The Language of the American Health Care Debate

The blogosphere and even the Ancient Media are awash with articles about the Canadian socialized versus American privatized medical systems.

This is an article that discusses some of the language involved in the debate.

I believe that language is at the key of the debate. As my friend Kathy Shaidle has pointed out, here in Canada, we do not talk about "rationing" care.

In Canada-"rationing" is called "wait times". If you ask any Canadian politician or physician if we have a "wait time" problem with our medicare system-they will say yes we do. But what does "wait time" really mean? It means that the government allocation of our very heavy health care taxes is still not sufficient to supply the demand. And that my friends, means rationing of funds and care does occur-de facto.

In Canadian hospitals, there is no incentive to save money-and there is-in my opinion-no clear incentive to really serve people. That is not to say that I haven't encountered very caring and talented medical professionals here in Canada-I have. But I would say that is a result of my being well connected, a very aggressive advocate for my family's health care needs and the ability to shit disturb at all levels (municipal, provincial and within the hospital bureaucracy) when I feel we aren't getting what we need.

I absolutely pity the people who have no connections and who don't speak English as a first language.

One of my children requires medical attention for a situation that may take us to the United States for treatment. When I e-mailed the hospital about an appointment, I got a reply within half an hour. I was shocked! I normally have to chase down specialists, speak to nurses and not doctors (understandable sometimes of course) and then I am often met with la belle indifferance.

The immediate fixes that I see necessary for Canadian medicare are 1) User fees: even something symbolic would dissuade people from lavish specialist-shopping 2) Stricter checks on foreign-based "Canadians" using the system 3) A public awareness campaign to dissuade people from using emergency rooms as walk-in-clinics-this is an epidemic problem in Canada.

It's not like Canada has no concept of private health care services already. Our lab work goes to private companies, but the bill is paid by the government. Plus, our entire dental care system is private. When is the last time anyone in Canada had to wait for a root canal treatment? That's right-NEVER. And somehow-we trust dentists to regulate themselves privately.