Thursday, October 1, 2009

Canadian health care - shining example

According to the LA Times this past Sunday (and you could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw this on the front page) the so called Canadian system, bright and shining example to afficianados of public options everywhere is moving toward a private option.

More than 70 private health providers in British Columbia now schedule simple surgeries and tests such as MRIs with waits as short as a week or two, compared with the months it takes for a public surgical suite to become available for nonessential operations.

"What we have in Canada is access to a government, state-mandated wait list," said Brian Day, a former Canadian Medical Assn. director who runs a private surgical center in Vancouver. "You cannot force a citizen in a free and democratic society to simply wait for healthcare, and outlaw their ability to extricate themselves from a wait list."