Universal Healthcare is Overrated
America’s healthcare system is constantly being compared to Canada’s. And the media and public opinion have established that Canada’s universal healthcare is superior.
Yes, American healthcare is a mess, no doubt about that. But there are disadvantages to a universal healthcare system that America does better:
- Rationing of care. A group of people in Alberta (a province in Canada) were asked to visit the doctor less, to save costs. Albertans were angered and argued that they have the right to see a doctor as much as they need/want.
- Lack of innovation. America actually has better cancer survival rates, probably because of medical advancements. America invests more in research. Their hospitals and facilities are more willing to invest in state-of-the-art equipment and new treatments and technology. Canada has a tight funding budget, so they wouldn’t be likely to spend as much money on these things.
- Long wait times. People wait for months or years for necessary surgeries. Emergency rooms are overcrowded, which can be deadly, especially for the elderly. In France (considered the world’s best healthcare system), many elderly people died waiting outside the ER on a hot summer day. Patients also have long wait times for diagnostic tests, etc. America has long ER wait times too. But the fact that many Canadians go to America for surgeries shows that wait times are better in the US, at least for surgeries. The problem of long wait times could be because of inefficient administration, not enough doctors, or again, tight funding and budget cuts.
- Less choices. People would have less choices about medical decisions and what to do with their bodies. In some European countries, getting fertility treatments for adults trying to conceive would be nearly impossible. Meanwhile, Americans enjoy the freedom of accessing such “luxurious” treatments, provided that they have money to pay for them. Things like life support are less likely to exist under a socailist healthcare system because again, of tight funding and budget cuts. This is more of a problem in some European countries than Canada because in Canada, specialty care is private and not funded by the public.
So as you can see, most of these disadvantages are because governments want to spend as minimal amount of money as possible. They do not fund their healthcare generously, even given the outrageous tax rates. So the argument that universal healthcare cost less is somewhat misleading. Yes, the US still waste money on insurance and beauracratic complications. But the decrease in cost is not because of better care, but because of rationing of care and lack of innovation.
Food for thought: http://www.city-journal.org/html/ugly-truth-about-canadian-health-care-13032.html
