[villagegolfer]

Originally Posted by Hal :-)

The US rations on ability to pay, Canada rations based on need. The Canadian may have to wait for services if it's not deemed an emergency or a serious immediate need. In the US it's all about the dollar. The fact is the person with the dollar in the US with also get preferential treatment. Have you ever heard of someone with money getting an organ transplant while others wait on the list?

My wife worked in a children's hospital near the border and they often had patients from across the border. Mostly they were severe cases that the Canadian facility was ill prepared to handle, or the Canadian hospital simply had an unmanageable census increase. However, in these cases, the Canadian system paid all the cost.

All that aside, the important thing is the cost and the results. In terms of results, Canadians are simply healthier overall, have a longer life expectancy, and less disease and illness. On cost, since we spend twice what Canada does we should be able to take their system, as is, and produce a win-win. Maybe only spend 50% more than they do and reduce our cost by 25%.

But to do it right, we really should look across the pond. The World Wealth Organization identified France and Italy as having the best health care, out of 190 countries. Since we were down at 37th, we should probably look to emulate them.

It is late and I'm about to retire for the evening, but there are tons of evidence that the World Wealth organization has skewed the statistics to make the USA look bad. Surprise huh?