Categories: Polls

Should the U.S. use Canada as a model for its health-care reforms?

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by macleans.ca on Monday, July 20, 2009 12:28pm - 35 Comments

Ralph

Most hospitals in the US are privately owned, the investors, many doctors would never sell them and the US gov could not afford to buy them as they are a bankrupt country. The main problem would be most people in that country are spoiled and would not consent to long waiting list, and they have the luxury of having many test run immediately, rather than one at a time as we do, this would delay treatment, making longer recovery time and sometimes results in premature death.
What they need to do is concentrate on the unemployed and others with no health insurance.
Our system has a big problem when we move to another province and are without prescription coverage for up to six months.

Ed Gabriel

Yes, we can improve our heathcare system for sure, but,in the main, it is better than what the people in the US have.
Let's not forget, in the US it is the big insurance companies and the wealthy doctors and shareholders of hospitals that want to keep things the way it is. For the rich and well insured (through their jobs or private), it is OK. But for the average American the present system has caused immense financial problems , where families loose everything to pay the bills. It is similar with car insurance, the private insurance companies are raking in the money, and when a government starts a provincial car insurance, we feel the heat from the big private companies who hate competition. So, let the US sort it out and we should make sure we Canadians are not being used for the defense of the private US insurance companies. I like to judge a country by how it treats it weaker citizens.

nmm66

Why I admit the Canadian system is better than the current US system, there are better systems to use as a model. I wish Canadians would realize that there are more options than status-quo or the US system.

Simon Anstey

have you ever USED the US system?

http://intensedebate.com/people/JanaL JanaL

I do not agree that the Canadian system is better than the U.S. system. Our problems are so overwhelming that most often we bury our heads in the sand. The only thing that Canadians have to praise about our system is the fact that it is "free:. Nothing is ever free, and the tax burden we owe to this free system is enormous. The physicians and facilities we are treated at make sure to treat the ill like exactly that ; like they are treating us for free, and doing them a disservice for expecting better health-care. The U.S. system has problems as well, that being the poorer citizens not having any access at all. Rather than comparing these two flawed systems, lets open our eyes and find a system that works all the way around.

Craig O

There are many problems with our system, but price is definitely not one of them. Yes, we pay higher taxes for our "free" health care, but the overall cost is far, far lower than that of the US. This price difference underlies the difference in the challenges each country faces – we need a few key tweaks to make our system more competitive and to reduce wait times. The US needs a complete overhaul just to keep health care affordable.
Cal C.

I don't know to what "overwhelming problems" you refer to but I have received prompt attention to 3 serious surgeries I needed – and was cared for in a professional and first class manner; not like:
"The physicians and facilities we are treated at make sure to treat the ill like exactly that ; like they are treating us for free, and doing them a disservice for expecting better health-care" ,
. . . as you ranted.
Pat

I have always had prompt attention to any serious health issues I've experienced. When I've needed specialized
treatment, the longest I've had to wait is 3 weeks! I realize there are wait times for some procedures in some locations, but I've been extremely happy with our Health Care System!
http://intensedebate.com/people/magikbus magikbus

Jana…..the only "problem" with the Canadian health care system is when we elect right wing, neo-con provincial governments that want to "Redirect the public attention to the role of competative markets in providing for the health and education of our citizens". Translation……."we want our rich buddies (doctors etc.) to be able to make a killing off the system and then they will appoint us to their boards of directors at fat salaries, when we can't get elected anymore".

That's not a problem with the health care system, thats a problem with our democratic system.
kasiskipper

You are sooooo right!!! I am a US citizen working in Canada healthcare (I am a registered nurse)…the canadian healthcare is extremely bad…..lots of horror stories I could tell you about….the US healthcare, with all of its flaws, is far superior to the Canadian system…..there needs to be a happy medium…

http://intensedebate.com/people/bergg69 bergg69

This is a totally dumb set of poll questions. The percieved efficacy of our system has nothing to do with the US.

They should make up their own system because a) it has to be invented there to fly, b) the usa has totally different needs than Canada and c) its non of our business anyway!!!

Lets shut it up and mind our own business. We would be outraged if they were trying to influence what we are doing. l\\Lets have some common decency and give them the same respect we would be looking for.

Bergg69
t

glinda

We would be outraged if they were trying to influence what we are doing.
??
Where have you been living? the same lobbyists that are fighting the Obama government have been up here trying to kill our system for years!

http://intensedebate.com/people/JustinWordswrth JustinWordswrth

Does Canada have a good healthcare system?

I wouldn't know, I can't find a doctor willing to take on new patients.

Canadian Healthcare: It's at a nice price… if you can get it.

saundi

Try to find a nurse practitioner if you cant find a doctor…just as knowledgeable as doctors, have access to the same tests and prescriptions….but normally arent as bogged down as doctors since they are relatively new to the canadian healthcare system

scanner

To Justin : If you can't find a doctor, you're not trying. Don't know where you are, but the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and the Canadian medical Association have lists of doctors who will take new patients (http://www.cpso.on.ca/docsearch/ for CoPSO)
Once again MacLean's fails to give choices in it's poll. I agree with bergg69 – the US need to make its own system. Maybe it will be better than ours and we can learn from them

Jack M

Last spring not one of the doctors on that list were actually taking new patients in North York. Nice try.

http://intensedebate.com/people/M_A_N M_A_N

Try this:

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/ms/healthcareconne…

Register your info online, and a nurse will go digging for you. The more complex your case, the more likley you are to get referred to a doc.

Anon

This is a dumb poll. I want to vote "no" because the USA should find its own solutions, not because the problems with the Canadian system are too big to overlook.

Stupid media and its nonsense polls.
Lord Kitchener's Own

This is an silly poll. First, there's not much middle ground given. You can't really express that you think there's a better system for the U..S. to use as a model (France, Switzerland, maybe the UK) without simultaneously saying that the problems with our system are "big". I can think that our system is pretty darned good, while still thinking that another countries system might make a better model, PARTICULARLY for the U.S., who certainly could never get a system like ours passed their more conservative Congress, but I can't express that really in this poll. What also makes this a silly poll is that NO ONE in the U.S. is remotely suggesting using our system as a model for their reforms. The opponents of reform in the U.S. are just trying to scare the voters there with Canada's crazy commie doctors and their socialist bureaucrat masters who sit in their back rooms and plot when their going to let each of us die.

The only thing this poll tells me is that as of right now about 11% of the respondents don't have any idea what they're talking about. The U.S. doesn't need to reform its health care system??? Well, no, I guess not, if they like the idea of poor people dying to make more room for rich people. Otherwise, try telling the 47 MILLION Americans who have no health coverage that the U.S. system isn't in need of reform.
Shaun Tapper

When my brother-inlaw needed an MRI in MA it took a week to ten days and it was done, here it would take months, further endangering your health. Oh , and he didn't pay for it, his employer did because they have real benfits, not the crap that the average canadian company offers its employees.
Joanne

I have had extensive personal experience with Ontario's health care system and feel fortunate to live in Canada where I received top notch treatment for very serious problems. Nine years ago I was critically injured in an auto accident after which I underwent several major surgeries (I suffered a broken neck, crushed leg, broken arm and internal injuries in the accident) and spent 6 weeks in critical care at Sunnybrook followed by 2.5 months at St. John’s Rehabilitation Hospital. As a result of the fine care I received I recovered well. Unfortunately, I have had related orthopedic issues in the years since the accident and have had several hip surgeries and a knee replacement and have been well served by our health care system.

Last week I had an ultrasound done of my knee and waited only several days after calling with my referral. I have had several MRI's and did not wait more than a short time for them. Yesterday I consulted with a neurolgist and while I waited a few months for this appointment, my situation was neither critical nor an emergency.

Three years ago my husband was feeling unwell and went to our family doctor who ran blood work; my husband was told that the report would be back within a week but later that same day our doctor’s office called my husband at his office and told him to go directly to the hospital. The lab had notified our doctor immediately of a possible problem detected in the blood work, and by the end of the business day my husband saw a nephrologist. Within several days he underwent surgery and was hospitalized for two weeks. We were pleased with the prompt care he received, and he recovered quickly.

Of course our system is not "free" and it's not perfect, and there are some wait times, generally for non-emergent treatment, and there are some shortages in some geographic areas, but in my opinion the system is a good one and has served us well. Could it be improved? Of course! Are there other countries which have good health care? Sure – but the US isn't one of them. I am proud to live in a country which provides quality health care for everyone.

TCM

I hope you pay all of your taxes (no under the table side stuff), work hard for a living and are a contributor to your community – you owe your fellow tax payers a huge thank you, and from the sounds of the enormous expenses you racked up, I hope you live every day to the fullest and help give back to the hospital (either in voluntary work or finances) for so much that you have now taken.

Jean Leahy

While our system is not perfect, we are not sent away because we have no money, we get treated for emergency and in most instances quickly.
eljay

My husband has had 4 sepeerate life threatening illnesses in Northern Manitoba and was saved each time by our great medical system. We did not loose our home or savings. The system works and works well when not loaded down by whiners just because it's free.

Judith

You right eljay,

bunch of whiners, stop crying and be thankful of what you have. I'd been here for 15 years and I can say everytime I needed a doctor or any service related with the health care systems, never had a problem , they are sometimes when you have to wait a little longer then expected , but nothing is perfect in this world.

Stop complaining bunch of whiners!

http://intensedebate.com/people/TrueBlueAl TrueBlueAl

There are three countries in the world with no private health care. They are North Korea, Cuba and, you guessed it, Canada. Many countries have better health care than Canada, most of the European countries are far superior to ours. Check out France, the Scandinavian countries, Holland, etc. By virtually all standards, they beat the Canadian health system.
Someday we will have a parallel system, but until then, the ideologues will allow us to suffer and die rather than admit there is a place for free enterprise in the health system
page2

Who are all those people who are dying because if our system? Yes there can be waits , but by and large we are very well served . Most of the objections i have seen seem to come from some doctors who envy the income of their American friends
rj caron

As a father of aCanadian doctor who praticed in the not so great USAnow back in GOOD old CANADA, WAKE UP the insurance companies are trying to kill our system. Private clinics ect. Most doctors do not envy those GREEDY American doctors but feel sorry for the poor they are unable to treat because they do not have the means.
ex-patriot

I lived in the US. I had fantastic healthcare because my spouse had a great paying job!

My friend who is self employed pays over $600 per month for "catastrophic" care with a $3000 deductible.
She does this so she doesn't lose her house if she gets ill.

If the US gets universal healthcare, Canada can get back some of its doctors.

I call that a win/win!
Ed Burke

I don't know of any problems with Canadian Health Care – the usual complaints notwithstanding. I can't even see what all these complaints are about.
I've never heard of anyone in Canada having to mortgage their house if they have a broken leg as folks in the US seemed to be required to do. Nor have I ever been asked if I have insurance before I have treatment – or be kicked out of hospital – as in the US. if I don't have any money. From my viewpoint I can't see the US system being superior to Canada.
Ed Burke

In my case I've never had to wait more than a month and never had to pay a cent for any of the treatments I've had – Hey, and I'm 69 years of age and have had two major operations – along with the usual bruised bones and minor sicknesses.
My message to US folks would be this: Don't listen to the current propaganda being spewed about by major Corporation in who's vested interest is to ensure Government sponsored medical care never sees the light of day.

My message to Major Corporations: Do the right thing and allow folks to get treatment when their sick no matter what their symptoms may be or their income, race or creed. Stop being so greedy and stop ripping unfortunate people off and give people insurance UNCONDITIONALLY without pre-conditions strive to reduce costs not accellerate them. DO THE RIGHT THING! Become a little more Canadian for cryin out loud!
Heather

While we have better healthcare than the US financially, it is far from good. I am in Alberta and the healthcare system is crap. I guess I am one of the few then that is having major problems with it. I had to quit working 5yrs ago due to physical problems and it took 1.5yrs to get in to see a orthopedic surgeon for my back and almost a year for surgery which was extremely needed because I was almost in a wheel chair because I could barely walk. I had complications and had to wait almost another year to get it fixed with more surgery and the hospitals here are so understaffed I joked with people how we would cross our fingers nothing serious would happen because on average it would take about 1/2hr for a nurse to come when we would press the call button.
Heather

I was unable to move and had tubes coming out of everywhere so it wasn't like I could help myself. Last year I had to apply for financial assistance because I have no money left because it has taken so long to get care and I haven't been able to work the whole time. I have absolutely NO money and I am in debt because I still have bills to pay even tho I can't work. Now because of the Alberta Works people screwing me over (a whole other can of worms and they falsified documents etc) I am even further in debt and I still can't work because my muscles are still so weak. I would have gladly gone to the US and paid what ever money needed to get the care quicker and been on my feet quicker and I would have been working quicker and probably not as far in debt.
Heather

There are people here in Alberta who have been waiting like 3yrs for a hip replacement because the wait is so long and some people are going to the states willing to pay the money to get their life back. If I had known it would take so long in wait times and I would still be trying to regain strength and so far in debt-I would have gone to the US immediately a few yrs ago. Obviously the healthcare in other provinces is better by the sounds of things and it is awful that I am in Alberta then. I know people who have gone to the states to get quicker treatment and if the states would get a system like ours then where would these people go? Yes for the basic stuff healthcare is ok and people don't have to lose their home but when wait times add up like they have with me and you can not work…it is just as bad as the states. So I guess don't assume that the healthcare is the same in every province. Also because Alberta is losing money due to oil prices and stuff-more cuts are being made to healthcare and it is getting worse and wait times are increasing even further.
M.C.

Alberta and BC have similar-style governments, even though the party names are different. The problem is not with the system itself, but with the respective provincial governments' set of priorities. Stelmach eliminated the health-care premiums in Alberta, did he not? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I think that was a huge mistake.

As for BC and what our government is doing with our tax dollars? Crikey, I don't even wanna go there–and the system gets monthly premium payments from those of us who don't have employee benefits (and those numbers are growing with the layoffs). That's on top of all the other TAXES we pay, including that stupid carbon tax we got stuck with here.

Last, but not least, I think trimming the fat from the offices of Health Authorities would go a long way towards putting the funding into actual patient care. The problem is not the system itself. The problem is how it's being managed provincially.