Close The Border To Canadian Health Care

Next week, the US Senate will return to work in Washington. Several important committees welcome new leaders, including the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Commission, which is headed by Vermont socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.

Senator Sanders is promised Make “universal health care” the focus of my tenure as head of the HELP committee. He has long been a proponent of Canada’s single payment system. In this system, the government has a monopoly on paying for medically necessary treatments.

But that system is falling apart. Canadian patients are facing record waiting times for both routine and emergency care. And they pay big bucks for that privilege.

Canada’s healthcare system, called Medicare, was once the pride and joy of the country. But as the program enters its 70th year, public opinion is beginning to change.However more than half Percentage of Canadians who say they are satisfied with their healthcare system in 2022, down from nearly 70% in 2020.

It’s easy to see why. The waiting time is endlessly long. In 2022, a Canadian patient waited a median of 27.4 weeks from referral by a general practitioner to receiving treatment by a specialist. according to To the Fraser Institute, a think tank in Vancouver. That’s nearly two weeks longer than the average wait time for Canadians in 2021, and nearly triple the average wait time for Canadians in 1993, which was 9.3 weeks.

Also, private health insurance is illegal for treatments that the government deems medically necessary, so patients cannot pay for insurance and stand in line.

For that matter, neither can doctors. They have one customer, he is the government. And that customer is trying to keep costs down. Canada spends her 12.2% of GDP on healthcare. By comparison, healthcare accounts for 18.3% of US GDP.

As such, Canadian doctors need to do more with less. And it’s pushing many to the brink. According to a recent Canadian Medical Association survey, more than half of Canadian doctors report burnout in 2021, down from just 30% in 2017.

According to another study, 75% or more Percentage of Canadian nurses who will be “certified as burnout in 2021”. Physicians work an average of 52 hours a week, but only spend 36 hours caring for patients. 16 hours total For paperwork and other bureaucratic tasks.

Faced with these embarrassing circumstances, Canadian doctors are out of business. Nearly 20% of his Toronto family physicians plan to close within the next five years, according to one survey. study It was published in the magazine Canadian Family PhysicianMany cite burnout as the reason.

Canadian Medical Association Estimates about 5 million Canadians had no primary care providers in 2021. Ontario Children’s Hospital recently very understaffed This winter, the Canadian Red Cross needed to send a doctor for reinforcements.

To add insult to injury, this shoddy “free” care actually costs Canadians a lot. He paid a whopping $15,847 in taxes just to cover the cost of public health insurance for her typical family of four. according to Research from the Fraser Institute.

Canada’s health tax burden has surged in recent years. The childless couple, who paid her $8,225 in taxes for public compensation in 1997, is paying about $15,229 today. This is her 85% increase.

Even these hefty taxes can’t keep Medicare running smoothly.state leaders asking The Canadian government covers 35% of healthcare costs and currently covers 22%. But 57% of Canadians say current spending rates are already unsustainable, and experts agree. As Stephen Staples, National Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Canadian Health Federation, put itincreasing funding for Medicare at this point is like “pouring hot water into a leaky bathtub.”

Rather than dabbling in failed and expensive socialized health care, Canada’s leaders lifted the ban on private health care, allowing market forces to repair parts of the country’s broken health care system. should be considered.

The single payer may be Bernie’s dream, but it’s fast becoming every Canadian’s nightmare. Perhaps some of his colleagues on the HELP committee can invite some Canadians awaiting treatment to provide a first-hand perspective on the crisis plaguing their healthcare system. .