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A poster from Texas, in Politics and Other Controversies, said this of the Canadian healthcare system that it is "cratering" with just a fraction of the US population. Without putting words in their mouth, from my interpretation, that Canada's healthcare system is failing and will collapse in the future. I'd like to hear from Canadians, is your healthcare system unsustainable and will it "crater" anytime soon? I'm supporting Bernie Sanders for president (this isn't another Canada bash topic) who wants a similar Canadian setup in the US which I favor. But this is a talking point frequently thrown around in right-wing circles down here. I'm not Canadian, but I don't see the system in Canada circling the drain, what do all of you think?
Last edited by theunbrainwashed; 02-05-2016 at 03:12 PM..
I'd not put too much into hearsay from a poster from Texas in the P&OC section.
Canadas healthcare system is doing just fine.
This site gives the benefits of the Canadian system= http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/11/...han-obamacare/
Whether the accompanying bias against Obamacare is true or not i have no idea.
A poster from Texas, in Politics and Other Controversies, said this of the Canadian healthcare system that it is "cratering" with just a fraction of the US population. Without putting words in their mouth, from my interpretation, that Canada's healthcare system is failing and will collapse in the future. I'd like to hear from Canadians, is your healthcare system unsustainable and will it "crater" anytime soon?
Canada doesn't even have a healthcare system, we have a dozen parallel provincial and federal healthcare systems whose general outlines are governed by the Canada Health Act, but they're all pretty different, are in varying conditions, and things like wait times, health outcomes, and the variety of health services available still vary from community to community within a single province. So for example, you may have a longer wait to see an ophthamologist in Thunder Bay vs. Kenora depending on how many of these specialists happen to be in each city, probably similar to how things are in the US. Certainly, Canadian health care systems aren't perfect and there are things we can do to improve some of them and complaints I have about the way certain things are done, but globally speaking, no, the health care system is not really in worse shape than it has been in the past and it is not failing. The Canadian public, speaking generally, is horrified by the American Health Care system and would never want anything similar in our country. Sometimes you'll end up with a province that has to go through austerity and there may be some tweaking to the health care system, maybe the province will pay a lower portion of the cost of asthma inhalers or may cut back on how many hours of home care nursing is publicly paid for for elderly disabled people. But there's nothing wrong with the basic structure of the system, and whether or not minor reforms are enacted in the future or private health insurance plans are allowed more of a role in paying for private outpatient service for the well off, I'd bet on the system surviving basically in its current form into my retirement at least (I'm in my mid 20s). Since each system is provincial, not federal, our federal population compared to your federal population is irrelevant. There are fewer tax payers, but also fewer people using the system, so why would size matter? If anything larger provinces tend to benefit from economies of scale in their provision of health care compared to smaller ones.
ADDED: I think it's important to note: as health care has evolved, we've been increasingly moving away from health care being provided primarily in hospitals and by physicians - the things the Canada Health Act governs. As more and more care is provided at home or in the community, where care is subsidized by governments to a greater or lesser degree depending on the province, patients have been taking on more of the financial burden of health care. Only 70% of health care expenditures in Canada come from public sources, which is below the OECD average. In this context, it should be unsurprising that public health systems are not collapsing, despite the burdens of an aging population.
A poster from Texas, in Politics and Other Controversies, said this of the Canadian healthcare system that it is "cratering" with just a fraction of the US population. Without putting words in their mouth, from my interpretation, that Canada's healthcare system is failing and will collapse in the future. I'd like to hear from Canadians, is your healthcare system unsustainable and will it "crater" anytime soon? I'm supporting Bernie Sanders for president (this isn't another Canada bash topic) who wants a similar Canadian setup in the US which I favor. But this is a talking point frequently thrown around in right-wing circles down here. I'm not Canadian, but I don't see the system in Canada circling the drain, what do all of you think?
It flies in right-wing circles because it fits their agenda.
The same holds true in Canada. Certain right wing groups, like the Fraser Institute, want to paint a bad picture, so that they can claim a private system is best. It benefits their business friends.
Canadians don't buy into that.
Are there challenges ahead? Of course, but there are challenges ahead in most healthcare systems across the globe.
The baby boomer generation population bubble has created different system stresses as it has moved through the decades from overcrowded schools as children to a spike in the demands on the health system as seniors. So yes, the coming years will be challenging until a lot of that generation (my generation) is gone.
I don't see signs the Canadian health care system is collapsing though, although I certainly agree the system could be improved upon.
Bernie Sanders plan is vague at this time. So it is impossible to do cost comparisons. For example, in Canada dental work is not covered, and with some exceptions neither are prescriptions. So private insurance is still used in Canada.
At any rate, I agree with the others above: our system is not "cratering." The Texan who claims that it is, is obviously uninformed, and not familiar with our system at all.
I've posted a response to your post. My being a Texan was a rather biased mention on behalf of the OP that really had no merit in the conversation except to create conflict. I'm a liberal Democrat. I've made correction as noted and will add here what I mentioned there; my opinions are nothing personal, and it's a shame that some would take them as such. The data I offered is factual and accurate and represents a large effort of information gathering from large pools of Canadians.
It's really nothing personal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nor Cal Wahine
Alright. In the interest of correction, the report card was issued by the CMA, which according to Wikipedia,
The Canadian Medical Association (CMA), is a national, voluntary association of physicians that advocates on behalf of its members and the public for access to high-quality health care, and provides leadership and guidance to physicians. The CMA also takes the lead on public health issues. The CMA's goal is to ensure the survival and robust health of Canada's medicare system in the face of numerous challenges. The CMA is a Canadian civilian organization with the Royal Patronage of Queen Elizabeth II. The Canadian Medical Association Journal, often abbreviated CMAJ, is the CMA's official publication. It is a peer-reviewed general medical journal that publishes original clinical research, commentaries, analyses, and reviews of clinical topics, health news, clinical practice updates, and editorials.
So now that I've corrected my error, can you clarify as to whether you take exception to the actual information contained within the report? You failed to comment on the data itself.
I never suggested that the Alliance link was a government report, however. It is released by the Wait Time Alliance, which is a reputable organization of Canadian Doctors who formed the Wait Time Alliance in 2004. From their mission statement: "That same year, Canadian governments committed to reducing wait times. Since then, Wait Time Alliance physicians have been developing benchmarks and targets to identify the longest medically-acceptable amount of time that a patient should wait before receiving treatment". - See more at: Health care in Canada Wait Time Alliance
Do you discount their official capacity or data in any way?
Lastly, it's rather nitpicky to argue the term of government as a federal or provincial body on this topic. Canadian healthcare is regulated by provincial government. There. Is that a more satisfying definition for you?
A thread with less than fifteen responses of anecdotal accounts offers far less hard data than any of the three sources I've included. You can wax pedantic at my titling of their source, but the data contained within them is hard, accurate, and recent. It's nothing personal that I use this data in making these comparisons to American care, and you shouldn't take it so personally that it reflects any negativity toward your healthcare system. They're just facts.
Link to full thread for those with any interest in the entire conversation:
The old government here let the Canada Health Accord expire, leaving provincially run health care systems running on empty.
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