My father fell off a ladder and had a pretty severe head injury, and had both an MRI and a CT scan within a half hour, at no cost. Yes, lower-priority conditions may have to wait, but it's also by definition because they're lower priority - and they'll have to wait in America too.
The idea that the Canadian healthcare system is somehow leaving people to wait and die in a way the American system is not, is a falsehood propagated by major American insurers and their lobbying group AHIP. Here's a Cigna executive apologizing for doing just that. [1]
[1] https://www.npr.org/2020/06/27/884307565/after-pushing-lies-...
> because of having the kind of health care system you have in making sure that everyone who needs to be treated is treated
That's completely false, Canada has a presupplied quota system set by government forecasting and limited by budgets. If you need treatment you will be treated eventually but you might die or get sicker in the interim.
Using a COVID-19 based article to discuss the merits of single payer single provider completely ignores the massive cultural mentality differences -- the US focuses on individual freedoms, Canada focuses on collective good. This makes a big difference when it comes to adherence things like social distancing and masks. They're taking a multivariate system and claiming it's a single variable that caused the outcome.
Edit: and I might add that it appears that Canada is always intentionally undersupplied such that a moderate wait is guaranteed. Whereas it seems that due to market competition the US system is inherently oversupplied (at least in many areas) such that they can provide to those who can pay essentially on demand.
Good to know you didn't read the article before replying.
> That's completely false, Canada has a presupplied quota system set by government forecasting and limited by budgets. If you need treatment you will be treated eventually but you might die or get sicker in the interim.
Every system in the entire world has a predefined quota. There's no unlimited supply of healthcare resources in any country - and America is no exception. The only difference here is whether these resources are centrally provisioned or not - and whether you ration it based on who can spend the most, or who needs it the most. I vote for central provisioning and need-based allocation.
You are ignoring that once again, there are wait times in America too. The reason I sent you this article is proof that in fact your assessment of the relative strengths of the system isn't grounded in fact. It's grounded in propaganda about the American system. The system you are imagining in America simply does not exist.
> Using a COVID-19 based article to discuss the merits of single payer single provider completely ignores the massive cultural mentality differences -- the US focuses on individual freedoms, Canada focuses on collective good.
This is irrelevant to the quality of a healthcare system and its outcomes. And you are ignoring that 40% of Americans are already covered by socialized medicine. Old people in America love Medicare and have no interest in getting rid of it. 75% of people on Medicare are either satisfied or greatly satisfied, while only 6% are dissatisfied or greatly dissatisfied. This is higher than the for-profit sector.
> Edit: and I might add that it appears that Canada is always intentionally undersupplied such that a moderate wait is guaranteed.
That's a cool, unfounded opinion.
And again, you have ignored the clearly measured equivalence of the two systems in terms of outcomes - while the Canadian system delivers it at literally half the per capita cost and covers everyone.
If you actually look at the data, it's clear. The private care available in America is more expensive and outcomes are either the same, or significantly worse. America has the worst maternal mortality rate in the developed world, for instance. This is quantifiable and you are not utilizing that data, one has to suspect, because it does not support your position. [1]
Saying America spends more is pretty weak claim because Americans are fatter, more often shot, face worse natural disasters (hurricanes, earth quakes)... Of course they spend more. There are hundreds of variables why healthcare per capital would be cheaper in Canada from CoL to quality of doctors (the ones that remain are ones who cannot compete in the highly paid US Market), to greater public safety net or social goods in all areas resulting in fewer high cost outcomes (eg, Canadians take more PTO)...
Overall i think the main difference between what you're interested in and what I'm interested in -- that which we're calling "superior" differ.
To me a system is superior if it gives better outcomes to those who pay for the service. VS you seem to be claiming that a better outcome is something like the average across all citizens.
To me this is like saying "We all need food, therefore when we go to the grocery store you will be charged the average bill and given what you absolutely need to not die, but not necessarily what you need to thrive. This is how we keep others from starving..."
For me I want to go to the grocery store and receive the best I can get for my money. It's a just system to receive what you pay for and to not receive what you do not pay for. I do also believe in a separate, external to the government, system of charity to cover cases which are truly unfortunate, but also to keep people accountable for their contributions to their own health when able or
Anyways, it seems you're squarely set your values based opinion, and I am on mine. So there's no longer a reason to discuss further.
Didn't read the entire article due to quickly findable glaring issues of quality, yes.
