Government-Run Medicine: Care Promised, But Not Necessarily Delivered

A chilling report on the state of government health care in Canada…

Toronto – A letter from the Moncton Hospital to a New Brunswick heart patient in need of an electrocardiogram said the appointment would be in three months. It added: “If the person named on this computer- generated letter is deceased, please accept our sincere apologies.”The patient wasn’t dead… But many Canadians claim the long wait for the test and the frigid formality of the letter are indicative of a health system badly in need of emergency care.

U.S. residents who flock to Canada for cheap flu shots often come away impressed at the free and first-class medical care… But tell that to hospital administrators constantly having to cut staff for lack of funds, or to the mother whose teenager was advised she would have to wait up to three years for surgery to repair a torn knee ligament.

“It’s like somebody’s telling you that you can buy this car, and you’ve paid for the car, but you can’t have it right now,” said Jane Pelton. Rather than leave daughter Emily in pain and a knee brace, the Ottawa family opted to pay $3,300 for arthroscopic surgery at a private clinic in Vancouver, with no help from the government.

The average Canadian family pays about 48 percent of its income in taxes each year, partly to fund the health-care system…

Yet another warning about the dangers of socialized medicine by a right-wing think-tank?No. This report comes from the Associated Press.

Read it all here.



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