Posted on 06/18/2009 7:48:10 PM PDT by Libloather
Canadian Health Care We So Envy Lies In Ruins, Its Architect Admits
By DAVID GRATZER
Posted Wednesday, June 25, 2008 4:30 PM PT
As this presidential campaign continues, the candidates' comments about health care will continue to include stories of their own experiences and anecdotes of people across the country: the uninsured woman in Ohio, the diabetic in Detroit, the overworked doctor in Orlando, to name a few.
But no one will mention Claude Castonguay — perhaps not surprising because this statesman isn't an American and hasn't held office in over three decades.
Castonguay's evolving view of Canadian health care, however, should weigh heavily on how the candidates think about the issue in this country.
Back in the 1960s, Castonguay chaired a Canadian government committee studying health reform and recommended that his home province of Quebec — then the largest and most affluent in the country — adopt government-administered health care, covering all citizens through tax levies.
The government followed his advice, leading to his modern-day moniker: "the father of Quebec medicare." Even this title seems modest; Castonguay's work triggered a domino effect across the country, until eventually his ideas were implemented from coast to coast.
Four decades later, as the chairman of a government committee reviewing Quebec health care this year, Castonguay concluded that the system is in "crisis."
"We thought we could resolve the system's problems by rationing services or injecting massive amounts of new money into it," says Castonguay. But now he prescribes a radical overhaul: "We are proposing to give a greater role to the private sector so that people can exercise freedom of choice."
Castonguay advocates contracting out services to the private sector, going so far as suggesting that public hospitals rent space during off-hours to entrepreneurial doctors.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
Lazy fair capitalism looks good when you’re an overpaid executive. It don’t look so good to the working man, sometimes.
parsy, who thinks things need changing.
eggzackly
My sister lived in Amsterdam in the late 1970s and had both her babies there. She said it cost her nothing and she even got home visits from a nurse to make sure everything was ok.
However, Holland at that time wasn’t overrun with illegal immigrants and I believe they’ve since caused problems for the system. My sister’s father in law has a very nice retirement courtesy of the government - better than you’ll get here for sure. But Holland isn’t spending money all over the world the way we are....i.e 900 million for Palestine, 8 billion or something for ACORN...etc. etc.etc.
As long as Holland can maintain it’s cultural identity and not get watered down with Muslim immigrants, it will probably do okay. But unfortunately for Holland as with most European countries, the death rate exceeds the birth rate. It is only a matter of time before they extinguish themselves through birth control and abortion on demand.
She had been declining for 5 years or more because of the “fabulous” Dutch healthcare system. sarcasm///>
You are right.
I do think their system has changed for the worse. I’m going to ask my sister about your comment. Just disgusting that the state decides when one is expendable.
This story will be happening here if Obama gets his way. In fact, I know it’s happened in Oregon - a woman was told by the State that she couldn’t have anti-cancer drugs but that the State would pay for suicide drugs.
Our health czar won’t read negative news stories - so we’re doomed to repeat... I mean we can follow in the illustrious footsteps of Canada...
Under this type of an arrangement you're always dealing with: (1) a patient who doesn't care about the cost of the service because he's not paying it; and (2) a third-party entity that doesn't care about the quality of the service because it's not directly affected by it.
It’s so easy to reform the American system. Just charge $10 per visit for medicaid participants. That’s just a pack of smokes and a 40 ounce beer. It will eliminate 90% of the deadbeats who inhabit the average ER. Problem solved.
Socialized medicine and universal healthcare are pipedreams only Koolaid drinkers have. They are completely unrealiztic and so prohibitively expensive whixh is why you see Canada and Europe in shambles economically socially and financially. Socialist systems are doomed to failure. History proves it.
The elite class feeds the manager class that feeds the working class that feeds the sit on my ass class. It is doomed to failure as the sit on my ass class gains more power.
Great.... Obama should bring this man to the White House for advice. Of course this will never happen because “free health care” is a Democrat power grab
Or - the Republicans can use him as evidence...
Norwalk, Ontario is not in Canada . It's in Ohio.
This is an old article and today , Gratzer is still a paid mouth piece , repeating the same old antidotes.
We don't really have much left of laissez-faire capitalism anymore. If we simply eliminated double-taxation of dividends, so corporations weren't taxed on dividends,there'd be strong pressure to increase dividend payouts and that would reduce the overpayment of executives. Right now, it's expensive (because of taxes) to pass cash to the stockholders, so the the corporate boards feel free to overpay in an attempt to buy growth.
With this socialist intrusion (income tax), we are approaching the same class structure as the USSR. The nomenklatura (business bosses, political bosses) get all the money and stature. The fight between R and D is just between which part of the nomenklatura gets the biggest chunk.
Name someplace else where it looks better for the working man. And be sure to compare contrasts rights and freedom against private vs public payment for medical care.
Yes, that too.
Europe.
parsy, who is thinking of becoming a cheese eating surrender monkey.
Gee I wonder who gave that "working man" his job? You don't suppose it was some eeevil capitalist do you?
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