Wolverine
Agree with most of your priorities except universal health care. This is a sinking ship and it is sinking fast. The sooner we recoginze this fact the better we will be prepared for the future.
More waste promised in health care
Michael Campbell
Vancouver Sun
June 8, 2004
Britain's recent decision under Tony Blair's Labour government to have 25,000 publicly funded surgeries performed in private hospitals helps to underline the superficiality of the healthcare debate in the current federal election. Blair's goal over the next five years is to see 125,000 surgeries performed in private facilities thereby significantly reducing waiting lists.
Of course any such discussion is taboo in Canada because as Prime Minister Paul Martin has made clear, the Canada Health Act signed in 1984 is "a symbol of our national values," which begs the question what were our values before that time and certainly squelches any questions about the status quo delivery today.
The platforms of all major parties reflect the Canadian view that there is no healthcare problem that can't be solved by throwing more money at it. Unfortunately our experience tells a different story as underlined by a recent Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development study that concludes that Canada is the only country in the 26-nation study where adding more money to the system coincides with increased waiting times for surgery.
In every other OECD country waiting lists decline by a week for every $100 per capita added to the system, which is in stark contrast to Canada where our waiting lists increase by a week for every $100 thrown at the system. With the billions now promised by the major parties without any significant reforms, we can count on even longer waiting times.
If money were the only answer, you'd think that we would have seen positive results from the increasing healthcare spending from $78.5 billion in 1997 to $121.4 billion in 2003. Instead, Canadians believe that the system has declined in recent years. Yet all we're offered is more of the same plus more cash.
At some point the healthcare farce has to become apparent. On an age-adjusted basis, we spend more money per capita than any other country in the OECD, yet the World Health Organization has ranked us 30th in terms of overall care.
Doesn't any politician see a problem with a system that spends the most in the world yet ranks 14th in disability-free life expectancy, 16th in infant mortality and 16th in doctors per 1,000 of population? We spend more money than any other country yet we rank below the top 20 when it comes to access to new technology.
And let's not forget the study published last month by the Canadian Institute for Health Research that revealed 24,000 patients a year die in our hospitals due to adverse affects, which is double the rate in the United States.
I not sure what we don't understand about these and so many other studies that make it clear that the Canadian conceit of having the "world's best healthcare system" is without foundation. The facts points out that in terms of waiting lists, access to new technology and innovation, we're getting our clock cleaned by Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Greece, Switzerland -- all of which have universal, government pay systems without waiting lists.
Despite the promises to the contrary, without a commitment to meaningful reform the platforms of all the major parties promise more waste, longer waiting times for surgery and continued deterioration of the system and somehow we applaud them.
