Okay KevinMD and Socialized Medicine , I’ll bite. (They quote Ontario’s deputy Health Minister.) His version, and then mine, with changes in bold.

Canada:

“[O]ur system could be much better. It lags behind the best international standards in waiting times and availability of new technology and drugs. Our medical staff are overworked and stressed. We seem to lurch from crisis to crisis with constant government attempts at micromanagement, punctuated with cutbacks and bailouts.

It is time for a different approach: less government, not more. Our current problems are caused by the failure of a rigid, centralized control system that inevitably follows from single-source funding. In the absence of economic user fees, paid directly to service providers, central funding leads to shortages and rationing as a means of cost control. We see the results in unacceptable waiting times and lack of adequate services. The current shortage of trained medical staff is the result of botched government decisions in the name of cost control. As a result, a significant number of people do not have a family doctor.

The way we fund health care rules out any market forces or signals that might improve efficiency. We provide free coverage for minor services to all, including the most affluent, so we don’t have enough funds for timely cancer treatments and catastrophic drug plans. This creates the ultimate two-tier system where the more affluent can pay for drugs and travel to the United States, while those of more modest means are denied service.

US:

[O]ur system could be much better. It lags behind the best international standards in access to care, infant mortality, life expectancy, and equity . Our medical staff are overworked and stressed. We seem to lurch from crisis to crisis with constant double-digit increases in annual insurance costs , and government attempts at patchwork reform , punctuated with cutbacks and bailouts.

It is time for a different approach: less fragmentation and corporate control , not more. Our current problems are caused by the failure of a patchwork, ridiculously administratively wasteful system that inevitably follows from employee health benefits as a fluke from World War II . In the absence of access to prevention and primary care, patchwork funding leads to shortages and rationing as a means of cost control. We see the results in unacceptable deaths from lack of health insurance and undue suffering of those without–and sometimes with–health insurance . * As a result [of no health insurance and poor incentives for medical students to go into primary care] , a significant number of people do not have a family doctor.

The way we fund health care rules out any public health or prevention efforts or signals that might improve efficiency. We provide free coverage for emergency services to all, including the most affluent, so we don’t have enough funds to prevent disease and illness before it becomes more serious; often even the insured end up owing tens of thousands of dollars for timely cancer treatments and catastrophic drug plans. This creates the ultimate two-tier system where the more affluent have access to health care without risk of bankruptcy , while those of more modest means are asked to weigh the decision between medical care and bankruptcy or severe financial difficulty .

3 Comments »