Is It Really True

I spent the last week in Canada assisting a sister plant. They are slated to close at the end of June and the star players on the salaried staff are all leaving for greener pastures. I am not sure how much I helped as their computer system is foreign and although it is similar, things are a little different in Canada. I did however get a chance to talk to them about the health care system in Canada. What I heard contradicts many of the arguments against centralized medicine.

There are not long lines to visit the doctors. You just schedule an appointment like you would here. And if you cannot get in, there are walk in medical clinics all over the place. You do not get to see you doctor but you do get treatment. So far it sounds like here in the states. There is not a long wait for surgery or CAT scans or any of the other medical tests that we get so easily here in the States.

One person I talked to says that if she cannot get in to see her doctor, who just happens to be a personal friend, she invites her over for a beer after work. Or if that doesn't work, she has a friend with a husband who is a doctor. This leads me to think that getting immediate appointments may be difficult. I am still suffering from the crud after four weeks and had my wife make an appointment with my doctor for Friday morning. She called at 9:00 am Friday morning.

So it sounds like from an access to health care, the programs are similar but two facts still stand that make it, at least in my mind undesirable. First, I pay for health care even if I do not use it. It comes out of my tax dollars and if I maintain a healthy lifestyle by not indulging in over eating, drinking to excess, smoking or drug abuse, I have paid for those who do not take care of themselves. Why should I finance someone else's abuse? Secondly, the salary on the doctors has been capped. That means that there is no incentive to do more or better. Smells like communism. Equal health care for all. Yes comrade, I feel fine.

Icool

Cobb