The Dreaded Canadian Option

By BJ Bjornson

The discussion over healthcare is continuing to heat up, with another editorial from the Wall Street Journal making the rounds today declaring how horrifying the Canadian system is. A system they then accuse Obama of pursuing for Americans. As with most such, it mixes a few facts with a great deal of spin and misinformation. Ron already posted on some of the myths the insurance industry and its allies are trying to spread regarding the Canadian system, though to some degree the whole issue is academic, as it seems clear that whatever comes from the manoeuvring on Capitol Hill won�t be the single-payer system Canada has.

In any case, I thought it would be a good opportunity to post this article written almost a month ago by a CBC journalist living in the US. As MacDonald says, we do rather like our system, and enjoy lording it over you Yanks when we get the chance. As such, it is difficult not to leap to its defence when we see it twisted for propaganda purposes, but as he also notes, we should be willing to note that the twisting comes from both sides.

There is rationing and long wait times for elective surgeries. Granted, it is the health care professionals who make those decisions rather than the government, but the decision over who gets faster treatment is still being made, and there is no way for you to buy your way into the front of the line outside of leaving the country and getting the service elsewhere. For those facing a pain-filled wait for operations on their joints, Canadian healthcare is clearly no picnic.

To balance that, there are a few things you don�t have to deal with north of the border.

You won't have your health insurance cancelled on an insurer's whim, which happens here all the time, or have it denied if you or some relative was once sick. "Pre-existing conditions" don't matter at all in Canada.

You won't have some bean-counting weasel in your health group or your insurance plan conspiring to deprive you of the treatment to which you are entitled.

You won't lose your health care if you lose your job. You won't have ever-rising "co-pays" and deductibles and fees; and you won't wind up hounded by a collection agent who calls at all hours to inform you that your credit could be wrecked for life if you continue to dispute a charge on your medical bill.

Also, if you spend some time in hospital, you won't end up with months of incomprehensible invoices from everyone who provided any service, from the guy who operated the EKG machine to the guy who read the test results to the woman who administered the anaesthetic to the lab that did the blood work.

The difference between our systems is pretty simple really.

If you have money or gold-plated coverage, you're probably better off here the way things are now.

If you can't afford insurance or you're a working stiff struggling to pay your premiums, you're probably better off in Canada.

�If you have money or gold-plated coverage�, both of which I assume describes pretty much everybody who happens to be debating the health care initiatives put forward in Congress. Little wonder things have a hard time getting anywhere.