If the wait is the "same" as the US, funny how we only hear the Canadians complainning about it. Even your government has to send out an apology letter if you happen to die when waiting for too long. That's a fact.
Have you turned on the news lately? Then you've seen the stories regarding American waitlists.
It's also hard to complain of being on a waitlist when you are recieving no medical care at all, and there are millions of people in America without any healthcare coverage. That's a fact.
It's also a well-known fact that there are thousands and thousands of lawsuits each year in the USA against HMOs and insurance companies. That's a fact.
It's also a fact that over 500,000 people in America go bankrupted because of medical costs. Many of those people were insured.
The Canadian government can be polite, that's a fact. (except for the greatest of Canadian Prime Minsters, Pierre Trudeau he often cut right to the chase while still being a gentleman. Quite the accomplishment!)
I thought the Canada's system was PERFECT.
Who said that? What is this, a system is either perfect or in complete ruins? That would also mean America's system, and lack thereof, are in complete ruins; in fact, that most of the systems outside of central and northern Europe are in complete ruin.
But thankfully complicated systems are not judged on a PERFECT or COMPLETE RUIN scale. That would leave millions dying on the street. That's not happening in North America. Why? Because Canada's system, though flawed, is still good, still gets the job well done for everyone, and has excellent research. The USA's system gets the job done very well for the rich, well done for the middle-class, okay for the poor, but often neglects the working poor.
But it still didn't answer the question as to why more and more people are going to Canada's private clinics and the US.
First off, you have no proof of the "more and more" part. Well, by definition there are more going to private clinics, because there now are now some user-pay clinics.
Second, your question has been answered many times in this very thread, but I'll sum the answers up:
SallyNow said:
Did you read the pages posted? The average wait times are comparable to many middle-income families in developed nations, even in America, and in fact people who in America would not get treatment at all are able to get it or who must jump through red-tape hoops or insurance court battles would be able to get the treatment if they lived in Canada with a lot less hassle.
People with serious illnesses get first dibs, something that is pretty common pretty much everywhere, so yes, there can be waitlists for those with less serious ailments. If someone goes in to a hospital with stomach pain and it's appendicitis, they get treated right away. If someone goes in with stomach pain from indigestion, they get put on the waiting list to see a gastrenterologist, because the specialist has more serious cases to treat first.
The waitlists to see a specialist range from a few days to a few weeks for those with non-life-threatening illnesses.
Illuminatus said:
It's an easy media sell. The funny thing comes when you delve deeper into surveys, and find that a lot of people believe that they should be able to see a doctor the same day they call, and that anything beyond that is waiting too long. What really matters is not whether people get to see a doctor when they think they should be able to, it's whether the people who need to see a doctor get to see a doctor. And as the statistics posted in this thread show, the Canadian healthcare system is pretty good at that.
And there are many other answers to your questions, totally debunking your thesis statements, throughout this thread. If you are not reading them the first or second time, why should I post them a third or fourth time?
jsn112 said:
Privatization is supposed to be illegal up there, isn't it?
This has been explained. Please read the posts that have already been posted.
Wouldn't it defeat the purpose if more and more people go to privatize clinics rather than your National health system?
National health system? Do you mean the NHS of Britian? Because they to cover everyone, but are not perfect, and are having to adjust to different population stats. I can't really comment more about the NHS because I don't know much more about the NHS.
Canada's system is a universal health care system. It's set up so provinces can be flexible to the changing needs of the population. However, having a huge, aging but active 50-90 year old demographic is creating some extra need for flexibility that is taking a few years to work out.
The main reason for user-pay clinics is for the diagnosis of minor health concerns that are irritating but not life-threatening or life-altering.
For instance, a doctor in a regular clinic will do all the blood tests and x-rays to see if the pain a person's neck is cancer. It turns out it's an old sports injury. The person can go to psysiotherapy right away for relief and treatment. However, if they want to get the exact nerve and muscle located, they will either have to wait a few weeks for a more advanced imaging system, because their problem is in no way life-threatening, or they can go to a user-pay clinic.