From: gld@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Gary L Dare)
Subject: Re: National Health Care
Reply-To: gld@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Gary L Dare)
Organization: Curious Goods (formerly Louis Vendredi Antiques)
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1992 01:01:07 GMT

pdl2r@galen.med.Virginia.EDU (Peter D. Lauren) writes:
>
>I am continually amazed how so many people point out a problem in 
>the AMERICAN system and then use it to attack the CANADIAN system.

Deflect blame to outsiders.  Too many Americans have traditionally
remarked after visiting that we're just like the United States ...
the rest of America is ignorant about Canada, so build it up with the
best cold war paranoia and hope that your reader doesn't go up to
Toronto for business or vacation ... if the NHL comes up with a better
broadcasting contract this fall and people in more parts of the U.S.
can take a look at fans at Northlands Coliseum (Edmonton) or Le Forum
(Montreal) after reading one of those articles, something is not going
to jive well in their minds ...

The Canadian Medical Association just had a conference in St. Johns,
Newfoundland, and my Toronto doctor friend was there ... some younger
doctors wanted to address some of the repeated myths, purposeful
fictions, and ingenious use of old statistics as modern numbers used
by Americans against our system but the older members who run things
say that it's none of our business if Americans are being victimized
by their own ignorance into believing that stuff ... the one group of
Canadian doctors that feel strongly about it are Americans who moved
up to Canada with their spouses who had done residencies in American
hospitals (there are two good reasons: 1 - opportunity to be someplace
warm like the Sunbelt or California, or 2 - Jewish singles who want to
marry within their faith looking for larger Jewish centers to meet
possible future partners, whether it be Toronto or Los Angeles).  And
pparently, the number of repatriating Canadian doctors PLUS American
M.D. spouses whom they bring home outweigh the number of residencies,
hospital adminstrators and retirees that head south -- but hold that
thought until my doctor friend sends me that magazine clipping (he 
had found out that the CMA figures on doctor migration do not count
repatriating Canadians coming home, but Americans immigrating on their
own or as spouses ... usually fewer than those southbound) -- this is
why the CMA is supporting cuts in medical school enrolments due to
pressure on distribution of licences ... yes, they're as bad as AMA).

>Why do you think that well over 50% of Canadians are satisfied with 
>their health care system while only ~10% of Americans are with theirs 
>(Harvard study)?  

A better one might be the July 1st polls conducted for Macleans (our
major English newsmagazine) by Decima Research ... Decima president
Allen Gregg is considered one of the world's top poll researchers,
and Mulroney's Conservatives have relied on him to keep in power in
the face of impossible election situations.  I haven't had a chance
to see this year's version due to our library, but previous ones
before the Americans started their assault and disinformation had
shown satisfaction in at 97% when you add responses to excellent,
very good, and good (in *descending* order).  As a Canadian, this 
poll is pretty accurate because things that my friends and family
consider to suck (e.g., retail prices that haven't gone down after
a hidden wholesale tax was removed -- replaced by a federal VAT,
the GST, but nonetheless what about the retail price???) also come
out negatively in Decima's polling.

What I'm really curious about is who Canadian men and women want to
be stranded on a desert island with this past year ... (-;

>It cannot be accounted for by consumer expectation as Canada used to
>have a system virtually identical to what the US had at the time.

Until health insurance became more than a frill about 20 years ago,
both countries paid cash.

>Thus Canadians can compare their system with the system which the 
>US had when it was working a lot better than it is now.  They still
>prefer the national health insurance program.  The fact is, the
>Canadian system works, the American system doesn't.

Basically, two things on the Canadian medical consumer's mind are not
at all related to what American critics try to fabricate ...  firstly,
there is the question of token deductibles to control any abuse by the
few who doctor-hop; this is still felt to be politically unfeasible by
the federal Conservative government despite years of rumbling by our
doctors for whom pride is at stake (after all, they are paid for it).
Quebec finally proposed it in the spring, it got shot down, but with
any luck it will pop up in other provinces (our insurance is province
run, by general federal guidelines).  As a Canadian, I can honestly
say that most of my countrymen are less fiscally mature than Americans
and don't all see things in as cold market terms.  Secondly, Canadians
know that they're receiving coverage equal to middle class Americans
(when there was a larger American middle class) and as sentiment grows
to restrain unnecessary government spending, it turns to spending the
remaining public money on larger allocations to health care to reach
upper-middle and upper-class American levels with universal coverage.
[Vancouver's conservative Fraser Institute think-tank criticizes along
those lines - in America, they'd be whining socialists with hands out.]
This is in spite of geographic diffulties and wildly skewed population
distribution that I've pointed out in another article.  With the new
constitutional accord announced over this past week (probably news to
the rest of you over this weekend), attention will be turned full time
to the Canadian economy finally.

gld
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Je me souviens ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gary L. Dare				Elections 1992-93:
> gld@cunixB.cc.columbia.EDU		* Jean Chretien (Canada)
> gld@cunixc.BITNET			* Perot^H^H^H^H^H Elvis! (USA)
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