Tens of thousands fled socialized Canadian medicine in 2013

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Because single payer health care is better...

Every year thousands of Canadian have no choice but to seek medical care outside of the country’s single-payer health care system, according a report from a Canadian free-market think tank.

In 2013, nearly 42,000 Canucks left their homeland to avoid long wait times and inferior care that plagues their centralized health system.

Read more: Tens of thousands fled socialized Canadian medicine in 2013 | The Daily Caller

 

[High_Gravity]

I thought this Canadian health care was supposed to elite and people were raving over it?

 

[kiwiman127]

I typically like your posting Taz, but this one I question.
The Fraser Institute, the free market think tank is a conservative-libertarian think tank.
According to peer reviewed Health Affairs, 99.3 % of Canadians do not go to the US for healthcare, .05% have come to the US for elective care and .11% come to the US for emergency care.
Now I don't know about you, but I'd trust a publication that is known as the "Bible of Health Policy" that is peer reviewed over a ideological think tank and a strong right leaning publication.
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians? Use Of Health Care Services In The United States

 

[kiwiman127]

I do want to point out that I do not support going to a single payer system, but I do favor public option.

 

[rightwinger]

I typically like your posting Taz, but this one I question.
The Fraser Institute, the free market think tank is a conservative-libertarian think tank.
According to peer reviewed Health Affairs, 99.3 % of Canadians do not go to the US for healthcare, .05% have come to the US for elective care and .11% come to the US for emergency care.
Now I don't know about you, but I'd trust a publication that is known as the "Bible of Health Policy" that is peer reviewed over a ideological think tank and a strong right leaning publication.
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians? Use Of Health Care Services In The United States

I think more Americans go to Mexico for cheap care

 

[kiwiman127]

I typically like your posting Taz, but this one I question.
The Fraser Institute, the free market think tank is a conservative-libertarian think tank.
According to peer reviewed Health Affairs, 99.3 % of Canadians do not go to the US for healthcare, .05% have come to the US for elective care and .11% come to the US for emergency care.
Now I don't know about you, but I'd trust a publication that is known as the "Bible of Health Policy" that is peer reviewed over a ideological think tank and a strong right leaning publication.
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians? Use Of Health Care Services In The United States

I think more Americans go to Mexico for cheap care

And many are still going through Canada for the pharmaceuticals.

 

[High_Gravity]

I go to Germany for my booze and my women.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

I typically like your posting Taz, but this one I question.
The Fraser Institute, the free market think tank is a conservative-libertarian think tank.
According to peer reviewed Health Affairs, 99.3 % of Canadians do not go to the US for healthcare, .05% have come to the US for elective care and .11% come to the US for emergency care.
Now I don't know about you, but I'd trust a publication that is known as the "Bible of Health Policy" that is peer reviewed over a ideological think tank and a strong right leaning publication.
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians? Use Of Health Care Services In The United States

It didn't say 42,000 Canadians came to the U.S. to get treated.

 

[kiwiman127]

I typically like your posting Taz, but this one I question.
The Fraser Institute, the free market think tank is a conservative-libertarian think tank.
According to peer reviewed Health Affairs, 99.3 % of Canadians do not go to the US for healthcare, .05% have come to the US for elective care and .11% come to the US for emergency care.
Now I don't know about you, but I'd trust a publication that is known as the "Bible of Health Policy" that is peer reviewed over a ideological think tank and a strong right leaning publication.
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians? Use Of Health Care Services In The United States

It didn't say 42,000 Canadians came to the U.S. to get treated.

Well Taz, Canada's population was estimated at 35,158,300, 42,000 equals .0011946 of the population.

 

[william the wie]

I typically like your posting Taz, but this one I question.
The Fraser Institute, the free market think tank is a conservative-libertarian think tank.
According to peer reviewed Health Affairs, 99.3 % of Canadians do not go to the US for healthcare, .05% have come to the US for elective care and .11% come to the US for emergency care.
Now I don't know about you, but I'd trust a publication that is known as the "Bible of Health Policy" that is peer reviewed over a ideological think tank and a strong right leaning publication.
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians? Use Of Health Care Services In The United States

0.7%, your figure, is 240,000 Canadians coming to America for healthcare.

 

[william the wie]

I typically like your posting Taz, but this one I question.
The Fraser Institute, the free market think tank is a conservative-libertarian think tank.
According to peer reviewed Health Affairs, 99.3 % of Canadians do not go to the US for healthcare, .05% have come to the US for elective care and .11% come to the US for emergency care.
Now I don't know about you, but I'd trust a publication that is known as the "Bible of Health Policy" that is peer reviewed over a ideological think tank and a strong right leaning publication.
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians? Use Of Health Care Services In The United States

I think more Americans go to Mexico for cheap care

given comparative size of US vs. Canada and zero data on Canadians going to Mexico how does your post support your position?

 

[kiwiman127]

I typically like your posting Taz, but this one I question.
The Fraser Institute, the free market think tank is a conservative-libertarian think tank.
According to peer reviewed Health Affairs, 99.3 % of Canadians do not go to the US for healthcare, .05% have come to the US for elective care and .11% come to the US for emergency care.
Now I don't know about you, but I'd trust a publication that is known as the "Bible of Health Policy" that is peer reviewed over a ideological think tank and a strong right leaning publication.
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians? Use Of Health Care Services In The United States

0.7%, your figure, is 240,000 Canadians coming to America for healthcare.

That is correct, .007% of the population of Canada is 240,00 plus.

 

[LoneLaugher]

How many Americans fled the US for care?

Does "fleeing" include expats? Does it include those on trips abroad for business or leisure?

The idea that Canadian citizens are dissatisfied with their health care choices is NOT SUBSTANTIATED by facts.

 

[Toro]

There are 35 million Canadians. Thus, 0.12% of Canadians went abroad for healthcare.

One estimate has 600,000 Americans going abroad for medical care, primarily due to cost.

Once only something done by the incredibly wealthy, medical tourism is "really turning into something people understand," said Josef Woodman, CEO of Patients Beyond Borders, which produces guidebooks on medical travel. The organization estimates that in 2012, 600,000 people will travel abroad for treatment -- a number anticipated to grow 15 to 20 percent annually as boomers age.

Medical Tourism: Why More Boomers Are Going Abroad For Treatment

That means 0.19% of Americans left the US for medical treatment.

Canada rations healthcare by keeping a lid on market prices. America rations healthcare by excluding those who can't or won't pay market prices.

 

[rightwinger]

I typically like your posting Taz, but this one I question.
The Fraser Institute, the free market think tank is a conservative-libertarian think tank.
According to peer reviewed Health Affairs, 99.3 % of Canadians do not go to the US for healthcare, .05% have come to the US for elective care and .11% come to the US for emergency care.
Now I don't know about you, but I'd trust a publication that is known as the "Bible of Health Policy" that is peer reviewed over a ideological think tank and a strong right leaning publication.
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians’ Use Of Health Care Services In The United States
Phantoms In The Snow: Canadians? Use Of Health Care Services In The United States

I think more Americans go to Mexico for cheap care

given comparative size of US vs. Canada and zero data on Canadians going to Mexico how does your post support your position?

Most Canadians get their care in Canada........because it is FREE
The Canadians who come here are either already here or come for elective procedures. There is not a large number of Canadians clamoring for a US style Health system

Americans flock to Mexico for healthcare for cheap pharmaceuticals, Dental care, elective procedures and those without insurance looking for low cost care

 

[kiwiman127]

How many Americans fled the US for care?

Does "fleeing" include expats? Does it include those on trips abroad for business or leisure?

The idea that Canadian citizens are dissatisfied with their health care choices is NOT SUBSTANTIATED by facts.

The article Taz posted was just much to do about nothing. It sensationalized a story about .007 % of the population going to America for US healthcare. I would guess that these people had some wealth and it was an elective procedure. Healthcare in the US cost about double as it does in Canada, so these folks had some money.
This story was put out to keep Americans happy with the status quo of the American system that is financially hurting individuals, families and US businesses. The high cost of healthcare is also effecting the slow recovery.
But let's keep the status quo!

 

[Toro]

Rationing is a problem in Canada and shouldn't be so easily dismissed. My father once had to wait a year to see a neurologist for a pinched nerve. It's not life threatening but it was very painful. My mother had to wait four months for a knee replacement, then was told two weeks prior when and where to be. There's also a shortage of GPs where my parents live. 10% of residents don't have a primary care physician. So there is a waiting list, and effectively, you can't change doctors if you already have one because priority goes to those who don't have a doctor. My mother is very unhappy with her GP due to her knee rehab but can't change. So she's lived in a lot of pain.

 

[Decus]

An interesting book was published in 2012 about Canada's healthcare system called "Chronic Condition". Here is one of the conclusions reached by the author:

"I was also aware that if you do not benchmark a program, you don't know where you are, which in turn allows all sorts of mythologies and errors to creep into the public's mind; as in Canada has the best health-care system in the world, whereas in fact, according to all the international evidence I could find, we have a middle-of-the-road performer, nothing better, despite being among the world's biggest spenders for health."

Jeffrey Simpson: Chronic Condition: An Excerpt on Why Canada's Health-Care System Needs to Be Dragged Into the 21st Century

 

[Decus]

Canadian politicians seem to have the same bad habit that US politicians have - overpromising. Canada's health care system needs fixing:

"From 2004 to 2010, health-care spending increased about 7 per cent a year. That annual increase was much faster than economic growth plus inflation and population growth. Seven per cent, in the words of Ontario finance minister Greg Sorbara in 2004, was “unsustainable,” although his government drove up health care by 7 per cent every year from 2004 to 2011, while the province’s deficit mounted."

Steps were taken to reduce yearly funding for Canadian health care but real reform is what is needed to fix Canada's system, and steps being proposed include the following:

"An imposing list of changes are still ahead, including properly financing seniors’ drug plans through social insurance, creating a national drug formulary, dehospitalizing as much of the system as possible, introducing private delivery for certain services paid for by the state, and figuring out how to make the population healthier."

Getting closer to a cure for what ails health care - The Globe and Mail

It isn't hard to believe that many Canadians cross the border for medical treatment.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Because single payer health care is better...

Every year thousands of Canadian have no choice but to seek medical care outside of the country’s single-payer health care system, according a report from a Canadian free-market think tank.

In 2013, nearly 42,000 Canucks left their homeland to avoid long wait times and inferior care that plagues their centralized health system.

Read more: Tens of thousands fled socialized Canadian medicine in 2013 | The Daily Caller

From the link: “Canadians may leave for a number of reasons including a lack of available resources or appropriate technology, a desire to return more quickly to their lives, to seek out superior quality care, or perhaps to save their own lives or avoid the risk of disability,” Nadeem Ismail, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

That less than 1% leave for a variety of reasons is meaningless.