Why isn't there a revolution...in Canada, eh?
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Why isn't there a revolution...in Canada, eh?
There ought to be a revolution.
Not here, silly. I'm talking about our friendly neighbors to the north in Canada and our former colonizers in Great Britain. I mean, living under the yoke of socialized medicine all these years...why haven't the Brits and the Canadians started guillotining their politicians and their doctors in the nearest public square? Could it be because the vast, and I mean vast, majority of folks in those countries are happy with a kind of health care that dare not speak its name here in the United States?
The other day last week, the Drudge Report linked to a headline that was certainly Drudge-worthy: "Canadians visit U.S. to get healthcare." It's exactly the kind of A-ha! story that conservatives like Matt Drudge are on the prowl for these days, proof that any kind of government involvement in healthcare can be lethal (except for Medicare...don't dare touch that!). Except like a lot of links on the Drudge Report, if you take the time to read the actual story, it doesn't say what Matt Drudge or his fellow travellers think that it says. Yes, some Canadians come to America -- a neighboring country with nearly 10X as many people and thus a lot more doctors -- for some specialized tests not so easily available there; but in many cases that's an efficiency -- i.e., Canada not spending lots of money on highly specialized equipment that would be underutilized there -- and efficiency is critical to making sure that all get healthcare.
In the part of the story that I doubt Drudge or radio talk hosts read that far in, it notes:
But Dr. Uwe Reinhardt, a Princeton University health economist who has studied the U.S. and Canadian health systems, said arrangements with cities like Detroit "are a terrific way to manage capacity" given Canada's smaller health care budget.
"This is efficient," he said. "At least in Canada, you don't worry about going broke to pay for health care. You do here."
Really. Would it be a horrible indictment of Pennsylvania if someone went to New York, the nation's largest city just 100 miles away (farther than Detroit is from a chunk of Ontario), to get a certain test not as readily available in Philadelphia? In the reality-based world, people in Canada, Europe, or other industrialized nations that provide close-to-universal healthcare aren't complaining about their own systems -- but express bafflement that a prosperous place like America can't do the same.
Recently, some American conservatives appealed to their right-wing brethren across the pond in an effort to get them to relay the horrors of socialized medicine in Britain. The response?
Dr. Rawlins is part of a broad British backlash against American critics that already has landed David Cameron, the leader of the conservative Tories, in trouble. Reports that Daniel Hannan, a Tory member of the European Parliament, criticized the N.H.S. on TV programs in the United States created an uproar, forcing Mr. Cameron to distance himself from Mr. Hannan. Labor ministers gleefully declared Mr. Hannan to be unpatriotic. On Thursday, Mr. Cameron gave a lengthy speech declaring “the conservative party’s commitment to the N.H.S.”
“Conservatives rely on the N.H.S., work in the N.H.S., volunteer to help the N.H.S.,” Mr. Cameron said. “This party wants to improve the N.H.S. for everyone.”
The N.H.S. is very popular in Britain, and if Mr. Cameron ever suggested that he wanted to fundamentally change the system he would “become politically unelectable,” Dr. Rawlins said.
Rawlins goes on to add that Britons and other Europeans are "shocked" that the United States isn't able to provide healthcare to all its citizens. I guess that would be shocking...if you didn't live here, where a stunned majority watches as even a greatly watered-down package that's no where close to the kind of single-payer systems that these nations have still can't get enough traction. Meanwhile, the biggest critics of healthcare in Canada and in Great Britain seem to be...Americans. If a government role in healthcare were so awful, wouldn't their own citizens be the ones manning the barricades?
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why isn't there are revolution here? could it be that the vast, and i mean vast, majority of folks are happy with the type of health care they get now?- Idiot. THe key is "there are a lot more doctors" here. Ask the ones that have left Canada and why. We will have a doctor shortage (actually already have one) shortly of Obamacare is passed.— sleepy
Will, great column this. The opponent of insurance reform (and that is what it is) are ILLOGICAL.- Comment removed.
- eaglesfillthesky, excellent point to turn Will's argument back on him. He'll probably say because we have all been duped, yet those in England and Canada haven't because as always we americans are dumb compared to the sophisticated Brits. and it appears their health insurance doesn't include dental. Since these countries are so great Will, Will, why don't you point out that the U.S. should also then copy England's response to a MOP bad mouthing their own govt/system? Over here, you praise Obama when he points out how bad America is so shouldn't this MOP also be praised?— spags
Maybe Canadians like the idea that the government doesn't limit malpractice awards in the US, eh? Or perhaps they find our publicly funded care to be superior to their own. After all, American taxpayers, with our supposedly "private" system, pay more per capita for public health care than Canadians, by a margin of almost 30 per cent.- My question is why isn't there a revolution HERE given all the illegal aliens taking jobs away from Americans. Spare me the drivel about how they take jobs Americans don't want. As a taxpaying American, MAKE the unemployed Americans take those jobs!!!!! That way you kill two birds with one stone. I also want to know why there isn't a revolution regarding the number of people on welfare, generation after generation, while I and others go to work to support THEM. I also want to know why there isn't a revolution against the pathetic PUBLIC school systems that churn out illiterate drop outs year after year. I also want to know why there is no revolution against the killing of innocent babies EVERY SECONDS. But I digress. Wilbur, it's ALL over for Obama and his cronies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— WriteWinger
- What you'll never see headlined at Drudge is the fact that a million Americans travel to Mexico each year to get health care because they can't afford it here, even with insurance. That's our idea of efficiency.
- "could it be that the vast, and i mean vast, majority of folks are happy with the type of health care they get now?" . . . . . . Sure, but the vast majority also believe they pay too much for it.
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- eaglesfillthesky - the fact of the matter is that the "vast majority of folks" that you refer to have absolutely no idea of the cost of the health care that they now have. They also don't consider the fact that they're in a "take it, or leave it" situation regarding their health care. Either take what their employer offers, which in a lot of cases is filled with co-pays, or go find something on their own, which they can't afford. And, what is it exactly that the insurance companies are doing for us? Who do you think is standing in the way of treatments? Who do you think is in favor of the pre-existing exclusions? Who do you think is wasting money on commercials and advertisements? Who do you think is over-paying their executives? Who do you think is causing people to go to Mexico, India, Thailand and other countries for health care that they can't afford to get here is the United States of America? People need to get educated about what's really happening, instead of listening to Rushie Limpbaugh, Faux News and others of that ilk. The status quo will not work going forward. Wake up!— philasportsfan
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