No matter what you advocate with health care, HMOs will lobby against universal health care here because it would cut into their profits. And even that 1/6 people without health care the HMOs will fight tooth and nail to have them under their umbrella.

Personally, if we did get universal health care, I would prefer that it would be handled by the states and NOT the feds. The feds tend to mess up things more than solve anything worth saving; like I said before, two words: immigration reform.

If you think that the Federal government is going to come in and save the population with universal health care, it is a pipe dream that will come to fruition when we get fresh new minds in Congress; neither is likely to happen until Hell freezes over.

You make it sound like every American wants socialized medicine. Actually we don't.

And why won't you believe Canadians? Any Canadian? Certainly a reasonable percentage want change

And why won't you believe Canadians? Any Canadian?

Wishful thinking to believe Canada's current health care system is financially sustainable
Release Date: August 13, 2007
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TORONTO, ON-The current rate of government spending on health care is not sustainable, despite the wishful thinking expressed in articles published in a recent edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, says Brett Skinner, Director of Health, Pharmaceutical and Insurance Policy Research for independent research organization The Fraser Institute.

In his latest paper, Misinformation and Wishful Thinking about Medicare’s Sustainability, Skinner refutes arguments put forth by Irfan Dhalla and François Béland in the July 2007 edition of the CMAJ suggesting there is no reason to worry about the annual rate of growth in government spending on health care.

“The articles contained methodological and conceptual errors that resulted in misleading conclusions,” said Skinner, who has published several peer-reviewed studies examining the sustainability of Canada’s health care system.

Skinner points out that the Dhalla and Béland articles only looked at health expenditure trends during the 1990’s -- a time dominated by unpopular government restrictions on health spending and rationing of access to health care resources.

“But the slowdown in spending growth was only temporary because restricting access to necessary medical care is not a sustainable way to control health costs,” he said.

“Since 1997 public health spending has continued to increase, growing much faster than our ability to pay for it through the public system alone.”

Skinner points out that one of the articles also excluded spending on drugs and other out-patient services funded through various provincial health programs, a logic that implies public money spent on doctors should be counted, but not the public money spent on the treatments they prescribe.

Skinner argues that the most accurate way to measure sustainability of health care spending is to look at the ratio of public health spending to government revenue, which measures the ability of government to pay from current revenues.

This metric directly satisfies the definition of long-run sustainability and immediately exposes any attempt to use deficits to finance public health spending. The ratio of public health spending to revenue also makes the tax implications clear.

For example, if public health spending is to be kept at a stable percentage of revenue, then revenue must grow at least as fast as public health spending. If the required growth rate for revenue is higher than can be generated by GDP growth alone, it is clear that, if governments insist on clinging stubbornly to the existing system of financing health care, tax rates must rise or new taxes must be introduced.

“The most recent five-year trends clearly show that public health spending in six of 10 provinces is on pace to consume more than half of total revenue from all sources by 2020. The findings are consistent with dozens of government reports and studies.”

Skinner finds that researchers who deny that the growth of government spending on health care observed in Canada is unsustainable base their analyses on four unrealistic assumptions:

·That the scope of coverage for and access to medically necessary care can be reduced indefinitely;

·That tax rates can increase indefinitely to fund health spending growth;

·That the proportional growth of spending on health care can indefinitely squeeze out spending on other things; and

·That any of the above can happen without negative medical, economic or political consequences.

“Past research has clearly demonstrated that each of these assumptions are not realistic and Canadians should not be lulled into a false sense of security by such wishful thinking,” Skinner said.

“Whether you look at health care spending trends over the past five years or over the past 31 years, the conclusion is the same – our current public health care system is not financially sustainable.”

Wait times for Canadians needing surgery hit an all time high of more than 18 weeks in 2007
Release Date: October 15, 2007

...“It’s becoming clearer that Canada’s current health care system can not meet the needs of Canadians in a timely and efficient manner, unless you consider access to a waiting list timely and efficient,”

...This grim portrait is the legacy of a medical system offering low expectations cloaked in lofty rhetoric. It’s one defended by special interest groups with a stake in maintaining the status quo. The only way to solve the system’s most curable disease – lengthy wait times that are consistently and significantly longer than physicians feel is clinically reasonable – is for substantial reform of the Canadian health care system.”

Canada's shortage of doctors to worsen: study

OTTAWA -- Residents of small towns and rural areas will have even fewer doctors to call on in coming years, says a federally financed study...

In 2003, more than 1.2 million Canadians were unable to find a regular physician, according to Statistics Canada

"Dr. Albert Schumacher, former president of the Canadian Medical Association estimates that 75 per cent of health-care services are delivered privately, but funded publicly. "Frontline practitioners whether they're GPs or specialists by and large are not salaried. They're small hardware stores. Same thing with labs and radiology clinics …The situation we are seeing now are more services around not being funded publicly but people having to pay for them, or their insurance companies. We have sort of a passive privatization."

Contrary to most federal politicians views, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has taken the stance in favor of more private sector healthcare services as a means to improve healthcare for Canadians[11]. In a move to further heighten their position, the CMA will be replacing their current president with Dr. Brian Day in August 2007. Dr Brian Day is the owner of the largest private healthcare hospital in Canada and a vocal supporter of increasing private healthcare in Canada.

Physician crunch hits Chelmsford; Mall manager asks city to help recruit new doctors to community

More doctors needed to stem shortage
Oct 26, 2007 04:30 AM
The diagnosis is in on Ontario's doctor shortage – and it's not good news.

As of last year, the province had one of the lowest rates of family physicians in the country – 84 per 100,000 residents compared to a high of 203 in the Yukon, according to a report by the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI). "This latest data has made us even more concerned," says Dr. Janice Willett, president of the Ontario Medical Association. "We've been feeling this in the workforce, we've been seeing this on the ground with patients not getting access, but the numbers are staggering," she says.

From 2005 to 2006, the province slipped from 7th to 9th place for the number of family doctors and specialists relative to the population – 176 to 174 per 100,000 people.

It's a trend that began in 2002 and has continued, says Geoff Ballinger, CIHI's health and human resources manager. ...

Because the poster would have to climb down off his high and mighty soapbox and see the real state of affairs and it would wreck his arguements and make him look dumb instead of just ignorant.
Here "Mr. I'm and expert in Ontario and Canadian healthcare". Eat some of this. it'll make you grow strong and healthy and hopefully honest:

Canada's shortage of doctors to worsen: study

OTTAWA -- Residents of small towns and rural areas will have even fewer doctors to call on in coming years, says a federally financed study...

In 2003, more than 1.2 million Canadians were unable to find a regular physician, according to Statistics Canada

"Dr. Albert Schumacher, former president of the Canadian Medical Association estimates that 75 per cent of health-care services are delivered privately, but funded publicly. "Frontline practitioners whether they're GPs or specialists by and large are not salaried. They're small hardware stores. Same thing with labs and radiology clinics …The situation we are seeing now are more services around not being funded publicly but people having to pay for them, or their insurance companies. We have sort of a passive privatization."

Contrary to most federal politicians views, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has taken the stance in favor of more private sector healthcare services as a means to improve healthcare for Canadians[11]. In a move to further heighten their position, the CMA will be replacing their current president with Dr. Brian Day in August 2007. Dr Brian Day is the owner of the largest private healthcare hospital in Canada and a vocal supporter of increasing private healthcare in Canada.

I am a member of the family counsil at my mothers nursing home and act as one of the liason between other family member and the staff of the nursing home

I am the power of attorney for my mother for about 3 years and deal with all her health care issues including giving permission for them to give her a flu shot...

In the USA about 55 million american have NO health insurance and therefore NO family doctor that they can afford to go to

There about 400 GP within 20 miles of me

As the Canadian Supreme Court said upon ruling unconstitutional a Quebec law that banned private health care, "access to a waiting list is not access to health care."

Good for you; seriously, good job. But honestly, big deal. I've had lots of staff over the years in the same position. but they didn't automatically call themselves experts in two countries health care's systems because of it.

As much as I'm a fan of Michael Moore, this stat is a very misleading one...everyone in the U.S. can get care regardless of income. In 1986 the U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. This requires emergency rooms to treat any person who shows up seeking medical treatment, regardless of their ability to pay

http://www.freemarketcure.com/singlepayermyths.php

Unfortunately, not all of Ontario, let alone Canada lives in the Golden Horseshoe. As a district manager it was not uncommon for me to get up at 4 am on a Sunday morning, with the car already packed the night before, and leave an area of work, Renfrew, and arrive, 4 tanks of gas later, to my next work area of Dryden/ Kenora shortly after midnight driving non-stop except for gasstops (weather-permitting the roads to be open).

You're the self-proclaimedexpert. Tell me how many doctors there are in the geography covering that 20 hour drive. Or perhaps, hop in your car at noon from Dundas, and arrive in Hearst or Kapuskasing at close to midnight, weather permitting, and then tell me how many doctors there are from barrie to Kap.