EzraKlein Archive | The American Prospect

EzraKlein Archive The American Prospect

This is just too fun. Fraser Institute puts on prominent Canadian physician to dis Canadian health care, which he does, mildly IMHO, but then proceeds to dis the American system even more!

And Dr. Day (former CMA President) makes some great points:

1. Waiting times are a function of the way Canada funds hospitals, by bloc grants to hospitals rather than having money follow the patients as in the rest of the world.

2. Waiting times cost more, particualarly in terms of patients illness progression and economic costs of lost work, wages, productivity, etc.

3. Britain has essentially fixed its waiting time issues by dispensing with the bloc system.

4. “I think this is what people tend to forget. They equate alternatives to the Canadian health care system with ‘Americanization,’ which is not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about countries like Belgium, and Switzerland, and France, and Austria.”

5. One should be able to buy private health insurance (in Canada) to supplement the Candian Medicare system.

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