obfuscating dust of so many willful misconceptions that the actual facts about How Canada Does It are completely lost in the melee.

I'm both a health-care-card-carrying Canadian resident and an uninsured American citizen who regularly sees doctors on both sides of the border. As such, I'm in a unique position to address the pros and cons of both systems first-hand. If we're going to have this conversation, it would be great if we could start out (for once) with actual facts, instead of ideological posturing, wishful thinking, hearsay, and random guessing about how things get done up here.

To that end, here's the first of a two-part series aimed at busting the common myths Americans routinely tell each other about Canadian health care. When the right-wing hysterics drag out these hoary old bogeymen, this time, we need to be armed and ready to blast them into straw. Because, mostly, straw is all they're made of.

More:
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/mythbusting-canadian-health-care-part-i

[PuraVidaDreamin]

1. Excellent find- Loved how she simply succinctly explains

Forwarding this article to many!
Thankyou

[madrchsod]

2. thanks

this points out that both hillary's and obama's plans are pretty much worthless

[Echo In Light]

3. #10

10. This all sounds great -- but the taxes to cover it are just unaffordable. And besides, isn't the system in bad financial shape?
False. On one hand, our annual Canadian tax bite runs about 10% higher than our U.S. taxes did. On the other, we're not paying out the equivalent of two new car payments every month to keep the family insured here. When you balance out the difference, we're actually money ahead. When you factor in the greatly increased social stability that follows when everybody's getting their necessary health care, the impact on our quality of life becomes even more signficant.

[Cleita]

13. Well said. I wish we could put that on a bumper sticker. n/t

[poisonivy]

15. what about those few lucky ones

who dont pay for health insurance, its fully covered by the company. They DO Exist I know that for a fact, my wife works for one and not one single dime is taken out of her paycheck for her health coverage and its pretty damn good coverage. It includes vision, dental, and full health coverage.

[Redbear]

4. Great article.

Thanks.

Its so nice to see the facts explained.

[Solon]

5. Best summation of mythbusting I've ever seen...

The thing is that its just common sense!

[yardwork]

6. k&r! Very good!

1. Canada's health care system is "socialized medicine."
False. In socialized medical systems, the doctors work directly for the state. In Canada (and many other countries with universal care), doctors run their own private practices, just like they do in the US. The only difference is that every doctor deals with one insurer, instead of 150. And that insurer is the provincial government, which is accountable to the legislature and the voters if the quality of coverage is allowed to slide.

[SidDithers]

7. Great article, thanks for posting...

And as a Canadian with young kids and aging parents, I can attest to the accuracy of the points made in the article. Though the author is speaking from her experiences in BC, my experiences in Ontario are very similar.

Looking forward to seeing you post part II when it's published.

Sid

[sentelle]

8. It sounds even handed

It doesn't sound as though the author is attempting to make Canada's system into something it is not. It does make reference to the fact that not everything is covered under insurance, and it does mention wait times as compared to the US.

I found it informative, and makes my support of single payer even more unequivocal.

[Prophet 451]

11. I actually find the differences interesting

I'm a Brit and our NHS is run slightly differently. For example, the NHS does cover all prescription drugs and I can usually get a doctor's appointment on the same day (although wait times for non-emergency operations vary wildly depending on where you live).

Interestingly, the amount we pay for that is lower than the Canadian system, amounting to about 5% of the tax burden (or £2000 of the average families tax payment).

[JBoy]

9. A fair and accurate description, and a great analysis

As a Canadian, I've enjoyed not having to worry or even think much about health care coverage my entire life. The only time it really became a topic was when I moved from Ontario to BC many years ago, and there were some forms I had to fill out. Even then it wasn't something to "worry" about, as I was never in any danger of losing coverage, but it became apparent to me just how blissfully unaware I was of the mechanics of the system.

I can't imagine the anxiety of not having health insurance, or worse, being pushed into financial ruin due to an illness. Take back your country, America! You can afford and you deserve what we have!

[slipslidingaway]

10. K&R n/t

[snappyturtle]

12. Sounds like heaven to me! K&R n/t

[Blue State Blues]

14. fantastic information, thanks

I loved this:

Canadians are serious about not coming to work if you're contagious, and seeing a doctor ASAP if you need to. Staying healthy includes not only diet and exercise; but also taking care to keep your germs to yourself, avoiding stress, and getting things treated while they're still small and cheap to fix.

Almost every time my family gets sick, we can trace the source directly to someone who went to work sick and shared it with the office, or who sent a kid to school sick because they couldn't take a day off to stay home with the sick kid. This kind of presenteeism takes a heavy toll on US productivity.

[fencesitter]

16. That's a wonderful article

I've bookmarked it for the upcoming Part 2. Great talking points. Loved reading the comments, especially the bitching about the Canadian system. Despite its' problems, I envy them.

[Echo In Light]

17. Kick