Before Canadians could legally pay for private medical care, they were stuck on waiting lists until their condition became dire. Americans on Medicare, in contrast, used their income to pay for specialist visits when they felt a need.
That is not the conclusion of a paper in the January 2010 International Journal of Health Services, a publication more driven by political beliefs than by facts, or of a prominent progressive in North Carolina, but it is a logical conclusion from the findings.
The study used data from a 2002-2003 health survey. Canada’s Supreme Court did not strike down provincial government-run health insurance monopolies until 2005. So Canadians age 65 and older had to go on a waiting list instead of seeing a specialist. As Sally Pipes explained, her mother died in Canada because it took too long to get the care she needed for her colon cancer.
That is why North Carolina should follow the lead of Arizona and protect our freedom of health care choice.
Crossposted at statehousecall.org
