Canada's Health Care System is Imploding! http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/canadas-socialized-medicine-crumbling
Leftists Still Ignoring Fact That Canada’s Socialized Medicine Is Falling Apart July 4, 2017 By Robert Gehl <http://thefederalistpapers.org/author/rgehl> Leftists point to our friendly neighbors to the north as a utopian example of how socialized medicine is a solution to America’s healthcare crisis. If only we were like the Canucks, our costs would go down, everyone would be covered and all would be right with the medical world. Not so fast… The system, where everybody supposedly has equal access to health care regardless of their ability to pay, is slowly crumbling from within, a new report concludes. In just 2016, more than 63,000 Canadians were forced to travel overseas (to the US mainly) for medical care that they couldn’t get (or couldn’t wait for) in their own country. Given that Canada’s population is about one-ninth that of the US, that’s like more than a half-million Americans traveling outside the country for essential medical care because they can’t get it here. The 63,000 is a 40 percent increase over 2015, and it’s growing. Long wait times for medical procedures and denials from the government run services are blamed, CTV News reports <http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/63-000-canadians-left-the-country-for-medical-treatment-last-year-fraser-institute-1.3486635> . The Fraser Institute surveyed doctors in 12 specialties the percent of patients who received treatment outside of the country for their data. Amazingly, in the 63,000, 9,500 left for general surgery, 6,400 for urology treatment and 5,000 for colonoscopies and angiographies (examinations of arteries and veins) – procedures that are routine and common in the U.S. “If that many Canadians are willing to pay out-of-pocket to get faster access to the treatment they need, that means they are dissatisfied with the quality of care,” Yanick Labrie, a senior Fraser Institute fellow and co-author of the report, said in a statement. Some are questioning the voracity of the numbers, but nobody denies there is a crisis in Canadian medical care. This confirms the experience of Trent Hills, Ontario, Mayor Hector MacMillan. He called the report’s findings “damning.” He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2016, and hoped to undergo a NanoKnife procedure in the U.S. an operation that would use electrodes to jolt his tumour and kill cancer cells. But when the Ontario Health Insurance Program denied Macmillan’s request for funding for the procedure in the U.S., he went to Germany for treatment. “Our health care system is certainly broken, there is no doubt about that,” Macmillan told CTV News. “I think it’s time for a total overhaul.” Macmillan said he’s “delighted because I am here.” His Canadian doctors had told him that he would likely be dead by Christmas 2016. “I have long surpassed the expiry date that I was given in Ontario and it has given me a chance to help other Canadians,” he said. Macmillan said he and his sister have since helped “at least 40 Canadians and a couple of Americans” get to Germany or London for medical services they couldn’t access at home. A few months after Macmillan had the NanoKnife procedure in Germany, Ontario’s Ministry of Health announced that the province will expand its NanoKnife clinical trial to include pancreatic cancer patients. Amazingly, in response to the mayor’s experience – and rather than confirm the problem, promising to do something about it – the Canadian government simply warned people about the “risks” involved in traveling overseas for medical treatment. “It is important to remember that medical practices, health standards and infection control measures in other countries may differ from those in Canada and could result in lower quality medical care,” the government says on its website. If by “lower quality medical care” they mean actually getting treatment, they would be correct. H/T: The Daily Caller <http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/03/report-says-canadas-socialized-medicine-failing-canadians/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social> -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
