DRINK TO YOUR TWO-TIERED HEALTH CARE

One of the things that I find painful during Canadian elections is is the endless trumpeting, by all parties, of the myth that the Canadian healthcare system is the best in the world. As well as the charges that the Conservatives would Americanize the system (which may not actually be a bad thing).

Perhaps the Conservatives would do better by denying that they want to Americanize the system and saying that they want to make it more like, say, the Australian, Swedish or even French models. A Fraser Institute study (found in a long pdf file here) notes that Canada maintains the costliest system (as a percent of GDP spent on health care) with results that are only middling when compared to the 28 industrialized OECD countries studied.

The comparative evidence is that the Canadian health care model is inferior to others in place in the OECD. It produces inferior access to physicians, longer waiting times, is less successful in preventing death from preventable causes and costs more than any of the other systems that have comparable objectives. The models that produce superior results and cost less than Canada's monopolistic, single-issuer, single-provider system have user fees; alternative, comprehensive, private insurance; and private hospitals. Canada should provide the example of these superior health care models.

The study is summarized in the Free Republic.

The problems plaguing our health care system are not just financial – they are systemic. Throwing more money at the problem will not likely change the results – it will only make the system more expensive.

It has been noted elsewhere that only Canada, Cuba and North Korea deny private health care providers. This is probably going too far in criticizing one of the countries. In Cuba, if you are a wealthy local or tourist US dollars can still buy a doctor and maybe a mojito on the beach.