Posted on 01/17/2014 1:56:20 PM PST by grundle
Every year thousands of Canadian have no choice but to seek medical care outside of the country’s single-payer health care system, according a report from a Canadian free-market think tank.
In 2013, nearly 42,000 Canucks left their homeland to avoid long wait times and inferior care that plagues their centralized health system.
The report from the free-market Fraser Institute found that 41,838 Canadians became “medical tourists” in 2013 and sought care outside of their hockey-loving country. While there were slightly fewer people fleeing the Canadian health system in 2013 than the previous year, the number leaving still amounts to nearly one percent of medical patients in Canada.
“Canadians may leave for a number of reasons including a lack of available resources or appropriate technology, a desire to return more quickly to their lives, to seek out superior quality care, or perhaps to save their own lives or avoid the risk of disability,” Nadeem Ismail, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
In 2013, 41,838 Canadians went outside the country to get medical treatment, down from 42,173 people leaving the country in 2012. This is interesting since wait times for patients who had consulted with a specialist till the time they got actual treatment increased from 9.3 weeks in 2012 to 9.6 weeks in 2013.
According to the report, there are many reasons why someone would leave Canada to seek treatment. Including “because of a lack of available resources or the fact that some procedures or equipment are not provided in their home jurisdiction” as well as “concerns about quality, seeking out more advanced healthcare facilities, higher tech medicine, or better outcomes.”
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
How can this be? I thought Canada was a paradise because of its government run healthcare?
And BTW...I didn't wait.I was treated the next day here in the US.
In 5 yrs they’ll be heading to medical ships off the coast of Florida...or Caribbean islands who have welcomed the entrepreneurs of US medicine.
UFC’s Lesnar berates Canadian health care as Third World
That “medical ship” that you’ll be treated on could well be a former USN Hospital Ship, sold for budget cuts.
A full fledged floating hospital, built and equipped to handle up to the most horrific battle injuries, but with updated equipment.
One of the reasons ER wait times are high in Canada is because people go there for non-emergency situations. Would you go to the ER on Christmas Day to have stitches out? Or for a tummy ache? People did. They had long waits.
We need a followup article stating where they go as well as where we can go for medical treatment.
Sounds like a plan.
I suspect the best and brightest will be heading offshore.
Q: Who built Obamacare?
A: Obama built that. Period.
That can cover some pretty serious situations. But I assume you're talking about people going for gas pains or something like that.
My first exposure to the effects of "socialized" medicine was 43 years ago in the U.S. Air Force. My wife and I took our three month old daughter to the base hospital because we suspected she had a hernia. The waiting room was jammed with young mothers with kids with the sniffles taking advantage of the "free" medical services. As it turned out we were eventually seen by a doctor who was getting out of the service in 6 weeks for his new job at the Mayo Clinic as a pediatric surgeon. He said that this was a normal day except for our situation which turned out to be a double hernia. He was actually happy that there was someone he could help in his chosen specialty. He said the reason the services couldn't keep doctors on staff in peacetime conditions was the daily monotony of dealing with people who really shouldn't be at the hospital. He operated on our daughter three weeks later and we were very grateful that we lucked out in finding a really qualified doctor to take care of our precious daughter who had a legitimate problem.
Doesn’t mention destinations. I assume the US ranks high, but I wonder which other countries.
Check this out- was looking for a 2004? Indy movie with the word Babylon included in the title (still looking) and came upon this website:
If it’s bad in Canada, imagine how badly our government would screw it up.
The Barbarian Invasions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Barbarian_Invasions
“It was released in 2003 and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards in 2004.”
About Canadian healthcare muckaround
It is as long as you stay healthy and don’t get sick.
Thanks!
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