Posted on 08/08/2017 7:33:06 PM PDT by ReformationFan
While some Americans, including politicians, continue to push for single-payer healthcare, a Canadian is helping people in his country get care in America – because the healthcare system where he lives, he says, "simply does not work."
As many people know, Canada has single-payer healthcare. That means the government runs and controls the delivery of all healthcare. Under that system, people wanting plastic surgery – for example – would foot the bill; but procedures, including cardiac bypass, can be done, albeit not always in a timely manner.
Will liberals in America ever be convinced that single-payer (government-run) healthcare isn't the solution? Yes – if they'll listen to logic Eventually – after they impose it and it falls flat Won't happen – to libs, gov't is always the solution Vote View ResultsPolldaddy.com "People in Canada are dying on waiting lists," says Richard Baker of Timely Medical Alternatives. "They might be on a waiting list for six months to a year for cardiac bypass. And during that time their condition might worsen – and by the time they go in for their surgery, it may be too late."
Canadians are paying what Baker describes as "crushing" personal taxes and fees for a healthcare system that some Americans incorrectly view as free. "Canadians pay dearly for their healthcare system," he says. "It is not free; and moreover [it] does not cover pharmaceuticals, it does not cover dentistry."
Anything other than surgery or care by a medical doctor would have to be paid for privately in Canada, where healthcare costs are the bulk of a province's budget.
Baker "That's money taken away from infrastructure, from social services," Baker warns. "Everything else in a government's budget is now secondary to healthcare."
Still, on the other side of the border Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) continues to tout single-payer healthcare, saying it's better than America's current system. Other supporters say Canadians only have to wait for "elective" surgeries.
"The implication being that the patient [may want] to have a hip replacement – [but that patient may] have to wait anywhere from six to 18 months," responds Baker. "That's not an 'elective' surgery by any normal definition of the word; but in Canada, the government has decreed that the term 'elective' surgery applies to any surgery which is not for a situation that involves imminent loss of life or limb .... They call it 'elective' so that they can justify the long waiting list."
This isn't the first time Baker has shared these concerns.
"When ObamaCare was first proposed, and before it had been passed into law ... I spoke to [Republicans in Congress] telling them how disastrous it would be if the U.S. followed a Canadian model," he recalls. "I spoke forcefully against any suggestion that they adopt the 'free' healthcare system that we enjoy in Canada because it simply does not work."
So ... what's the solution?
To counteract the failures of that single-payer system, Baker's organization offers Canadian clients a route that's not available to them in Canada.
"We offer them the option of going to the U.S. and getting their surgery immediately," he explains. "If they needed a cardiac bypass, we could get it for them within 24 hours – and [we] have done so for several of our Canadian clients [as] there's no way the Canadian government can stop Canadians from crossing the border to access American healthcare."
According to Baker, some hospitals Timely Medical Alternatives uses are in Oklahoma; others are in Arizona.
"Canadians don't need me to go to the U.S. to get prompt healthcare, but our role is to find sources of quality surgery delivered at deeply discounted pricing," Baker shares. "We negotiate prices which are a fraction of what a Canadian might pay if he were to knock on the door of an American hospital by himself."
To date, 25,000 Canadians go to the U.S. every year for healthcare, although Baker says the people coming through his organization are a small percentage of that. Meanwhile, he does have a company that helps uninsured Americans get procedures done - North American Surgery, Inc.
"We send them to the same hospitals, and they pay the same discounted rates we've arranged for our Canadian clients," he tells OneNewsNow.
Written by someone that has no clue about Canadian Healthcare
You mean it’s worse than he says?
Can you please organize this service for Americans in America too???
A Canadian Friend had an ACL tear repaired in Canada. The operation was botched. He had to wait a year to get it fixed there. He hobbled around in visible pain while he counted the days. That’s one thing I know about Canadian healthcare.
And that kind of wait is more than enough to know about that system.
Canada has the same problem we do. Not enough doctors. Except it’s worse in Canada.
The US government and the States between them (all healthcare public spending, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) spend 2X what Canada (at all levels) spends per citizen. And this is adjusted for price levels.
If the US really wanted a Canadian health system it could have it twice over, with what it already collects in taxes and FICA.
The real problem is that US medical care provision is incredibly inefficient.
So is it better in Canada, or worse?
I remember hearing a few years back that Cleveland had more MRI machines than all of Canada. People would wait for months for an MRI.
Everything is rationed here: family doctors, specialists, mental health, diagnostics, surgery. Most Canadians can’t afford to go south of the border but the truly wealthy, many politicians, professional athletes, etc can escape the lengthy wait lines by going to the U.S. It can take years to obtain a family doctor if you move to a new city, which means hours waiting in an emergency room for a 5 minute diagnosis. The ORs never work past 4 pm or on the weekends because surgery time is rationed. Many surgeons would like to perform more operations but the government won’t fund the nurses and anesthesiologists after hours.
It seems to be about the principle of having a Big Nanny rather than of maximizing the reach and capabilities of health care within the context only of what God is willing to grant.
“Yes – if they’ll listen to logic”
That’s funny right there.
L
I have two sets of Canadian neighbors who live here 6 months out of the year and run back home to Canada the other 6 because they can only be out of country 6 months out of the year. They love the medical system up there. I am always pleading with them to stay here and just get insurance on their own, but they think I am nuts to suggest such a thing. I always tell them about how they have to wait so long for surgery and of course our stupid neighbor Bill who needed knee replacement surgery and hip surgery wouldn’t do it until he lost 40 pounds.....Canadian said see that is what the Canadian system does to....it ensures you are healthy enough to be operated on and have a positive recovery.
It really doesn’t help that our system is basically Canada’s.
I had a friend who lived about 325 miles north of Toronto in the small village of Tilden Lake. Her doctor in North Bay said she needed to see a heart specialist in Toronto. It turned out she needed bypass surgery. She was placed on the list for the surgery. Expected wait: 19 months. She died four months later. Free health care? Really? What good is it if you die before you can get access to it?
US health care is inefficient because government is the major player. Ever since Medicare and Medicaid were established (plus all the mandates government puts on private insurance), government has been the biggest payer, and you see what happens. Prices skyrocket and quality and access decline. If there aren’t enough doctors, it’s because government is making it increasingly impossible to practice medicine. The other big problem is lawyers. The US needs tort reform.
Here is the current list of GPs taking patients in the Victoria BC area. Yeah, that’s right, one clinic for a city of 400K.
http://www.victoriamedicalsociety.org/gp-listings/
I have a cousin in the Vancouver area who had a baby last year. Neither her or the baby have a family Dr, they go to a clinic and see whoever is there.
You don’t deal with the homeless by evicting everyone from their homes and forcing them to live in public housing... but that was the theory behind Canada’s “single payer” health care.
In Canada it is illegal to buy or sell private health insurance - for people.
You can purchase heath insurance for your dog, but not for your kid.
Now come on... that bypass surgery didn’t cost her a dime. /sarc
what people seem never to talk about..is the impact this will have on the doctors...they’re not gonna put up with this government non sense..especially the very good surgeons and specialists. the better practices will just say “sorry..cash only”...i called a top notch dermatologist in Bloomfield Hills Michigan...and they dont even accept Medicare..let alone Medicaid. Imagine the fraud and abuse with over 300 million people in a single payer system...it’ll be chaos. Btw, Canada pays over 5 dollars a gallon for gas to pay for the “free” health care.
He does - North American Surgery Inc
bfl
Divide Canada’s total annual expenditure on health care by population and it works out to be over $6300 for every man, woman and child in Canada.
In Canada like here, most people cannot afford private health care or Cadillac insurance. Both systems are broken big time.
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