Why US Health Care Doesn't Work

22 November 2010

Some things are so obvious, they shouldn't require explaining. Yet somehow, we seem to make simple things so complicated that we abandon common sense.

An example of this is health care.

In essence, government-sponsored health care works in Canada. All Canadians have a right to health care. It is not cheap, nor perfect, but it is affordable. Our government is not going to go broke over this issue.

Any Canadian can tell you that we have universal health care because of the "greatest Canadian," Tommy Douglas (Kiefer Sutherland's grandfather, if that helps the younger folks).

The Canadian system can be diagrammed simply, as follows:

GOVERNMENT

PHYSICIAN

PATIENT

There, that was simple, wasn't it?

Want to know why US health care is expensive, inequitable and unwieldy?

Check out this diagram:

Or this one:

The Americans are so afraid of government involvement in health-care provision that they have created an unwieldy mechanism to flow funds and services into and around the health-care system. Most of it doesn't get to where it needs to go. It is a disaster.

Wealth is created by the free market. Let's keep government out of it as much as possible. However, infrastructure - and the rule of law - are best managed by government.

Health care is infrastructure. It is not a market commodity.

There, wasn't that simple?

My suggestion.... Bring the Canadians down. They'll have the US system working in a year or two!

No more Rube Goldberg health care in the US!
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