Heather: “At the moment, whether the Canadian health care system is SUPPOSED to help us or not – it can’t.”
I’m sorry Heather, but I’ve got to call you on that one. For half the cost of the U.S. there are millions of healthcare service transactions provided per year from physicals, to flu shots, to prescriptions, to subsidized nursing homes, to emergency services, etc., etc., etc. all currenty at $0 out-of-pocket for those requiring service (again important to contrast vs the U.S. system where they often forget to add their cash costs on top of their deductibles on top of their insurance premium costs on top of their tax contributions). There may be instances where we don’t get Westin-level service for our money but that doesn’t negate the fact that based on our relatively small investment (on a per capita basis) we get a tremendous amount of coverage especially when contrasted to U.S. spending and their entitlements.
By the way, just to go back to a previous comment in which we were in agreement which was that the doctor shortage regardless of the single-payer system dramatically impacts our systems capabilities, I think we need to define what that staffing level should be. At present we are in a position where we as potential patients are competing for scarce doctors. That needs to be reversed so that doctors are numerous enough they start competing for us. Now if you follow that logic through (especially when you include the provision of user fees we agreed upon earlier) what that means is that even with relatively flat budget spending, service levels could rise dramatically very quickly as more doctors actually fight for positions (which in turn could actually create health industry wage deflation).
