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

To: SBHX who wrote (78460)	10/17/2004 8:09:32 PM
From: Alastair McIntosh	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793824

There is no evidence that the Canadian health care system leads to structural unemployment. Just look at the costs for the auto manufacturers. Canadian costs are quite competitive with their U.S. operations. As far as corporate tax rates, Canada has the advantage: Large and medium-sized businesses: Five percentage points lower average corporate tax rate in Canada than in the U.S. by 2005. Small businesses: Significantly lower corporate tax rates in Canada on income above C$75,000. Capital gains: Two percentage points lower average top tax rate in Canada than the typical top capital gains tax rate in the U.S. A C$500,000 lifetime capital gains exemption for small business shares that has no equivalent in the U.S. Research and development: A 20-per-cent research and development (R&D) tax credit in Canada for all R&D expenditures compared to the U.S. 20-per-cent credit for incremental R&D. A 35-per-cent refundable tax credit available to smaller Canadian-controlled private corporations; no equivalent in the U.S. fin.gc.ca (Also shows the rates for individuals) The per capita health care costs in the U.S. were 80% higher than in Canada in 2002 and 53% higher as a fraction of GDP. For this we get much better infant mortality rates and longer life expectancy. There is little difference in hospital waiting times for critically ill patients. You may be thinking of the waiting times for elective surgery. Canada does not have a socialized medical system. Each province has its own single payer system. Doctors are paid on a fee for service basis and most hospitals are private. We Canadians like to bitch and moan about our health care system (mainly wait times for elective procedures) but not 1 in 100 want anything like the U.S. system. I do agree that specialized services such as MRI procedures could be provided by the private sector. As far as the difference in emergency rooms at midnight I suspect there is not a great deal of difference between major U.S. and Canadian cities. If you know of any data on the web I would like to look at it. Probably at some point in the future the U.S. as a society will mature sufficiently to realize that a decent level of health care for its each of its citizens should not be related to that citizen's income.