Cecilie1200
Diamond Member
US is the country in the world that spends most money on health pr. capita, they spend 7290$ pr. inhabitant on health. That is 16% of GDP pr. inhabitant.
Canada which has a good health care system spends far less, they spend 3895$ pr. capita, that is 10% of GDP pr. capita.
Companies dont want to start business in the US because of the high spending on private health insurance. And companies decide to flag out because of high health care spending.
A 2001 study in five states found that medical debt contributed to 46.2% of all personal bankruptcies and in 2007, 62.1% of filers for bankruptcies claimed high medical expense.
Why dont US adopt the canadian model for health care that has been a success?
That will make companies establish in the US and create new jobs, economic growth and better health which implies more productive workers.
Is their any disadvatages at all by adopting the canadian system, I cant see any?
I do so love cluelessness . . . Oh, no, wait, I don't.
First of all, it's not just a matter of "percentage of GDP". It's also a matter of who's doing the spending. In the US, the majority of that spending is being done by private citizens, for their own personal healthcare and at their own discretion. In Canada, the vast majority of that spending is being done by the government via tax dollars. Maybe that's not important to you, but it is important to a lot of people.
Second, an increase in taxes in order to institute a single-payer system like Canada's is NOT going to encourage businesses, especially since the fact that the US has a much larger population than Canada, and a much less homogenous one, means that it would be much more massive and expensive.
Third, your personal view of the Canadian system as a "success" cuts no ice here. While I certainly would not object to being treated by a Canadian hospital if I were sick or injured while in that country, it definitely is not better than ours by any realistic measurement, and is actually worse in some regards when it comes to long-term care.
Bottom line: while the US healthcare system is not perfect by any means, replacing it with a single-payer model is not the solution to its problems and would only make it worse. I suggest that anyone who is convinced that Canada's system would be so much better should move to Canada and stop trying to impose their ideal on people who don't want it.