A friend, Canada-born but now a U.S. citizen, posted this on Facebook with the comment, "I grew up as a Canadian and I´m so glad to see they are waking up to the negatives of their healthcare system. I hope the USA takes note."
While Americans pine for 'Medicare for all,' Canadians look for US-style private insurance
by Sally Pipes
| February 03, 2020 08:39 AM
About 56% of people in the United States favor "Medicare for all," according to polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation out last week. That's an increase of 3 percentage points from last November.
That majority would be wise to take a look across our northern border. Waits for care in Canada's government-run health insurance system, the closest analog to "Medicare for all" in the world, are spiraling. The remedy for those waits, according to a new report from the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute? A dose of U.S.-style private insurance.
Right now, Canada is the only high-income country with universal health coverage that bans its citizens from purchasing private insurance for anything deemed "medically necessary." "Medicare for all" would make the U.S. the second.
Supporters of the ban claim it preserves equitable access to care. Wealthy Canadians can't use private insurance to pay for faster access to care.
But as a result, everyone must wait their turn for care paid for by the public system. Last year, Canadians faced a median wait of nearly 21 weeks to receive specialist treatment after getting referred by a general practitioner. ...
Full story at Washington Examiner
