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On a scale of 1 to 10 how brainwashed is someone who says the Canadian healthcare system is failing?

Every statistic and actual fact points to the direct opposite. The American Journal of Medicine says over 3 out of 5 personal bankruptcies are due to medical debt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_in_the_United_States). That’s 60% of all personal bankruptcies which make up the vast majority of all bankruptcies. There are a total of 0 (zero) bankruptcies due to medical bills in other industrialized nations. Canada spends 10% of GDP on healthcare, the UK spends only 8% of GDP on healthcare while the US spends 16% and still has to pay for insurance! UK and Canadian small businesses are not burdened with having to pay for employees insurance making them more competitive. Every industrialized nation with Universal Healthcare (UHC), bar none, has longer lifespans, pays less than the US and is happier with their systems. Even when Americans buy private medical insurance, they’re still not covered for many problems. You would never be turned away in a UHC country for a pre-existing condition. The American system works just like a UHC system. Americans that say “I don’t want to pay for someone else” obviously have no understanding of how private insurance works. AIG pools your money and when someone gets sick they use that money (your money) to pay for the sick person which is exactly how UHC works, except the pool is bigger which leads to lower risk and lower costs. Canada and Australia run UHC and not one bank collapsed during the financial crisis, in fact both country’s economies grew significantly. The cost of private insurance is climbing much faster than in UHC countries and families cannot afford proper care and preventative checks. This leads to higher costs when they finally do go to the hospital and the problem has become severe. Americans pay 5x what Canadians pay for medical treatment and yet their life spans are lower, their infant mortality is very high and How can someone looking at these facts say that it’s UHC that’s failing without being brainwashed?

Public Comments

1. Americans pay 2x as much, but still that is more than necessary. America has the most expensive, inefficient, wasteful health care system in the entire developed world and we still don't have full coverage or anywhere near the highest life expectancy.
2. 10! they system works, if it didn't it would not be used by every other developed country in the world.
3. 10 It is not failing, it has already failed.
4. So why are Canadians jumping the border by the handful per day to get life-saving surgeries for which they've been waitlisted long enough to DIE before they get into an OR back home?
5. Baby Joseph sure could That English actress that had her skiing accident in Canada sure could That government minister that came to America to have his operation sure could
6. Universal health care is a right.
7. Canada does have a problem keeping good doctors. I don't think any system is perfect by I support a single payer system for the US. One of the largest groups opposing a universal single payer system are those on Medicare (blue hairs). Figure that one out.
8. When you're at 10 here and 10 here, and you need that extra push over the cliff, where do you go? 11! This one goes to 11. The only way to believe the Canadian system (or any other universal healthcare system for that matter) demonstrates the flaws and failures of the universal model, is to ignore indisputable fact. It is flat out hysteria.
9. To be fair, most the media in the USA looks at how other healthcare systems fail so many. So it is not right to blame people for not knowing the facts on healthcare abroad. FACT - Insurance companies in the USA admit to pushing up prices, buying politicians and not paying out claims when they should FACT - PER PERSON the USA spends more on healthcare than any other nation on the planet FACT - Obama debated his plans before the election for healthcare FACT - the chance of a child under five of dying in the USA is greater than industrialised nations with universal healthcoverage FACT - Obama was elected by the American people to bring in change FACT - Obama wants to stop insurance companies from screwing the American people FACT - The reforms Obama wants work in the Netherlands and in Switzerland The sad thing is that people like Glenn Beck are aware of such facts. And still, they peddle lies and half truths. And that is much more horrible. That they knowingly defend a system that fails so many people.