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smooth · 03-01-2006, 04:17 PM

besides the obvious view the author holds against the canadian system according to the adjectives used in the article, it simply doesn't make much sense to me to criticize a system based on the number of people who didn't receive treatment without analyzing whether those people woudn't have even had a line to stand in if they were seeking treatment in a wholly private system.

that is, while it certainly sounds horrendous that 71 people died and over 120 were removed from a list while waiting for treatment, that doesn't mean as much as the author would like us to take it to mean if those nearly 200 people would have been absolutely unable to obtain treatment in the US. and this does nothing to understand the vast amount of people who are able to obtain treatment despite wait lists who otherwise would not have had the funds to obtain treatment in a wholly privatized system. I don't know the numbers, but I suspect far more than 200 people die each year in the US for want of surgery.

that said, I've never seen canadians claim their system was a panacea. Even they agree that changes could and should be made. and quite often I see them suggest a two-tiered system might address many of the concerns others raise about their system. but then to take that into a leap of logic and declare the entire system should be scrapped doesn't serve the patients' interests--for certain.

publicly available health care, ideally, should guarantee a baseline of treatment. not much more, and certainly no less.
elective surgeries shouldn't even be the purvue of such a system, in my view.

the wealthy have always been welcome and able to spend their money elsewhere when they want particular treatments their nations don't or can't provide. eliminating the public guarantee of health care in canada would obviously only benefit a select few at great expense to many who do benefit from such care.

03-01-2006, 04:17 PM	#2 (permalink)
smooth Junkie Location: Right here	besides the obvious view the author holds against the canadian system according to the adjectives used in the article, it simply doesn't make much sense to me to criticize a system based on the number of people who didn't receive treatment without analyzing whether those people woudn't have even had a line to stand in if they were seeking treatment in a wholly private system. that is, while it certainly sounds horrendous that 71 people died and over 120 were removed from a list while waiting for treatment, that doesn't mean as much as the author would like us to take it to mean if those nearly 200 people would have been absolutely unable to obtain treatment in the US. and this does nothing to understand the vast amount of people who are able to obtain treatment despite wait lists who otherwise would not have had the funds to obtain treatment in a wholly privatized system. I don't know the numbers, but I suspect far more than 200 people die each year in the US for want of surgery. that said, I've never seen canadians claim their system was a panacea. Even they agree that changes could and should be made. and quite often I see them suggest a two-tiered system might address many of the concerns others raise about their system. but then to take that into a leap of logic and declare the entire system should be scrapped doesn't serve the patients' interests--for certain. publicly available health care, ideally, should guarantee a baseline of treatment. not much more, and certainly no less. elective surgeries shouldn't even be the purvue of such a system, in my view. the wealthy have always been welcome and able to spend their money elsewhere when they want particular treatments their nations don't or can't provide. eliminating the public guarantee of health care in canada would obviously only benefit a select few at great expense to many who do benefit from such care. __________________ "The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann "You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman