Canada's Health(not) Care

[peeves]

A bit more detail to those with head in sand in denial, cheerleaders for Canada's (lacking) Health Care.

NATIONAL POST.

 THE REAL LOSERS IN THE ELECTION.

epaper.nationalpost.com/national-post-latest-edition/20210928

"Finally, and related to the idea of federalism, is how the federal election set back the important goal of engaging Canadians in an honest and open discussion on the need for the fundamental reform of health care. Most of the major parties bought into the fallacy that part of the problem is that we don’t spend enough on health care, and the progressive parties vilified the Tories for even considering an increased role for the private sector in the country’s public system.

"These, and other falsehoods related to the reality of Canada’s health-care system set back the path of reform, which has to be premised on honest public engagement. Consider, for instance, that of the 28 industrialized countries with universal health care, Canada spends the second highest (adjusted for age) as a share of the economy.

But on measure after measure of performance, Canada ranks in the middle or bottom of comparable countries. For example, on the number of doctors per 1,000 residents, Canada ranks 26th of 28 countries, and 25th out of 26 on the number of acute care beds. On key indicators of wait times, Canada is consistently the lowest-ranked among comparable countries with universal health care."

[peeves]

"Moreover, we have experience from the birthplace of medicare, Saskatchewan, regarding the benefits of harnessing the private sector in health care. The province experimented using private clinics to deliver publicly covered services between 2010 and 2014. The result was a marked reduction in wait times and on average, procedures cost 26 per cent less than their public-sector equivalents.

Contrary to the campaign rhetoric, money is not the problem in Canada’s healthcare system. Rather it’s how we’ve structured it. There are many options available for reform based on the experiences of such countries as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and Australia, to name a few.

While the political losers are grabbing headlines post-election, the real losers are Canada’s balance sheet, our federalist system of governance, and the ability to genuinely discuss reforming our ailing health-care system."

[jezz]

Are pharmaceuticals less available to you now as well? Seems the medicare system doesn't want to pay for many drugs out there that people need.  How is that helping healthcare for those who need it?