US politicians saying we don't like our system are full of crap. Period.
In November 2004, we named Tommy Douglas (the politician/activist who founded our healthcare system) as being the Greatest Canadian of All Time.
That's a damn big hint that we love our system. And what's not to love?
By law (the Canada Health Act) we receive all medically-necessary care as determined solely by doctors & hospitals:
-All neonatal, preventive, primary, emergency, diagnostic, rehabilitative & follow up care.
-All of it provided without limit or limitation.
-All of it prepaid by taxation regardless of preexisting condition or personal ability to pay.
Our coverage extends nationwide everywhere we choose to live or travel in Canada.
It even extends outside of Canada for emergency care during international travel AND also for situations where medical-necessity requires a top specialist or procedure not available in Canada.
Unlike managed care in the US, we choose our own doctors, specialists, clinics & hospitals.
We're not limited to lists of so-called "authorized providers" like many Americans are.
Your President, Congress and Senate doesn't get all that.
If they're sick or hurt while travelling, they have to go home to the US to get treated.
So how messed up is US health care when even the poorest, nobody Canadians gets better care than the most famous and powerful US politicians?
Additionally:
Our Federal government's only role in healthcare is funding & regulatory oversight.
And in relation to tax revenues, payment isn't tied to a person's personal taxes, but national tax revenues.
The government of each of Canada 10 Province & 3 Territories is the health insurer for its residents.
Each issues health insurance cards to their residents as proof of coverage.
When we need care, we present our cards for validation and that's all there is to it.
There's no clipboard full of forms to fill out like in the States.
Our doctors, clinics and hospitals bill the government of whatever Province or Territory the patient is from, not the patient.
The only hospital bills we pay are if we rent a phone, TV or internet service for our room.
As for wait times, no they're not as bad as US vested interests make them out to be.
There's no wait times for emergency care. (Patients are triaged according to need.)
There are wait times for elective (non emergency) care.
But our system has mechanisms built into it to identify & reduce wait times.
The US can't claim the same since y'all don't have an actual national healthcare system.
America's own (and increasingly lengthier) wait times are atrocious:
Link - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-burger/ugly-health-care-waiting-_b_55749.html
Link - http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2007-07-08/the-doctor-will-see-you-n-three-months
Then there's stuff like this:
Harvard Medical: "Canadians healthier than Americans, study says"
Link - http://www.rickdykstra.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=141&Itemid=49
Kaiser-Permanente Northwest: "Canadians healthier, live longer than Americans"
Link - http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/802388--canadians-healthier-live-longer-than-americans?bn=1
The annual Commonwealth Report: "U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study"
Link - http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/06/23/us-usa-healthcare-last-idUSTRE65M0SU20100623
Also: Two persistent US myths about Canadian healthcare debunked.
First up is the myth that we're taxed to death for the privilege of having universal healthcare.
Reality is that Canadians pay fewer taxes per person than Americans do:
Link - http://gregmankiw.blogspot.ca/2010/03/taxes-per-person.html
Second myth is that we all flee to the US for healthcare.
That one was mythbusted years ago:
Link - http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/phantoms-in-the-snow/
Not to mention studies that find patients in US-style for-profit care more likely to:
1.) Die:
Link - http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-05/uab-ufh052202.php
2.) Suffer medical errors:
Link - http://psychcentral.com/openjournal/story/0421001118.htm
3.) Get sicker from wasteful, needless over-treatment:
Link - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/07/health/main6557062.shtml
So hell yes I love our system. And I'm not the only Canadian who does.
If you had any brains at all, you'd immigrate. And I sincerely mean that.
Life's too short and too precious to put up with up with the crap you people do with co-pays, deductibles, pre-authorizations, authorized provider lists, medical bill bankruptcies, insanely high prices and health insurer claims departments having more say over patient care than doctors.
US healthcare isn't just backwards or immoral, it's literally insane from a Canadian perspective.