Defending Canada's Health Care: Truths and Lies

Last week a new study showed that 92% of Canadians would recommend their doctor to friends and family. Two-thirds have had their doctor for over five years and 85% of Canadians have a regular doctor.

Does that sound like the health care system depicted in the right-wing Republican-backed smear campaign against Canada?

No care for life-threatening conditions, no choice, exorbitant costs, bureaucrat control, poor outcomes -- these are the bogeymen of the right-wing smear campaign. And like all bogeymen, once you look under the bed they don't exist.

Our system does have flaws. We need better prescription drug coverage, better remote access to care and better practices in hospitals and clinics. No honest advocate for our health care system would dismiss these things. But Canadian health care works -- and works well.

If you face a medical emergency -- you get the help you need. An admitting nurse doesn't check your credit card -- she checks your pulse. Across Canada innovative best practices in hospitals and clinics are cutting wait times for emergency treatment and elective surgery alike.

Costs are under control in Canada. We spend similar amounts on public care - around 7% of GDP. For that price, Canada covers everyone, the U.S. just one third of the population. In case you're worried Canada wastes money on bureaucracy, know that just 2.4% of our total costs go to administration compared to 7% of what your government spends. In end, Canadian care costs $2,500 less per capita - and covers everyone.

Our outcomes are excellent too: infant mortality is lower, people live longer and we are less at risk of cardiovascular disease than Americans.

Does all this mean that the United States should adopt Canada's health care system?

No. America can no more adopt our health care system than we can swap hockey for baseball as our national pastime. A good health care system reflects a country's values, and each country's values are different.

But a system with 47 million uninsured, coverage denied due to pre-existing conditions and people thrown off plans when they become ill? That doesn't reflect American values.

Fixing the health care system won't be easy -- from Truman to Nixon to Clinton presidents have tried and failed. But it wasn't easy in Canada either.

Sixty years ago Canadians families shouldered their own medical bills. Those with the money got the care they needed, but those without struggled -- they sold their farms, mortgaged their homes, or went without care, suffered, and even died.

Tommy Douglas, one of my predecessors as leader of the New Democrats, believed everyone should get the health care they needed, regardless of income. So in 1947 Tommy and his supporters launched a decades-long battle for Canadian Medicare.

The forces of the status quo -- like those in America today -- fought back. Small and big business, patients and doctors groups -- at different times they all fought reform. Doctors even went on strike, leaving sick women, men and children without care. But by 1984 the Canada Health Act had secured a national public health care system that has become part of our identity. It's not a perfect system, but it works.

With health care reform in the U.S. closer to success than at any time in my life, our hopes are with you. Don't let right-wing lies about Canada help derail health care reform in America.

Comments

[honestcanadian]

Hey Jack, why is it you stood up in Washington in front of a room full of Democrats and said quote......

"There are no wait times in Canada"

Yes Jack a direct quote from your speech. And completely untrue. But then again if you are the leader of the third place party and know that you always will be the third place party you can say any thing you want because who is really listening to anything you are saying anyway. Besides your union bed mates.

[NBanks]

Anyone who believes this article should read "Code Blue: Reviving Canada's Health Care System" by Dr. David Gratzer, a Canadian physician. I would rely on his evaluation of Canada's health care system more than that of a politician like Jack Layton. Dr. Gratzer exposes Canada's dismal system for what it is and it isn't pretty. If this is the model the Obamaites and Clintonistas want for this country it's no wonder the town hall meetings are so contentious. I realize an overhaul is due, but if Canada's system is what we can expect, I would prefer to wait for a better plan and would vehemently oppose any system of government run care. For those who want a preview of Dr. Gratzer's book see his article here:
http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html

[Jnsnpolo]

Uh, ladies and gentlemen, please read the recent information by the incoming president of the CMA.
It is obvious that the Canadian system is unsustainable:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jbjzPEY0Y3bvRD335rGu_Z3KXoQw

Enjoy and learn.

[hsr0601]

From my standpoint, No Rationing Is Required.

In case you are a doctor, and your pay is dependent upon your patient's outcome, you will more likely strive to prescribe the best medicine for your patient, let alone avoiding unnecessary cares, and hope your patient will feel better as promptly as possible.

Studies have documented that nearly one half of physician care in the United States is not based on best practices and that at least 98,000 Americans die of a 'medical error' each year.

Under the new health care program, practitioners are expected to eagerly and 'voluntarily' implement the 'recommendations' to work best for them, I think.

Nowadays, we can't imagine the society without IT SYSTEM, just to think of the bank that lacks it, presumably what we should fear most would be the medical institutes without the essential program. I think measurable savings in the transformative health program might be reached.

Thank So Much !

[CJWebber]

Good article, Jack, but I disagree with you when you say: 'That doesn't reflect American values.'

I think it exactly reflects American values.

[Robert Hammer]

To whoever gave the Liberals credit for bringing health care to Canada. I am not sure why you are re-writing history for your political party but it looks bad on you and your party. Diefenbakera Conservative started to copy Tommy's Model with Health Insurance Act, in the 60's then Person who was a Liberal did implement Medicare.

Let's face facts though with out Tommy waging a war left right and centre on this issue it would never have happened. It was an NDP baby with the Conservatives and Liberals so far behind they had to catch up or lose their entire voter base. The Liberals promised it for 50 years before Tommy took up the cause Federally and forced it through. We are all better for the NDP. The Liberals did nothing but take the credit.

[joanjourne]

Oh wait, I forgot ...regarding my daughter who was hurt while riding her bike in Canada... she was charged $15 for medication.

[elizlucinda]

Glad to hear she had a good experience

[joanjourne]

My daughter was living in Canada on a student visa & was hit by a car while riding her bicycle. She broke her collarbone. She was taken to the hospital, treated promptly and not charged. She was very favorably impressed.

[cjeff]

Nice to see the leader of the party I support here on Huffington Post.

[MyThought]

Good grief - if the republicans find out Jack Layton is the leader of Canada's socialist party.....

Tommy Douglas (he keeps bringing this guy up) had a good idea and brought it in for Saskachewan, a province that has never had a population of over 1 million people. But, truly, it was the Liberal party that brought it in for ALL of Canada - which was/is no easy task .

So, cudos to where they really fit. Douglas had an idea - the Liberals (equal to your Democratic Party) brought it in for all of Canada.

[zigspective]

Actually no, he's not the leader of Canada's Socialist party. He's part of the NDP, the actual Socialist Party of Canada prefers not to have a leader.

And let's be honest, the differences in platform between the Liberals, NDP, and Green are quite minimal. The NDP want more for the working, Green want more for the environment, and the Liberals claim they are more pragmatic than either the NDP or the Green.

[SayBlade]

Actually, the Green Party in Canada is a right-of-centre party. It would closely resemble what the red tories lost when Peter MacKay allowed the Progressive Conservative party to be hijacked by the Alliance (Reform) Party. The Bloc Québecois more closely resembles the NDP. If the NDP was not an option and Duceppe ran candidates in all ridings in Canada, I would vote for the BQ in a heartbeat.

[jeplanet]

Good Work, Jack !!!
I have spent so much time on this site defending my healthcare system. As both a patient and a nurse; I have been literally apoplectic at times at the mistruths and fear-mongering that comes from (mostly) the repubs in the US.
Healthcare should be a RIGHT of every citizen. It serves everyone, with longer life-expectancy, lower infant mortality and NON-EXISTANT bankrupcy claims related to hospital bills. My system isn't perfect; but it works a lot more often than it doesn't. I hope soon our neighbours can say the same!!

I knew you would be a good Facebook friend! LoL.
Vote NDP

[Jeffry House]

Mr. Layton is so right that Canadian healthcare has been a huge success since it was first introduced after World War II.

It is sad that a poster here thinks that the US "can't afford" healthcare for its citizens.

Probably that's because the Iraq War cost over a trillion dollars so far, or perhaps because bailing out the banks cost a similar amount.

I mean, what should come first? Iraqis or Americans? Banks or public health?

[TheBlackCat]

Well said, Mr House.

[memarks]

Indeed, well stated. I am so sick of scare-tactic talking points that is nothing but sleight-of-hand to shift attention from the fact that so many Americans are left or flung into a health care wilderness. It is not and should not be the American value that $$ trump the basic decency of reasonable health care. No system is perfect, but any system where 15% of the population have no insurance and another 15% have little insurance or their premiums skyrocketing after a serious illness, then those numbers indicate a system in crisis and that is where America is at.

[TheBlackCat]

What I am really sick of hearing is that "there are 300 million Americans who are perfectly happy with their health insurance"

Heh. Then you don't want my job. MY job (I work in a non profit cancer hospital) is dealing with insurance companies which are denying medical care that their doctor says is medically necessary.

People just do not realize that you buying the best insurance, and paying enormous premiums for it, does not in any way gauruntee care when you get sick. It is completely up to an insurance company's discression on whether or not you will receive medical care. It DOES NOT MATTER if your doctor says "you need this to live." Maybe they'll approve it, and maybe they won't. And the more expensive the care, and the longer you can expect to suffer from your condition, the less likely they will pay for it.

My main problem with the healthcare system is that even if you get THE BEST plans on the market...if you have a chronic condition, it' a roll of the dice on whether or not they'll deny or approve treatment. That CEO at United Healthcare doesn't make $400 million a year by his company paying for every chemotherapy request that comes in, people.

What bothers me is that with all this talk of a public option, where's the talk on enacting laws which force insurance companies to PROVIDE THE SERVICES PEOPLE PAY THEM FOR?!

[Strepsi]

Thank you Jack for speaking up against the "blame Canada" scapegoat of the right. Here in Canada we believe basic health care is a HUMAN RIGHT -- not dependent upon income or education or location or birthright.

FYI folks: the Canadian woman shill in the US anti-healthcare TV ads is exaggerating. She would not have died from a Rathke's cleft cyst -- NO ONE has EVER died from this benign cyst. If her situation were life-threatening as she claims, she would have been seen immediately. For Free. Because that's how we roll.

[elizlucinda]

Wasn't all of her medical care in the U.S. paid for by the Government? In other words, did she have any out of pocket expenses?

[zigspective]

As of right now she does have out of pocket expenses, to the tune of $90k to $100k, depending on which article you read. However, she is currently suing the Ontario Health Services for her money to be reimbursed on the grounds that there is not enough competition in the Ontario market.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out but it could very likely blow up in her face, (and they are counter-suing her), especially considering on of her complaints was a lack of access to an MRI, a procedure which is very easy to have done at a private clinic in Ontario.