LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Does not see the Canadian health-care system as
others
Asheville
Citizen Times, Western North
Carolina, Aug. 8, 2004 12:01 a.m.
Regarding the letter, "Canada seems to get more health-care
bang for its buck," (AC-T, July 21): The author accurately
points out: Canada's socialized health-care expenditures (1999) were
about $2,000/person less than in the U.S., but ... Canadians are getting
exactly what they pay for: doctors and professional medical people
are draining to the U.S., creating doctor shortages, with limited
appointments and horrendous delays.
My Canadian sister's hip operation was postponed twice and a brother-in-law's
hip operation was rescheduled to next year(!), originally planned
for this summer. My Canadian brother's recurrent "cellulitis"
(not diagnosed) infection has defied recovery for two years. A large
city (as in Toronto or Montreal) has less than 10 MRI units available
and the lineup for procedures goes for more than a year. Canada is
hopelessly behind us in capital equipment/capita capability. Monies
go mostly for salaries in this one-server government-run system.
Believe me, the semi-socialized system we have here works better,
including the profit motive. Fully socialized systems lack incentives;
patients are "rationed" by doctors. Canadian doctors are
off on weekends and emergency care is poor. Is this enough?
The only "highlights" of the Canadian system are the low-cost
price-controlled drug situation and vanishingly small litigation.
What a system.
Peter T. Sarjeant, Highlands
