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Re: The Death of the Canadian ModelFrom: William McIntosh (wdmcintosh@charter.net)Mon Feb 27 09:17:58 2006
I did a Gyn Onc rotation in Canada while I was a resident, as we did not have much of a cancer service. It was a wonderful experience, and the care was top notch by and large, but I was jarred by one thing. During morning rounds one day, the chief of service asked which 2 patients could be sent home that day. I was stumped as no one was actually medically ready to go home, though some were ready for hospice care. I was told that the Provincial authority had decommissioned 2 Onc beds, and we had to empty them. We transferred 2 terminal patients either home or to hospice, I don't remember which. This was the only source of gyn onc care in the province (another bizarre thing from my perspective. I mean really, flying a thousand miles for a colpo!?) I am not sure what was happening. I couldn't begin to imagine emptying beds because the state said I had to. I still can't. I loved my time there, and I learned so very much from the wonderful attendings I had, but it gave me a very jaundiced view of single-payer medical models. If there is no competition, there is no incentive to improve. Good intentions are not enough. William D McIntosh, MD, FACOG Clarksville, TN -----Original Message----- From: ob-gyn-l@obgyn.net [mailto:ob-gyn-l@obgyn.net] On Behalf Of art fougner, md Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 7:05 AM To: Multiple recipients of list OB-GYN-L Subject: Gen: The Death of the Canadian Model Proponents of single-payer health care reform in the United States have long pointed toward Canada as a model for the US to emulate. The New York Times reports that the Canadian system is imploding. A recent Candian Supreme Court decision allowed private health care (oh, the shame, the horror) and as a result, Canadians tired of waiting for radiation therapy, eye surgery and hip replacements have turned toward private alternatives springing up under the new legal environment. The Times reports: Canada remains the only industrialized country that outlaws privately financed purchases of core medical services. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other politicians remain reluctant to openly propose sweeping changes even though costs for the national and provincial governments are exploding and some cancer patients are waiting months for diagnostic tests and treatment. But a Supreme Court ruling last June - it found that a Quebec provincial ban on private health insurance was unconstitutional when patients were suffering and even dying on waiting lists - appears to have become a turning point for the entire country. "The prohibition on obtaining private health insurance is not constitutional where the public system fails to deliver reasonable services," the court ruled. The key paragraph: The country's publicly financed health insurance system - frequently described as the third rail of its political system and a core value of its national identity - is gradually breaking down. Private clinics are opening around the country by an estimated one a week, and private insurance companies are about to find a gold mine. Posted by Russell Roberts in Health http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/2006/02/the_death_of_th.html Art
-- art fougner, md Support Free Speech Buy Danish!
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