Our friend Rich W alerts us to the latest CanuckCare news, and it's not pretty:
"Waiting for treatment has become a defining characteristic of Canadian health care ... waiting times for medically necessary treatment have in-creased since last year."
That last part is important because, unlike elective procedures, medically necessary treatment indicates a certain sense of urgency. And in the case of our Neighbors to the North, there are really two distinct factors at work:
First, "[fr]rom referral by a general practitioner to consultation with a specialist. The waiting time in this segment increased from 9.4 weeks in 2016 to 10.2 weeks this year." This could be potentially life-threatening; what if that referral was to an oncologist?
And second, "[f]rom the consultation with a specialist to the point at which the patient receives treatment. " Again, if chemo and/or radiation is called for, this could mean the difference between a few days versus years of life.
And, of course, the same would hold true for someone with, for example, an acute heart condition.
And it's not just treatment that's getting backburnered:
"Patients also experience significant waiting times for various diagnostic technologies."
These include what we'd consider fairly routine things like CT scans and MRI's, as well as ultrasounds, which could help detect potential issues in the baby.
The point, of course, is that single-payer medicine (the stated end-goal of ObamaCare) isn't the panacea its proponents tout it to be.
"Waiting for treatment has become a defining characteristic of Canadian health care ... waiting times for medically necessary treatment have in-creased since last year."
That last part is important because, unlike elective procedures, medically necessary treatment indicates a certain sense of urgency. And in the case of our Neighbors to the North, there are really two distinct factors at work:
First, "[fr]rom referral by a general practitioner to consultation with a specialist. The waiting time in this segment increased from 9.4 weeks in 2016 to 10.2 weeks this year." This could be potentially life-threatening; what if that referral was to an oncologist?
And second, "[f]rom the consultation with a specialist to the point at which the patient receives treatment. " Again, if chemo and/or radiation is called for, this could mean the difference between a few days versus years of life.
And, of course, the same would hold true for someone with, for example, an acute heart condition.
And it's not just treatment that's getting backburnered:
"Patients also experience significant waiting times for various diagnostic technologies."
These include what we'd consider fairly routine things like CT scans and MRI's, as well as ultrasounds, which could help detect potential issues in the baby.
The point, of course, is that single-payer medicine (the stated end-goal of ObamaCare) isn't the panacea its proponents tout it to be.
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