Long waits for treatments and services, like up to six months just to get an MRI, are just some of the problems built in to government-run health care in Canada. Paul Jacob's article at Townhall.com reports that Canada might consider privatizing, if it didn't mean admitting that the American system might be better:
These problems aren't secret. Government commissions have listened to hours of horrifying testimony, and there have been numerous public studies. More strikingly, a current case before Canada's Supreme Court has made the problems front-page news. A Quebec doctor and his patient have sued the government for the right to contract privately for medical services. If the Court agrees, Canada's monolithic approach to medical care may be at an end, and with it Canadian waiting. (The court isn't expected to rule on the case until 2005, however, so they'll have to wait for an end to waiting. They're used to it.)...... Like socialist systems elsewhere, Canada's health care system rations by procrastination.
I'm reminded again of the great quote from P.J. O'Rourke..."If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free."
Posted by dan at June 14, 2004 02:00 AM