Via Hugh Hewitt: Fo…

Via Hugh Hewitt: For those of you who hold up the Canadian health care system as an example of what we need here, you need to read this:

Canada Looks for Ways to Fix Its Health Care System

Y’know how people say that our system benefits the rich who can pay for their own care, and that the Canadian system is so much more fair?

“If you are not bleeding all over the place, you are put on the back burner,” Ms. Pacione said, “unless of course you have money or know somebody.”

And of course, just like any government program, the government is loathe to relinquish the power.

The publicly financed health insurance system remains a prideful jewel for most Canadians, who see it as an expression of communal caring for the less fortunate and a striking contrast to an American health care system that leaves 45 million people uninsured. But polls indicate that public confidence in the system is eroding, although politicians remain reticent to urge increasing privatization of services.

And what are Canadian doctors doing in this system?

A 2002 report from the Canadian Senate said that the actual number of family doctors had decreased only slightly in recent years but that the demands of an aging population were growing. Meanwhile, several recent studies have shown that family doctors are working shorter hours.

Young doctors are more likely to seek the most lucrative work in cities or go to the United States rather than start more modest practices in small towns because of growing debts when they leave medical school. That has set off an increasing competition among small towns to attract doctors.

What gets me is this question:

“It’s like winning the lottery to get in and see the doctor,” Mayor Marcel Brunelle said. “This is a very wealthy country. What happened to bring the situation to this point?”

Oh come on, this is way too easy. What has happened to a big government program? It’s become a money pit, as they all do. This doesn’t take any Holmsian deduction; it’s simply a matter of looking at history and predicting the trend will continue.

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