Canada may not have the best healthcare system in the world but it is one of the fairest and their citizens are happier with theirs than we are with ours. The best thing about it is that the people in charge of it are the government, not private corporations, so if people are unhappy with it they can actually do something about it by holding their politicians accountable. 15 or so years ago, Canada did have a lack of MRI machines, and they fixed it:
Canada had a total of 147 MRI scanners in January 2003 compared to 30 in 1993, an increase of nearly 400%.
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The 2001 Statistics Canada Health Services Access Survey found that about half of Canadians aged 15 and older who reported receiving a non-emergency CT, MRI, or angiography waited three weeks or less. Most (55%) waited less than a month.
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One of the most common arguments presented against the adoption of a single payer system in the United States is that there are unacceptable
queues or delays for services in any universal, government funded program.
Perhaps the most frequent example given is the unacceptable delays in diagnostic imaging in Canada due to the fact that they do not have enough CT or MRI scanners to meet their needs. This report reveals that, in the past decade, great progress has been made by Canada in addressing this problem.
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Canada's access to imaging is not bad and is improving dramatically. Contrast that to imaging in the United States. We have the capacity, but the uninsured and many of the under-insured cannot afford CT or MRI scans. Tens of millions of Americans are not even allowed a place in the queue.
Which system is better: a lower cost system that recognizes a capacity problem and takes measures to resolve that, or a higher cost system that has adequate capacity but nevertheless engages in wholesale rationing based on ability to pay?
Check out this FAQ and the rest of the PNHP site for more info/propaganda.
