“Mythbusting Canadian Health Care” is the title of an article I just read online. Granted, it’s on a website that leans decidedly to the left – so, any of you readers who blanch at the “L” word (that’s “liberal”) may not be inclined to click on the link and actually read it. But, I think you should.It’s worth a read, because – in a cool, calm and reasonable fashion – its author, Sara Robinson, details what the real experience of Canadians is with their single-payer health system. Sara is an American citizen living in Canada, and participates in the Canadian health care system. So, she has a firsthand perspective from both sides of the border.
No, Canada’s system is not “socialized medicine” (it’s a universal, single-payer system: “Medicare for all,” some have called it). No, the Canadian government doesn’t choose people’s doctors for them. No, the quality of care doesn’t suffer (although there are some longer wait times for a few high-tech tests, like MRIs). No, Canadian doctors aren’t government employees. Yes, Canadian doctors make a bit less money than their American counterparts, but they also don’t have to spend hours on the phone every week arguing with patients’ insurance companies, and they don’t have to employ so many clerical people in their offices.
Robinson makes what I think is a very convincing case. But then, if you’ve been reading my blog for long, you know I’m feeling pretty frustrated with the creaking, ungainly machine that is our American health-care system – a system that deprives far too many people of medical care they need and can’t afford.Read it, though, and make up your own mind.
