Last week, Maggie Mahar linked to a risible attempt to rehabilitate the reputation of Canada’s dysfunctional health care system. Mythbusting Canadian Health Care is really just a series of straw men that its author, Sara Robinson, makes a great show of knocking down, presumably in the hope that no one will notice her failure to address the real problems plaguing her country’s health care system. She does, however, admit the following:
You can hear the bitching about it no matter where you live … grousing about health care is still unofficially Canada’s third national sport after curling and hockey.
Unfortunately, that uncharacteristic note of candor is tainted by an utterly preposterous assertion about the depth of Canuck dissatisfaction:
The percentage of Canadians who’d consider giving up their beloved system consistently languishes in the single digits.
The London Free Press contains an article showing that the percentage of Canadians who express profound unhappiness with their health care system far exceeds “single digits”:
More than two-thirds of Canadians think the health-care system needs major repairs or a complete overhaul, says a national poll that regularly gauges public attitudes on health.
This sounds a little more serious than the kind of good-natured kvetching implied by the term “national sport.” And it’s not just the patients who are unhappy. Providers of care are deeply dissatisfied:
Sixty-nine per cent of nurses felt the system needed significant change, while 62 per cent of doctors favoured ’some fairly major repairs.’
These kinds of percentages, combined with the increasing number of Canucks who come to the U.S. for medical treatment, suggest that the alleged superiority of Canadian health care is the real myth that needs to be “busted.”
[HT Kevin, MD]
Comments 15
What percentage of Americans, US nurses, doctors,etc., think our health care system needs major overhaul, changes, etc? Your argument is ridiculous. The question would be, what percentage of Canadians would prefer an the American system, where virtually everyone has to worry about how to pay for health care.
Posted 13 Feb 2008 at 2:59 pm ¶“What percentage of Americans, US nurses, doctors,etc., think our health care system needs major overhaul, changes, etc?”
You’ve missed the point, which is as follows: People like Robinson, Mahar and many others keep telling us we need to “reform” our system by going to a Canadian-style, single-payer model. But that doesn’t make any sense if patients are no happier under that kind of system than they are under our model.
Posted 13 Feb 2008 at 3:11 pm ¶I see flaws in both your logic and your data.
The fact that Canadians complain about health care proves that “the alleged superiority of Canadian health care is the real myth”? Hardly. That’s like saying that 80% of Americans complain about Bush so democracy is wrong.
People complain about things that are important to them, affect their lives, that they are invested in, and that they think can be improved. This is good since improvements come about through criticisms.
Sine you discuss Canadians going to the US, I assume it is the US that you feel Canada isn’t superior to. Okay, then lets look at a few other data points comparing the two:
- 85% of Canadians who receive medical attention in 2005 were happy with it.
http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/82-401-XIE/2006000/tables/at004.htm
- In 2002, insured Amarican’s were slightly happier with their health care than Canadians, of course the Uninsured Americans weren’t very happy.
However, people’s happiness isn’t always the best way to judge the quality of health care since sometimes important tests annoy people. You can watch an episode of “House” for one example of good care but poor patient satisfaction, but a non-fiction example would be TB tests. A TB test creates an ugly boil and requires a second visit so you can significantly improve patient satisfaction by not doing the test even when you should.
Another way to look at health is that:
- 88% of Canadians and 85% of Americans report being in very good health.
- 11% of Canadians and 13% of Americans report an unmet health care need. The top reasons for unmet health care needs were waiting time in Canada and Cost in the United States.
- Average life expectancy in Canada is 80.3 years, in the US it’s 78.0 years.
http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/agggen
- Estimated spending on health care in Canada is $3,326 per person, while in the US it is $6,401 (both in US dollars).
http://www.icis.ca/cihiweb/dispPage.jsp?cw_page=media_13nov2007_e
So, Canada gives better care to almost everyone (the poor still have worse health care in Canada) for far less money. Canadians may sometimes wait for too long for procedures that are not tie sensitive, although rarely for time critical treatments. And Canadians still complain more. That’s just the way we are — never good enough.
Posted 13 Feb 2008 at 3:21 pm ¶Let me see if I understand you. Americans think their health system needs to be fixed. Nearly all of them worry about health care. 40 million or so have no health care. Canadians complain about their health care, so that means that their system is no better?
Posted 13 Feb 2008 at 3:42 pm ¶“Let me see if I understand you. …”
No, Michael, you’re still not getting it.
“People’s happiness isn’t always the best way to judge the quality of health care.”
Interesting perspective, Anon. I would have thought personal well-being was the point of health care. Are you suggesting we put ideology over the happiness of the patient?
Posted 13 Feb 2008 at 4:19 pm ¶Ideaology, your kidding David, ask your kids if they are “happy” with thier shots? if you enjoyed that “colonoscopy” and it made you “happy” you might need some therapy, happiness is no way to judge health care, effectiveness, access, cost. comon David you know better (PS, this is more like it)
Posted 13 Feb 2008 at 5:02 pm ¶AND FURTHERMORE, your usual misrepresentation of facts is ever present. The author said. “The percentage of Canadians who’d consider giving up their beloved system consistently languishes in the single digits.” then you quote a bunch of numbers about whether the system needs repairs or overhauling, very different from actually “giving up” thier system…………Apples to Oranges, nice try though.
Posted 13 Feb 2008 at 5:08 pm ¶agree with Dr Matt. Customer satisfaction does not mean good health care. Neither does technology or “access” to care. “Access” is a euphemism for assumed inequity. Many Americans who can afford health insurance elect not to purchase it. Ask any American how they like their HMO. Every American has access to care. ERs can’t turn anyone away regardless of their ability to pay. The additional cost is shifted to those with insurance.
In the meantime I order many more lab, radiology and diagnostic studies than necessary to avoid malpractice. That cost is also shifted, so we all wind up paying more than needed. Whats needed is overhaul of the civil tort law, not overhaul of the medical system.
Posted 14 Feb 2008 at 7:30 pm ¶Part of me wishes we would just pass whatever med mal reform wanted by those who think it’s the single most important issue in health care. Just to show them that they’re completely, utterly and totally wrong.
But then I think, what’s the gain in allowing cases of gross negligence to go unpunished.
Btw, if you read the piece over on the HealthBeat blog, you’d see that one thing that’s way better about Canada is that because the patient doesn’t pay very much for health care, even in the case of medical malpractice, the doctor doesn’t have to pay huge fines because the costs of treating the mistake for the life of the patient is very low. Yet another way our bloated health system costs doctors as much as it does patients.
Posted 15 Feb 2008 at 4:35 pm ¶three years ago i was diagnosed with cancer in my small bowel, i was refered to a surgeon who said he could operate in 3 weeks which he did i was in semi private room and on my discharge all I had to pay was my telephone bill. november last year my wife collapsed and was admited to ER after a 2 hr wait she was given an MRI. Cat scan ,next day an X-ray and Spinal Tap , she was diagnosed as excesive water in the brain , after that she was placed in a semi private room and on her discharge we were billed for the televison and phone . tell this to the 40 million Americans who have no coverage . the NHS has been good to us and if we had to wait in ER for service it sure beats no service atall
Posted 22 Feb 2008 at 3:50 pm ¶Agree that those in Canada who frequently most deal with the Canadian healthcare system hate it. Our healthcare system is terrible. Of course, healthier Canadians claim to love the system they have no idea how bad it is. When are they hospitalised? When do they see a doctor, if at all?
Posted 23 Feb 2008 at 1:11 pm ¶The myth that anyone can get health care in the US…….”just show up in the ER”…belies the fact that without insurance (and even sometimes with insurance) you can be driven into bankruptcy if you have major surgery, an accident or develop cancer. The most vulnerable are the middle class unable to afford insurance. Hospitals WILL pursue you to collect until you are forced to sell your house, etc. I would be glad to wait to have my elective surgery, or a couple of hours to be seen if I thought everyone gets basic care. 60% of bankruptcies are caused by medical bills.
Posted 23 Feb 2008 at 4:28 pm ¶The only ones who get “free” care in the US are illegal immigrants and the homeless.
whoa….where did you make up those statistics? 0% bankruptcies due to medical bills?? lies, all lies
Posted 25 Feb 2008 at 12:08 am ¶In a perfect world we would never be sick or in need of medical assistance. I’m tired of people having something and complaining their butts off about it. Nothing will ever be perfect. Deal with it. Instead of trying to throw a whole different healthcare system at us…try to fix the old one.
Posted 16 Apr 2008 at 11:07 am ¶I would love to see someone prove that I pay more then any Canadian does in healthcare. I also get more of a choice in who I go to see and when I go for what I need. Not to pay ahead of time on something I will never ever use. Waste of my resources that could go to paying real bills that I DO use on a day to day basis.
Posted 09 May 2008 at 12:07 am ¶Post a Comment