Posted on 12/13/2017 7:26:40 AM PST by Brilliant
American Democrats are following Bernie Sanders in embracing single-payer health care on the Canadian model. But when they get sick, our neighbors to the north increasingly find that the only way to get free medical care is to wait for weeks or months.
The Fraser Institutes new report, Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada in 2017, documents the problem. The Vancouver-based think tank surveyed physicians in 12 specialties across 10 provinces and found a median waiting time of 21.2 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and receipt of treatment. This is worse than 2016s wait of 20 weeks, making it the longest in the history of Frasers annual survey and 128% longer than the first survey in 1993.
The wait to see a specialist for a consultation is now 177% longer than in 1993, while the wait from consultation to treatment is 95% longer than in 1993. At 10.9 weeks it is more than three weeks longer than the 7.2-week wait considered clinically reasonable... long waits for orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery and ophthalmology, among others, far exceed whats recommended and arent benign...
Demand for diagnostic technology also outstrips supply, creating shortages in the form of lines: This year, Canadians could expect to wait 4.1 weeks for a computed tomography (CT) scan, 10.8 weeks for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, and 3.9 weeks for an ultrasound. CT scan waits have increased while the nationwide average for MRI and ultrasound waits decreased this year...
The lesson is that Canada hasnt repealed the basic law of economics that scarce resources must be rationed by price or by time. Ottawas decision to mandate a single-payer system in 1984 has consigned ailing Canadians to queues. Some 1,041,000 patients are in line waiting for treatment, a 6.9% increase in 2017...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Sort of what happens at the VA when a vet wants an appointment to their closest provider.
One thing that really shows judgement on my country’s system is that over the years, doctors and nurses have left Canada to seek better jobs in the United States and patients who can afford it go to the United States in order to receive better and more (importantly) timely care.
I think that is starting to change... thanks to Obamacare.
And ironically, the problem with both our systems is an inadequate number of doctors. If you tripled the number of doctors per capita, that would solve the problem without having the government run the system. If you compare the US and Canadian systems to the European systems, you’ll see that the biggest difference is that virtually all of the EU countries have at least 50% more doctors per capita. The only exceptions are Poland, which has about the same, and is widely regarded as a failed healthcare system, and Britain, which has only 15% more doctors per capita. The British system is also a poor performer.
I used to have a cabin 350 miles north of Toronto. My neighbor was diagnosed with a heart condition after a drive to Toronto because the North Bay hospital couldn’t do the tests required to confirm the problem. She was told she needed a valve replacement. Her expected wait: 19 months. She died four months later. Also, before Bernie and the other clowns start going down the “Free Healthcare” road, check out the taxes in Canada. Bernie may believe in a free lunch, but the market does not.
Just out of curiosity, how do you like owning land in Canada? Is it a hassle? Been thinking about buying a seasonal property somewhere for retirement. I have been focusing on the US, but occasionally ask myself whether it might make more sense economically to look at Canada.
Had the misfortune to need medical care during a recent trip to Britain. Waited 6 1/2 hours in an urgent care, crying in the corridor from the pain. When I finally saw a Dr, he did an exam and told me it was an arthritis flare-up and told me to take paracetamol (Tylenol). I spent much of my vacation in pain as we all know that Tylenol doesnt touch arthritic pain. I wondered if he didnt care about my pain because I am an American.
Last January, I searched Canadian patient times to see specialists times, from initial appointment to 1st treatment for care. Initial appts ranged from 5 wks to 5 months depending on Province.
After initial appt. ranged from 4 months to 10 months for 1st treatment, depending on Province.
They must ration and create very long wait times and cancel appointments indefinitely which ends up killing patients that cant wait. This ends up costing billions more due to long wait delays. Heck, look at England. Scary stuff!
Hayek pointed out, the reason socialism fails is not because of "the tragedy of the commons" or the brutal dictatorships or corrupt bureaucracies that naturally arise - it fails because, as you point out, society's natural (free-market) signals for where resources should be deployed stop being received. This is particularly true in the pharmaceutical market. The same drugs are available day 2 after socialist-takeover, and they may even appear cheaper at first, but that's it. The system is now frozen in amber.
He'll never have to wait for health care; his socialist proposals are only for the "little people," i.e., us.
These old lefty pols have nothing but contempt for us.
Pelosi too:
The waiting is more than inconvenience it costs lives. Imagine waiting to see a cancer specialist or even start treatment for your cancer.
I’m the first to bash the Canadian system, having lived under it for many years.
However, and to be fair, my brother suffered a heart attack a couple of months ago, and they got him in right away, and placed a couple of stents in his heart.
However, he lives in downtown Toronto where there are many hospitals (including cardiac care facilities) nearby.
Not important. The Politicians in the Swamp and their families have nothing to worry about.
So Alabama voters, at least, deserve this.
Actually, you get in to see a doctor real quick at any hospital in Canada... Just say you have chest pains. Then after you get in to see them, point out what your real symptoms are.
As does the NHS in Britain
My husband has a lot of medical problems, poor guy. He is a Saint!!!
We always stay on top of our medical visits and when he had his heart valve replaced in 2015 it was done at the teaching hospital in Valahlla, NY called Westchester Medical Center, it is the best of the best as many NY hospitals are. He did very well and within a few days of seeing the Dr., he had the surgery. Off subject but it is AMAZING what they did for him.
He has a lot of surgeries and I can tell you that the medical care is the best bar none.
And I take that for granted. Thanks Freepers.
If we do not do anything, our medical system will deteriorate and discoveries will not be made.
I got an MRI quickly but one had to be “flexible” as in I had mine at 1am.
My wife’s brother in law is a British citizen who’s lived in the US for many years. He and my wife’s sister went to London for vacation, and he unfortunately suffered a heart attack while they were there. She took him to the health service, where he waited in a corridor for hours. Finally, a nurse came out to see him. She offered him nothing. He was still alive, and the heart attack was over. What did he expect them to do? He never did get to see a doctor. He had to come back to the US for treatment.
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