Take this impossible-to-swallow pill with a glass of water:
"We've heard talk in the U.S. that you may die here because of long wait times, you can't choose the doctors or the care you want and that the government makes your health decisions for you, but none of that is really true," said Dr. Michael M. Rachlis, a leading Canadian health policy analyst who has written three books about Canada's system. "I think there's a lot that the U.S. could learn from Canada."
(Yes, and America can learn a lot, but not what this "doctor" thinks)
This guy is lying. I don't care if he has "M.D." after his name; this doesn't guarantee that anyone will be telling the truth, that they're not deluded, not in denial... I know for a fact that he's lying, whether he doesn't realize it or whether he's doing it through his teeth. Trust me; I know. Not a priori, but a posteriori, ie. post-observation and experience.
I can't believe a "doctor" would lie, knowingly or unknowingly. But anyone can lie, regardless of profession, simply because everyone's human, imperfect, and vulnerable to all kinds of corruption. Not every professional necessarily knows what they're talking about, nor does every pro necessarily believe in telling the truth.
Frankly, the system scares me. One of my greatest fears is that I'll have to "check in" to some hospital somewhere in Canada, and... well, I'm scared because I know what happened with my late father, and I know the system let him down. It didn't have to, but that's the way the crumbling-like-crazy socialist system is: rationing, rationing, rationing. The supply of care cannot meet the demand quickly enough to diagnose even deadly ailments in time to save lives. Just diagnosing my dad's adult-onset (and severe, with frequent episodes requiring frequent ER visits and a hospital stay) asthma took six months. And diagnosing cancer took months as the system drug its feet so, so, sooooo long, and then, just two days after the staging testing was conducted, the cancer, which had already spread, had already claimed him. Never had a chance. If only they had been able to move quickly, and had made the diagnosis months before... well, we'll never know.
Want another horror story? Here's one from a fellow Canadian blogger...
We waited nearly an hour for a resident to finally stop by and enquire what the matter was. Appallingly, she had no prior knowledge of why my Mother had been admitted. My shock increased after she asked, in all seriousness, if the angioplasty had been a success. I can only assume that the look on my face caused her to retreat and summon the physician on duty. Exhibiting Solomon like wisdom, the attending doctor suggested that a physical examination was in order. She then disappeared with the resident in tow. A nurse was dispatched who informed us that my Mother would have to be undressed for the examination. Since this Angel of Mercy made no offer to assist, I took it upon myself to undress my bedridden mother in a public corridor, in full view of the passing parade of visitors, patients and staff. (Truth be told, the homeless guy was pretty discrete, or at least preoccupied.)WTF? Is that how people are "cared" for in... North Korea, that hatefully, inhumanely insane regime? Actually, this was in Toronto... socialist-dominated Toronto, Ontario, Canada! "Best in the world"? Really?
Mom was eventually examined, in the public corridor, and an ultrasound ordered, all while a street person dumped a filled adult diaper on the floor and replaced her own soiled bed linens in the ward next to us. At this point we were informed that the vascular surgeon would be called in to interpret the ultrasound. The Ultrasound technician showed up earlier than anticipated and Mom had her pictures done shortly before 11 pm. This procedure afforded Mom some privacy as they chose to conduct it in the unused examination room next to her "room" in the corridor. Our Angel of Mercy, the nurse, made her second appearance, sticking her head in to enquire "Who left her like this?" - -Mom had been left in a partial state of undress, uncomfortably positioned and without the recommended bags of saline solution in place to compress the swelling. I replied that the Ultrasound technician had just left, having finished her session. Five minutes later I watched our Angel of Mercy clock out to end her shift- - but thanks for asking, Florence Nightingale.
The Bitch Nurse turned up next. Her primary role as caregiver seems to involve chatting with other staff when not bitching to patients that the "real nurse" hadn't showed up for her shift. I wanted to slap her when she asked my Mother if she was on an IV, even though she obviously was not; observation and deductive reasoning are no longer taught in nursing school evidently. My mother is a stoic, with a woman's superior capacity to handle pain. I have never seen her nor anyone else for that matter cry out when giving blood, until now. Perhaps the Bitch Nurse might have reconsidered her site selection had she been in a better mood and not chosen last week's inflamed entry point. Mom was then unceremoniously dumped back in the corridor.
Draw your own conclusions. Just, please, please, please... be realistic. Forget about dogmatic ideologies about that deadly, inhuman concept of "equality". Focus on reality, and on common sense. What, logically, is needed to make things work better for everyone?
If "equality" kills people and makes more and more people suffer needlessly because the system has a fixed annual budget regardless of actual need...
Why can't we have choice? What's wrong with choice? So what it it doesn't satisfy the mean-spirited, dogmatic, stubborn-as-an-ass, Hard-Left ideology of "equality"?
What's wrong with choosing to pay through the nose to save one's life, when one risks death if they stick to the socialist system? After all, for each patient to opts for the private system, one patient will advance forward and receive care sooner... and the system won't have to finance the care of those who opt for the private system, freeing funding for those who use the public system. Of course it can work... yes, it can! Don't let the ideologically-rigid, stubborn socialists tell you it can't; don't let them tell you "it's proven to be unworkable", because they're wrong!
Why can't we have a system that pays per-patient, and which doesn't say to hospitals, "here's your annual allowance; you'll have to figure out how to accommodate all patients somehow, 'cause you're not getting one cent more, no matter what"?
Why can't we have a mixed-market system with care for all regardless of income, with choice available because it cannot constitutionally be denied, as opposed to the illogical socialist system that we know doesn't work, simply because it cannot?
As for Obamacare? He wants Americans to suffer and die by slowly transforming the American system into a purely socialist one. And that's just for starters, as we know it gets worse.
