Public opinion surveys have consistently shown that Americans consider access and cost to be the most important problems facing the U.S. health care system. In a recent Gallup poll, for example, 30% of the respondents identified access as “the most urgent health problem.�
When Americans talk about “access,â€? we mean the ability to see a doctor or have a test without significant delays. That, as Sally Pipes points out, is precisely what patients don’t get in government-run health care systems. In Canada, delays for basic health care are particularly egregious:
No wonder you constantly hear of not just rich but middle-income Canadians and high-profile politicians heading south to the States to skip the line, get tests like these done privately, and pay out of pocket.
In a way, however, the Canadians have been lucky. They are fortunate enough to live near the United States, where decent and timely care is still available. We won’t be so lucky. Where will Americans go for timely care when we have a government-run system? Mexico?
Think about it.
Post a Comment