Now I know a lot of people out there (and when I say “people” I mean Conservatives) have been denigrating the Canadian Health System of late to try to portray it as an ineffective system. There have been many in Congress, and more then a few on FOX News, that have tried to sell the horror stories of people dying while waiting for surgery. They tell tall tales of taxation run amok and how their system is “repressive” and ‘un-American’.
Well first of all the system is no more repressive than the Corporate HMO’s running their own “death panels” deciding who lives and who dies and second – duh!!! They’re Canadian!!!!!
But I figure that it’s time all of you get to hear what their health care system is like straight from the horse’s mouth – the Canadians themselves.
There was a story that appeared in my local fishwrap yesterday, and I wanted to re-print it here so that you can make up your own minds as to how “evil” socialized medicine really is:
Does Canada’s health care system really work?
Canadians pay higher taxes but say it’s a good trade-off for not having to worry about their medical care.
BY WILLIAM L. SPENCE - LEWISTON TRIBUNE
Published: 10/11/09
CRESTON, British Columbia – In most respects, the residents of this small, rural farming community, about 35 miles north of Bonners Ferry, are little different from their Idaho neighbors to the south.
People here worry about their children. They’re concerned about the economic future of the region. They regularly question the wisdom of federal and provincial politicians. They even grumble about Canada’s public health care system.
One major difference, though, is they rarely seem to worry about how to pay for their health care needs. In the event of a layoff or serious illness, that’s one stress the average person here doesn’t have to deal with.
“Cost doesn’t factor into it,” said Muriel Buhr, a member of the Central Kootenay Advisory Planning Commission. “You can come to the hospital for a year and not pay a cent. It doesn’t matter if you’re out of work, you can still get your children looked after. You don’t have to choose between paying for medicine or paying your mortgage. If you can stop a whole nation from having to worry, why wouldn’t you have public health care? To me, the stress relief for families far outweighs the cost.”
Many supporters of reforming American health care reform would agree with Buhr. Rather than abandoning millions of uninsured to an uncertain future of charity care or postponed medical needs, reform advocates say, the Canadian system guarantees treatment for everyone, while simultaneously curbing costs and maintaining quality.
U.S. opponents of Canada’s system cite horror stories about long waiting periods, inadequate care, bureaucratic decision-making and exorbitant taxes. Some worry that a nationalized U.S. health plan would remove all incentives for individuals to take care of themselves. Others see it as an unwarranted expansion of government, something that would result in yet another massive federal bureaucracy.
Interviews with about a dozen Creston residents indicate they share some of these concerns. Overall, though, most seem generally satisfied with Canada’s public system.
Ron Toyota, Creston’s new mayor, isn’t covered by the city, so he pays about $100 a month in insurance premiums for himself and his wife. That includes a medical exam every year.
“To me, it’s a pretty good value,” he said. “And it’s available to everyone.”
In Canada, the federal and provincial governments share the cost of health care. Each province handles things slightly differently.
EMPLOYER-PURCHASED INSURANCE IS OPTIONAL
British Columbia charges $54 per month for individual health insurance (about $50 U.S.). Couples pay $96. A family of three or more pays $108. Enrollment in a government plan is mandatory for people who are not covered by their employers. Subsidies of 20 percent to 100 percent are available for those who can’t afford it.
Although they don’t have to, most larger employers in British Columbia buy group policies through the provincial government. The basic health plan covers hospital stays and medical or diagnostic services required by a physician, plus routine eye exams for children and the elderly. It typically doesn’t include dental care, prescription drugs or ambulance transport, although supplemental policies are available to cover those.
Everyone in Canada gets a provincial “Care Card” for use when they go to a doctor or hospital. At the Creston Valley Hospital, people come in, have their cards swiped and wait for whatever service they need. The card brings up their personal and medical information on a screen. The entire check-in takes less than 10 seconds. When a reporter visited recently, no one waited for service more than a few minutes.
Unlike the United States, Canadian and provincial governments dictate which services and surgical procedures are offered at public facilities. In many cases, operations are limited to regional hospitals or specialty centers. That’s one of the primary methods the government uses to contain costs, because it limits capital equipment and labor costs and ensures high utilization rates.
MORE CUTS, LONGER TRIPS TO HOSPITALS
“We’re finding more and more cuts, especially in rural communities,” said Lawrence Ward, who runs a small retail business in downtown Creston. “The hospital here used to be 55 beds and used to offer significant surgeries, like gall bladder operations or knee replacements. Now it’s down to 21 beds, and the government has centralized some surgeries (at larger, regional facilities) … meaning people have to travel.”
When Ward’s daughter went into premature labor, she was sent to the regional hospital in Cranbrook – about a 70-minute drive – but it wouldn’t admit her because she was 32 weeks pregnant and the hospital couldn’t take anyone under 34 weeks. She was flown to Kamloops. Because it wasn’t a round-trip flight, “she got dinged for the cost,” Ward said.
Such bureaucratic meddling is one of the concerns cited by opponents of nationalized health care in America.
But Irene Deprey, a retired nutritionist and volunteer at the Creston Food Bank, said meddling isn’t limited to Canada. “In the U.S., your insurance companies run the show. Here, the government runs it,” she said with a shrug. “Your Social Security system works, so why wouldn’t a public health care system?”
NO DELAYS FOR EMERGENCY CARE
Lorraine Ward, Lawrence’s wife, has 35 years of experience as a nurse. She said her impression of health care in America is that it’s a business.
“That’s what sticks in our craw,” she said. “We don’t look at it like that here. Anyone can walk through the door and get the same treatment as anyone else. We do have delay times and we have to travel, (but) I wouldn’t have it any other way. You know you’re going to be covered.”
The B.C. Ministry of Health Services says more than half the surgeries performed in the province are done on an emergency basis, with no delays. Median waiting times for non-emergency operations were four to five weeks from 2001 to 2009, although that varied depending on the procedure. Knee and hip replacements had the longest waiting times; they peaked at 22 and 29 weeks, respectively, in 2004, before dropping to 10 and 13 weeks by 2008.
None of this comes for free, of course. During fiscal 2010, 36 percent of British Columbia’s total budget will go toward health care, or $14.2 billion. Insurance premiums cover only 10 percent of that amount, meaning the rest comes from taxes.
HIGHER TAXES THAN IN U.S. FOR HEALTH CARE
The province’s personal income tax rate ranges from 5.1 percent to 14.7 percent, compared with 1.6 percent to 7.8 percent for Idaho. The federal tax rate tops out at 29 percent north of the border, compared with 35 percent in the United States. Unlike Americans, though, Canadians pay taxes on health care benefits received through their employers.
Corporate income taxes are higher as well – 11 percent in British Columbia, versus 7.6 percent in Idaho. And the federal/provincial sales tax adds up to 12 percent, about double the rate in Idaho and Washington.
Overall, though, British Columbia spends just under $3,200 per person on health care – less than half the per capita expenditures in the United States. The waiting lists and centralized services haven’t hurt average life expectancy, either: It is 81 years in the province, compared with 78 for Americans.
“It’s a relief to know if you’re sick, you’ll be looked after,” said Lori Kepke, a dairywoman and dance instructor. “I don’t get hurt by having to come up with an extra $5,000 (to pay for a sudden illness). I know that’s because the cost is hidden in our regular taxes, but I don’t see it as all about me.”
So, how is that system where everyone gets treatment, no matter how rich or poor they are, “evil”? How is that a system to be feared? How is that a system that decrees that old people should be allowed to die?
I know that none of you right-wingers out there have a good answer for me so let me save you the trouble and say that I have heard all of your arguments against reforming the current system and they are nothing but a load of bullshit!!! Absolute, 100%, Grade A, Made in the Good ‘ol U.S. of A., Premium Bullshit, because America deserves only the best bullshit that Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Health Net and Wellpoint can buy!!!
Look people we all have to face facts here – Heath Insurance is nothing more than a money pit for a huge majority of Americans right now – particularly if you are Unemployed, Underutilized or if you are one of the “working poor” who we also call the Underemployed. We are the people who cannot afford to buy ourselves Health Insurance right now – and if Sen. Max Baucus’ bill happens to pass – we are going to be taxed right into debtor’s prison!!!
Has anyone even caught the fact that if the Baucus bill passes and becomes law then the 50 million people who are without insurance and either can’t get it or can’t afford it are going to be fined no matter what the circumstance? Yeah, that’s right! Under the Baucus bill it doesn’t matter if you have been turned down for insurance, can’t afford it or simply choose not to buy it, you are going to be told to pay a fine for not having it. Not only that, but under the bill coming out of the finance committee there are no provisions for “Hardship Wavers” that President Obama talked about in his address to Congress. So for those of us who fall between the cracks and are denied coverage because of a “pre-existing condition”, we’re screwed if the Finance Committee bill passes!!!
The only thing that could possibly turn this situation around is when that particular bill gets to the House and gets torn apart by the Democrats there (who seemed to have finally found their spine again). The only hope we have for the “Hardship Wavers” to be included in the reform package is if someone in the House tacks on an Amendment to the bill and hopes that nobody in the Senate notices it.
But we also have to face facts folks that the Health Insurance Industry as we now know it is not going to be with us for much longer. I predict that within two or three years time we will see what appears to be a sudden collapse of the HMO’s in the same way that the banks and investment houses collapsed last year. If we see that Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Health Net and Wellpoint start massive layoffs of their workforce then we will know that the total collapse of the HMO system is eminent. Soon after we see Clerical workers and Medical coders leaving those corporate headquarters carrying boxes, we will see the CEO’s of these companies descending on The District, hat in hand, begging for the government to bail them out just like the banks and the auto industry was.
It will be at that moment in history that President Barrack Obama will finally do what his critics have been wanting him to do for a long time now – he is going to act like a Republican and tell the HMO’s “no.”
He will refuse to bail them out, and I can hear you “ditto-heads” working it right now: “well he bailed out the banks, he bailed out his friends in the auto industry, why won’t he do the right thing and bail out the HMO’s?” First of all it was president Bush that bailed out the banks. Second, the auto industry was only bailed out after they gave into a list of demands given to them by President Obama which trimmed most of the fat and (in GM’s case) led to the shutting down and loss of certain car brands – or doesn’t anyone remember the loss of Pontiac and Saturn and the sale of Hummer to the Chinese?
The answer that President Obama will give will be that “we bailed out the banks and saw the taxpayers money spent not on strengthening the banking system, but spent on ‘performance bonuses’, spent on the re-modeling of corporate offices, spent on the purchase of corporate jets, and spent on sending company executives to vacations spots under the guise of a ‘corporate retreat’. No more. My administration will not allow the American people to be made fools of in this fashion again. We have learned our lessons from the past, and we will not make the same mistake twice.”
That is when Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente will both look at each other and go: “Holy Shit!!! We need to change the way we not only do business, but also the way we provide health care in this country. We need to change the way we operate or we are going to go down just like Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Health Net and Wellpoint did!!! We need to combine our forces to pick up the slack and fill the vacuum that they left – and we are going to need the Government’s help to do it!!!”
That is when we will finally have Universal Health Care in this country – and it will be provided by a combined effort of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Kaiser Permanente and the U. S. Government. Think about it, soon after the collapse of the HMO’s we will need to start paying higher taxes, and since we will not have to pay prohibitive premiums to HMO’s we will be able to afford to do so. Those higher taxes will then go to subsidise Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s costs for running the facilities that were left in the lurch when the HMO’s shut their doors. BC/BS will not be receiving money from us, they will be receiving money from the Government – and if they screw up, they will have to answer to the Government who will hold them accountable. BC/BS will then begin providing quality health care with no additional cost to the taxpayer other than the increased taxes they already pay. Kaiser will respond by not only lowering their own costs but also by increasing the quality of their care in response to the Public Option provided by BC/BS. Eventually we might even see a merger of BC/BS and Kaiser into one super Universal health care system, but that might take another generation for that to happen.
And just watch, it all starts on December 21, 2012 – the date that everyone is expecting to be doomsday. Oh I have a feeling it will be doomsday all right…
…doomsday for the HMO’s if health care reform doesn’t pass.
