Canadians like to visit the US for another reason: When they need health care and cannot afford to wait in line in their country: A consequence of their system of national health care and the undesired consequence of rationing.
Over 1/2 of the personal income taxes Canadians pay are required to cover the cost of health care. Given this expense, you might expect that Canadians would receive world-class health care. But no Canada.
Waiting for access to health care in Canada reached a new all-time high of 18.3 weeks (2007) from general practitioner referral to treatment by a specialist. Access is particularly poor for ophthalmology, obstetrics and gynecology, gastroenterology, plastic surgery and orthopedics.
The wait for radical cancer care is 46 days (nearly 7 weeks). The majority of these treatments exceeded the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology benchmark for curative cancer treatment of 4 weeks. This is troublesome given the clear link between a delay in radiation therapy and a chance of cure.
Canadians are likely to wait six days or longer to see a doctor when ill.
The wait time for patients requiring a hospital bed is 19 hours. That's 3 times more than their 6 hour guideline. The longer wait is often due to the inability to find an available hospital inpatient bed.
Canadians are likely to experience waiting times of more than six months for elective surgery.
I hope we won't disappoint our Canadian friends who today opt for excellent, available US health care.
However, based on the current direction of health care bills in Congress these days, we are likely to inundate our system--creating long lines for US citizens...and turning away Canadian residents who seek help at Mayo and other hospitals throughout the US.
Now, I invite you to enjoy the beauty of Canada as you listen to their national anthem.
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