Canada health care system rated the worst in survey

MTL Blog:

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An analysis conducted by The New York Times that pitted the health care services of countries against each other in a formal competition found Canada to be a major loser.

The competition featured Canada, Britain, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, France, Australia and the U.S.

In Canada’s first round in the competition, going up against Britain, four out of five health care experts deemed our nation’s health care system to be wanting.

Canada received only one vote in favour, the rest of the medical experts chose Britain.

The United States even beat us, with our neighbour to the south making it to the semi-finals.

Even though health care is “free” in Canada, the level of service offered seriously leaves citizens wanting. We may think that our health care system is infinitely better than the United States, but that may not be the case.

When speaking to one of the experts used by The New York Times in the study, the National Post reported that Canada’s super-long wait times were the reason why the nation’s health care system did so poorly in the competition.

The medical expert said only 43% of Canadians are actually seeing a medical professional on the same day they seek help, half of Canadians wait 2+ in emergency rooms, and the wait time to see a specialist is 2-3 months.
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This is why it is called rationed health care.  It is also why Canadians who can afford it seek treatment in the US.  Another aspect that plagues all rationed healthcare systems is the lack of robust research arms to innovate and improve outcomes.  They also tend to free ride on medication while the US pays for the research and development costs.