Canadian and American Healthcare

My first statement is that nobody at any point should call me a communist, leftista, etc. I remain the fiscally and foreign policy conservative, socially libertarian person I have been, since I gained the ability of rational thought.

Inevitably, I have been in several discussions with many of you regarding the differences in our respective Health Care systems.

The links below will take you to a very interesting two part blog entry on what a single-payer health system (ie, Canada's) actually looks like in comparison to the US health system, done by an American living in Canada. It attempts to debunk some of the raving-mad, right-wing ideas about the Canadian health care system.

The author is VERY left wing, as is the blog forum that hosts the postings, and depending on your political inclination (and I have friends that are all over the spectrum), you should probably ignore her political statements, especially on part two, lest you have a coronary and have to experience either country's health care, first-hand.

All in all, I have to say that she's not entirely far off the mark, in my personal experience with the Canadian health care system. There are some things I would have our system do differently, however like the vast majority of Canadians (90%+ I believe), I would not make wholesale changes to the system.

Others of you may have had better or worse issues dealing with the Canadian and American systems. As well, keep in mind I have spent the past year immersed in the US health care industry, from a sales perspective, so I am aware of certain regional and national issues that are affecting the US system.

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/mythbusting-canadian-health-care-part-i

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/mythbusting-canadian-healthcare-part-ii-debunking-free-marketeers

I'm not attacking either system; however it's an interesting look at some of the issues both systems face, and how our societies are structured.