Those on the left that want a government takeover – or at minimum sharply more government control – over the US healthcare system often mention Canada as a model we should strive to emulate.
This Toronto Star article reminds us yet again why healthcare is too important to hand over to government.
The architect of Quebec’s now-overburdened public health-care system is proposing a strong and controversial remedy that includes further privatization and user fees of up to $100 for people to see their family doctor.
In a 338-page report, former provincial Liberal health minister Claude Castonguay concluded that Quebec can no longer sustain the annual growth in health-care costs. The province currently spends about $24 billion annually on health care, or about 40 per cent of its budget.
"If nothing is done, at one point we will reach a crisis point … this is why we say it is urgent to act," Castonguay said. "There’s no miracle solution, there is no simple solution."
Recommendations include a dose of (gasp!) privatization to ease the crushing financial burden of the unsustainable program and to help combat "the province’s doctor shortage."
Hmm, unsustainable increases in health care costs coupled with doctor shortages. How could these things happen in Canada’s publicly-funded universal system? Those things would never happen here if Hillary or Obama get their way…right?
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