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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alastair McIntosh who wrote (78438)	10/17/2004 4:18:39 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793817

I guess the U.S. system is much better where this is happening: That is a direct result of our system acting like the Canadian system. The result of central purchasing of vaccine by the Government.

To: Alastair McIntosh who wrote (78438)	10/17/2004 5:53:45 PM
From: SBHX	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793817

Canadian health care has many advantages, but don't forget that the direct consequence of such a system is a continuous large drain on the federal and provincial finances. This translates to higher taxes which translates to higher structural unemployment. In spite of the large portion of the canadian income taxes paid to defray nationalized health care, current expenditures are still not enough. The province of Ontario recently charges a healthcare tax up to $900 on each employed person -- this on top of their income taxes that caps at a still close to a confiscatory 50% of their income, on top of a 15% VAT on practically everything they buy. What about the service? Anyone who goes to the emergency room at midnight in major cities like Vancouver and Toronto knows they usually wait until at least 4am before a nurse takes their temperature. Critically ill canadian patients in many cases have their names placed on a long list for surgery or complicated treatments. Some wealthy enough to do so have had to choose to wait and risk the delay or travel to the US, pay out of their pocket for surgery. The main advantage to corporations is the health cost is lower (companies still pay a tax per employee), but because tax rates are higher, the overall tax bite for the company is more than what private insurance would have cost. To an individual, like welfare, addiction to socialized healthcare is hard to fix, it is very hard to tinker with it without causing massive unrest. Note Alberta tried to introduce allow some clinics to provide some services that require payment for Albertans who don't want to travel to the US and pay, and the effort was blocked at every level. It just doesn't make sense. The structural unemployment numbers are clear to see. Even if you think everyone should wait in line for everything, the fact is, socialized medicine does not come without costs. You only need to look at the fact that the US is worried when their unemployment stays at 5.4% while Canadians were euphoric at a 7.1% unemployment, which is a historic event in itself. A good alternative is a compromise between the two, but it must still be a private system, then you can work to keep private health care insurance costs low, which tort reform can begin to address. After that, tax incentives can be brought in to help companies eventually afford the lower health insurance for all their employees.