I have and others at Dakota Voice have written in previous posts of our concerns about a single-payer health care system such as that of our northern neighbors. I have written about how costs can be contained only by rationing services. No amount of taxation or other revenue sources can ever keep up with the demand for “free” healthcare. When a desirable commodity is believed to be free, supply can never meet demand. Besides the Canadian system another good model of this phenomenon would be the Veterans Administration hospitals that control costs by rationing and making services contingent upon navigating a maze of regulations and prerequisites and ultimately denying services except for the most basic low-cost variety.
Investor’s Business Daily has an editorial about Claude Castonguay that should give Americans reason to pause in our headlong rush to government run healthcare. Castonguay is called “the father of Quebec medicare,” because it was he who first proposed and engineered Quebec health care back in the 60s, later expanding to all of Canada. Mr. Castonguay has now written that the Canadian health care system is "in crisis" and is advocating a return to some form of private healthcare and private insurance as the only way to maintain high-quality care for Canadians.
Back in the 1960s, Castonguay chaired a Canadian government committee studying health reform and recommended that his home province of Quebec — then the largest and most affluent in the country — adopt government-administered health care, covering all citizens through tax levies.
The government followed his advice, leading to his modern-day moniker: 'the father of Quebec medicare.' Even this title seems modest; Castonguay's work triggered a domino effect across the country, until eventually his ideas were implemented from coast to coast.
Four decades later, as the chairman of a government committee reviewing Quebec health care this year, Castonguay concluded that the system is in 'crisis.'
'We thought we could resolve the system's problems by rationing services or injecting massive amounts of new money into it,' says Castonguay.
But now he prescribes a radical overhaul: 'We are proposing to give a greater role to the private sector so that people can exercise freedom of choice.'
I hope Americans are paying attention. We may get what Obama and Hillary have been promising and we may find ourselves having to go to Canada in the future for timely, state-of –the-art medical care.
7 comments:
How many failures of Marxist philosophy will some people have to see before they get it:
MARXISM
DOESN'T
WORK
Because the RIGHT PEOPLE haven't yet done it! Already, there are the national healthcare advocates who are saying that they knew all along the Canadian system couldn't survive. The Brits and Cannucks weren't doing it properly, you know, but they know how it can be done successfuly, just give them a chance.
you put "in ruins" in quotes. The phrase is never used. Not once. Why the hyperbole? He says there is a crisis, and using public facilities for private doctors, in off hours, could help.
Pretty devious of you to pretend he said something he didn't, just for your agenda.
The title of the IBD article that is referenced and linked in my post is "Canadian Health Care We So Envy Lies In Ruins, Its Architect Admits." I suggest you read the entire piece and I suspect you'll agree that the title of my piece is not misleading. You are correct, however, in pointing out that Claude Castonguay is noted quoted in so many words. I regret that there was some confusion as to the source of the words "in ruins."
CORRECTION: The previous comment should have read "You are correct, however, in pointing out that Claude Castonguay is not quoted in so many words. I regret that there was some confusion as to the source of the words "in ruins."
Drewas, I don't know whether you're being serious or facetious, so I'm going to assume the latter since that's the same tired old mantra we've heard from Leftists for decades: if only the "right" people tried it, if only the "smart" people tried it, if only they'd do it "properly," if only we threw enough money at Marxism, we'd could truly realize heaven on earth.
Somebody go pull my other leg now.
What's the saying about insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
Tommy Douglas is the Father of Canadian Health". All this guy did was implement some healthcare changes in Quebec, which runs on a different / more independant system than the rest of Canada. His changes did not cause a domino effect across the rest of Canada
The article is based on a falsehood.
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