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Statistics Show Canadian Healthcare Is Inferior to American System

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First, public education anywhere, U.S., Canada, the U.K. is all the same, seriously lacking. Remember it's the liberals who control all three, they write the textbooks, they are the professors in the ed dpt at the universities, they run the unions and they are the administrators. We've lost our history, the ability to spell and write and the math skills are quite poor. This is due solely to policy, liberal policy and ideology.
As for the health care, I've worked in hospitals and physicians practices for almost 30 years in the US. and know very well the system here is far superior. Why would the Premier of Newfoundland travel to Florida for his procedure when all he had to do was travel to another Provence? The wait times in the U.S are far shorter than in Canada even by the latest stats.
My husband is a retired G.I. and his wait time is on average two weeks to see a specialist. He required thoracic surgery which included a helicopter ride from one hospital to another and was in surgery immediately upon arrival. The care was top notch, I was briefed prior to the surgery and told he had a 12% chance of survival; he's active, healthy and we're grateful for our private health care in America.
I know several snow-birds from Canada who all have the story about the serious problems with health care in that country. I even worked three years for a Canadian physician who came right out and explained why he practices medicine in the US, not Canada. It's frustrating to finally see a patient that by the time he can come in it's too late to help him. Yeah, let's have some of that, gub-ment health care!

Rhonda of AZ 12:06AM November 11, 2010

I agree with Nick's critique that the comparable US statistics should be shown, but based on my own anecdotal experience working in American hospitals, the large number of canadians who come south to receive timely treatment would support the basic thrust of the article. I think another useful statistic to show would be the wait times at VA hospitals in the US. The VA hospital data would be useful for comparisons with private US hospitals since they may better represent how US federal govt. might run a national healthcare system.

Jason of NH 4:08PM July 10, 2010

WOW, TO THE PERSON WHO WROTE CANADA SUCKS.
SHOWS YOU HAVE A REALLY GREAT ARGUMENT SKILLS! ESPECIALLY ON THE CANADIAN VS US HEATH CARE SYSTEMS TOPIC. PERHAPS, WE SHOULD DISCUSS OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS INSTEAD! AT LEAST WE HAVE A MIND OR OUR OWN UP HERE, AND NOT BRAINWASHED BY MONEY GRUBBING CORRUPTED POLITICIANS.

CITIZEN 3:19AM April 28, 2010

canada sucks

x of DC 1:42PM March 26, 2010

Roff: 1) You don't show the comparable U.S. figures or provide a source for the ones you slip into the text; 2) You use a GOP "interpretation" of the most right-wing think-tank in Canada (the Fraser Institute). Their studies are consistently biased against any kind of shared responsibility among citizens (especially where money is concerned), and for returning Canadian healthcare to a for-profit system (since personal profit is the Fraser Institute's primary concern and raison d'etre).
Before quoting things Canadian, you might want to find out how Canadians see them.

Nick Wright 10:35PM March 21, 2010

By the way, the Fraser Institute is a right-wing think tank; highly political.

Jane Thomson 6:34PM March 21, 2010

The problem with looking at this type of statistics is that you don't know the stories behind them. As a Canadian, my experience, and that of my friends and family, is that in Canada, if you can afford to wait healthwise, you will probably have to wait, yes. This is why some Canadians go to the US for treatment: they do not want to wait, and can afford not to.
In Canada, if your case is urgent, you will not wait.
My best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had the necessary tests and was operated on within a week, then had the vital followup therapies immediately. No waiting. On the other hand, my aunt needed a new hip. She was still able to get around, so she waiting longer than others who needed their ops in order to function. In the end, she got her hew hip in six months. My husband is currently on the waitlist for an operation to have polyps removed from his nose, for the second time (they grow back, who knew?) He's been waiting for three months and will probably have his operation next month. Meanwhile, the doctor has been trying some new alernative therapies which have helped a lot.
My four year old nephew had epilepsy that became life-threatening. He had brain surgery and follow up treatment for two years, in Toronto's Hospital for Sick Kids. My sister started to calculate what it all cost, but stopped when she topped a million dollars. They paid $0.
My husband and I pay about 30% income tax. It's a bargain.

Jane Thomson 6:28PM March 21, 2010

Canucks and Limeys are flocking to India for treatment due to waiting lists. This is called "medical tourism." Socialism is an inferior system and the Brits should apologize to India for foisting this on us. We are in the news these days only because our politicians finally started throwing out socialism.
Medical Tourism to India was unheard of in the socialist days.

Vincent 11:03PM February 28, 2010

Anybody who says the US Healthcare system is superior to Canada's is blind to reality. Are the best hospitals in the world in the United States? Irrefutably yes.
But the fact the US has the best hospitals means it has the best health care system is an argument built on false logic. It's equivalent to saying that Russia has the best nutritional system because there are a few great restaurants in Moscow.
People die every day in the US because its immunization rates are 37th in the world - lower than some 3rd world countries. Because a movie star falls ill and gets fantastic medical care at the Mayo clinic says nothing about the " health care system " in the United States, but care like this is what people turn to when they try to compare the US to Canada.
The US medical care isn't just inferior to the Canadian system, its embarrassing relative to developing countries. The fight for health care in the US is portrayed as someone who has health care already being forced to use substandard health care against their will because of socialist policies.
THEY MISS THE POINT!
The fight for health care is for people who have no health care whatsoever being given access to SOME health care. If a celebrity/wealthy person is forced to use a Canadian style system when they face health issues would the care be worse than they're used to? OF COURSE IT WOULD BE. But its no different than wealthy people who pay school taxes for public schools but pay huge tuition fees to send their children to private school. Health care is different only that poor people don't have access to health care, but they do have access to public schools - without it, a vast majority of people would not be educated - without health care, tens of thousands peopled die every year. Public health care will not affect a whit, the health care wealthy people employ.
Forget using Canada as a scapegoat. The US health care " system " is embarrassing. And there is no argument against that fact.
This is just another nail in the coffin of the American empire. Good luck to you.

Canadian Citizen 9:53PM February 11, 2010

but the children with swollen bellies in africa who do not ever see a doctor is in worse shape right?
baby lala's complaining on waiting times make me sick while the world suffers without ANYTHING.
http://prophetlady.wordpress.com

the prophet of GA 4:34PM February 02, 2010