A Canadian doctor diagnoses U.S. healthcare

Los Angeles Times by Michael M. Rachlis | Aug. 3, 2009 (Opinion)
The caricature of 'socialized medicine' is used by corporate interests to confuse Americans and maintain their bottom lines instead of patients' health.

Universal health insurance is on the American policy agenda for the fifth time since World War II. In the 1960s, the U.S. chose public coverage for only the elderly and the very poor, while Canada opted for a universal program for hospitals and physicians' services. As a policy analyst, I know there are lessons to be learned from studying the effect of different approaches in similar jurisdictions. But, as a Canadian with lots of American friends and ... Full Story »

Posted by Chris Finnie

More Info

Tags Help
Subjects: U.S., Politics, Health
Topics: Health Care
Editorial Help
Posted by: Posted by Chris Finnie - Aug 3, 2009 - 7:12 AM PDT
Reviewed by: Chris Finnie (review), Barry Grossheim (review), John Louden (review), Orville Streeicher (review), Mindy Phypers (review), Dwight Rousu (review), Manfred Ostrowski (review), PJ Geraghty (review), Stan Johnson (review), paul murray (review)
Content Type: Article
Edit Lock: This story can be edited
Edited by: Dwight Rousu - Aug 3, 2009 - 10:38 PM PDT
Related Comments: Health Care (8)

Reviews

Show All Comments
Show All | Notes | Comments | Quotes | Links
Chris Finnie
4.2
 by Chris Finnie - Aug. 3, 2009

Calm, well-reasoned, balanced, and informed, this should be a must-read counter to any hysterical claims about socialized medicine. The doctor doesn't claim Canadian medicine is perfect, which makes his other assertions all the more compelling.

Chris posted this story.
See Full Review » (12 answers)
John Louden
4.3
 by John Louden - Aug. 3, 2009

As both a doctor and healthcare analyst, the author's views are deserving of respect; he does cite a couple of expert sources, but some links that verify some of his claims would have made his assertions unassailable.

Compounding the confusion is traditional American ignorance of what happens north of the border, which makes it easy to mislead people. Boilerplate anti-government rhetoric ... More »

See Full Review » (12 answers)
Dwight Rousu
4.3
 by Dwight Rousu - Aug. 3, 2009

The brief tour from a medical expert in Canada provides a viewpoint that should be read by US persons who wonder about the tall tales being told about Canadian health care.

See Full Review » (12 answers)
Mindy Phypers
4.7
 by Mindy Phypers - Aug. 3, 2009
See Full Review » (10 answers)
Manfred Ostrowski
4.4
 by Manfred Ostrowski - Aug. 4, 2009

The article is an excellent defense of the Canadian health care system and rightly points to the weakness of some U.S. arguments in the ongoing debate.

I think the article quite honestly sets readers right about some basic issues U.S. politicians should take into account.

See Full Review » (7 answers)
Barry Grossheim
5.0
 by Barry Grossheim - Aug. 3, 2009

Excellent piece on how the Canadians successfully instituted universal coverage 50 years ago and the high quality of care delivered. Their lifespan is 3 years longer than our and their infant morality rate is 20% lower than ours.

See Full Review » (6 answers)
PJ Geraghty
2.8
 by PJ Geraghty - Aug. 4, 2009

the author (a Canadian physician) makes some interesting comparisons between US and Canadian health care, with the Canadian system coming out on top each time. However, he fails to acknowledge the substantial societal differences between the US and Canada which account for the ~3-year difference in life expectancy, fails to acknowledge that a significant amount of health care innovation stems from (and is funded by) the US system, and fails to acknowledge that Canadians pay higher ... More »

See Full Review » (10 answers)
Orville Streeicher
NO RATING
by Orville Streeicher - Aug. 3, 2009
See Full Review » (0 answers)
Stan Johnson
4.8
 by Stan Johnson - Aug. 4, 2009
See Full Review » (5 answers)

Comments on this story Help (BETA)

Sort by: Oldest | Newest Hide All Replies
NT Rating | My Rating

Ratings

4.5

Good
from 9 reviews (40% confidence)
Quality
4.5
Information
4.5
Insight
4.5
Style
4.6
Context
4.2
Expertise
2.6
Originality
3.8
Relevance
4.6
Responsibility
4.4
Popularity
4.3
Recommendation
4.5
Credibility
3.8
# Reviews
4.5
# Views
5.0
# Likes
5.0
# Emails
1.0
More
How our ratings work »
(See these related stories.)

Links Help

No links yet. Please review this story to add some!