Overall, Canada's health system works well

As a Canadian who enjoys summers on the St. Lawrence every year, I continue to be amused by the ongoing debate over health care in the United States, and how Republican politicians have, for decades, used fear to protect their friends in the private health insurance industry.

The polls you quoted are likely accurate, since Canadians, generally, are pleased with their universal health care system. We are not that smug to say that the system works for everyone, since knowledgeable Canadians will admit that the system has its flaws. Like the U.S., Canadians are aging, putting increased pressure on the public system. Wait times, particularly for elective treatments like hip or knee replacements, can be several months. Finding a family doctor can be an issue, but, personally, when our family lost our family doctor to retirement about eight years ago, another signed us up almost immediately. And when my son broke his leg playing hockey, we had the best orthopedic surgeon in the city of Ottawa to treat him immediately, and at no charge. Canadian doctors have drifted south in search for better pay, but many of them have trickled back across the northern border, complaining about the paperwork required with insurance companies.

If Republican politicians didn't create their own set of facts to foster fear, they would realize that Canada's system, like the French and British systems, works pretty well, and at a lot less cost. A recent study quoted by the Toronto Star said that if the U.S. government implemented the Canadian single-payer system, it would save $1 trillion a year. Doctors, who are well paid in Canada, wouldn't waste time seeking insurance company approvals. In Canada's "cradle-to-grave" system, there are no such things as pre-existing conditions.

So, who has the better system? Well, according to Time Magazine earlier this year, the U.S. system is the best in the world, for those who are fully covered. But it comes at a high cost. Per capita spending on health care in this country is $7,026 compared to $3,912 in Canada. Canadians' life expectancy is 81, while Americans live to an average 77.9 years. Infant mortality in the United States is 6.9 per 1,000 births, compared to 5.3 in Canada. Deaths due to cardiovascular diseases are 188 per 100,000, as opposed to 141 in Canada (and 118 in France). And annual deaths per 100,000 population, that could have been prevented with better access to health care, were 110 in the United States, but only 77 in Canada and 65 in France.

Your readers can make up their own minds. But what all these statistics, drawn by Time from U.S. government agencies, indicate is that universal access to health care saves lives and money.

Canada's system was implemented in 1965, when I was 12 years old. Before that, I remember my parents worrying about how they would be able to pay for our doctors' bills, and if they could afford private insurance. Those worries are history.

Rick Doyon

Morristown