Comments by "" (@TheHuxleyAgnostic) on "Caller: Will Wait Times Explode Under Medicare-for-All?" video.
-
2
-
Canada's system needs improving. We only rank better, overall, than the US, amongst developed countries, so pointing to Canada isn't some big gotcha. It's a federal/provincial partnership, with the provinces being in charge of their own healthcare systems, and the federal government adding funds to it. A province like Quebec actually has more private involvement than Ontario, but has higher wait times. So, it's not simply single payer = longer wait times.
We don't have tens of thousands dying due to being uninsured, don't have hundreds of thousands going bankrupt from healthcare debt, and don't have millions going to other countries to find healthcare they can afford. If some Canadians with money decide they don't want to wait for non life threatening elective procedures, and go elsewhere, so be it. That's still rare. Most Canadians who get healthcare in the US, happen to already be in the US, and need healthcare while there, like all the elderly Snowbirds. They don't actually go to the US specifically for healthcare.
It's like triage, where those who need it most go first, instead of those who can afford it most go first. We have higher life expectancies, lower infant mortality rates, lower maternal mortality rates, etc. By the most common measures, used to rate healthcare worldwide, Canada beats the US in outcomes.
If your superficial comparison was valid, all single payer countries should have longer wait times, but the UK's system (the most socialized and usually rated #1) scores better than the US in timeliness of care. They also produce more medical papers per capita, than the US.
We also have room to almost double the amount of money invested into our healthcare, to make improvements, before hitting US cost levels. A number of issues with single payer systems come from conservative parties not funding them enough.
2