Harvard study says Canadian health care system outperforms U

Written By: sthompson
Date: 2006-08-18 13:22:09
<a href="/article/132209107-harvard-study-says-canadian-health-care-system-outperforms-us-system">Article Link</a>

Harvard's study analyzes the Joint Canada-U.S. Survey of Health. This was the first-ever health survey carried out jointly by the two nations' official statistics agencies. It involved 3,505 Canadian residents and 5,183 American residents, who were, interviewed between November 2002 and March 2003.

Dr. Eros thinks higher rates of chronic illness south of the border are symptoms of culture, along with economics and public policy. “One of the things they [the report's authors] say, is that the US has higher rates of chronic disease, which doesn't necessarily mean worse treatment. Longer work hours, fast-food, obesity, spending all that time in the car, there are social factors at play beyond the health care system itself,” she said.

Full article: <a href="http://dominionpaper.ca/health/2006/07/22/bill_of_he.html">http://dominionpaper.ca/health/2006/07/22/bill_of_he.html</a>

I think BOTH suck. I had to wait 6 hours in 'Emergency' to get my throat checked, it hurt like hell to swallow and I nearly passed out trying to eat dinner. They threw a blanket over me and told me to go to sleep.

Then they shot some crap in me and kicked me out at 4 in the morning into a snowstorm. Thankfully I was only 3 blocks from home.

I remember going to visit my grandmother when she was at the Royal Jubilee just up the street from me. The battleship green wall paint was falling off the walls, and the machines looked like something out of old science fiction movies. In fact I would say that our hospitals in general resemble what you might see in Russia.

There are many examples in Europe of good health care models, Germany has an excellent one, with a mix of both private and public health care to meet the needs of all. You can fly economy and know your looked after, or fly first class and pay for the most advanced options possible.

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“The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous, the essential act of warfare is the destruction of the produce of human labour”

We all ready know this, if only as a "gut" feeling. That's why The Conservatives and The Liberals both have to get rid of it. Like the so-called Softwood "subsidy" the US says upsets the "level playing field", public healthcare is also a dangerous "subsidy"..........

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"We can have a democracy or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. We cannot have both."
- Justice Louis Brandeis

<a href="http://www.pnhp.org/news/2006/july/nations_largest_uni.php">http://www.pnhp.org/news/2006/july/nations_largest_uni.php</a>--- "We can have a democracy or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. We cannot have both." 
- Justice Louis Brandeis

The problem with the word "subsidy" is that it can not be defined and, like all other ideology based words and concepts, can be twisted into propaganda blurbs to mislead and rob people of their rights and properties.

The biggest "subsidies" on Earth are so called "globalization", "free trade", "wealth creation" and so on and on, used to divert benefits into the hands of special interests favoured by criminal economic theories. Not to mention the stock and especially the money markets, where the speculatively induced changes in values can be and are used to change the dimensions of trade goods.

The same principles apply to the health services. One thing nobody talks about is the damage done to people's health by the chemicalization of every breath we take, every bite we eat and drop of water we swallow, causing sicknesses that didn't exist even 30-40 years ago.

Add to this the "conventional" agribiz operations, drugging the land and people with deadly chemicals for "productivity", the forced urbanization of the world's population, subjecting them to more and worse forms of pollution, stress and junkfoods that kill, but no government dares to stop.

Then, when people become sick, the "conventional" medical profession fills them up with more chemicals, then claim that the increased forms of sicknesses are caused because we live longer.

Sure, it is the few years of added life expectancy that fills hospitals with bald headed little kids and young women with breast and other cancers. 50 or so years ago the overall cancer rate was about 2% of the population, now it is around 30% and more. There was no HIV and AIDS. Does anybody ever think about how and why these happened and the terrible costs they put on the system and humanity at large?

How about health costs not covered by medicare, like dentists? A dentist won't even say "Hi" without charging at least $200. To look into your mouth costs about $100/minute.

In other words, why doesn't anybody admit that these illnesses are the transferred costs, "subsidizing" a criminal economic system, called "market capitalism" ?

Ed Deak, Big Lake, BC.

I'm of two minds on this subject. Medicare, on average, results in greater health benefits for people of lower incomes not to mention a noteable degree of economic efficiency in comparison to the American system. Technically American medicine is some of the best in the world for those who can afford it. Actually I think part of the opposition to a national health service in the US is based on a real fear that Yanks might do a good job of this and that would really piss off the neo-cons. After all you don't hear too many ordinary citizens demanding the privatization of the US postal service! Anyway take a look at the following from the World Health Organization ... <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2003/pr27/en/">http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2003/pr27/en/</a> Note that rates of new malignancy are approximately 0.1 percent per annum and overall death rates from all causes constitute about one percent of world population.

<blockquote>In other words, why doesn't anybody admit that these illnesses are the transferred costs, "subsidizing" a criminal economic system, called "market capitalism" ? </blockquote> Because the lawsuits, when people actually realise they are being poisoned with literally every breath they take, would be astronomical..........? If not outright vigilanti-ism..........--- "We can have a democracy or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. We cannot have both." 
- Justice Louis Brandeis

We have a shortage of highly paid medical staff. The shortage is due to "not highly paid". The medical program requires a "reasonable" amount of compensation. The American system requires an unlimited amount of financial compensation. Our education system has accelerated increases for tuition and somehow we aren't getting the same percentage of willing students to join medicare. Human greed seems to be the biggest problem in Medicare.

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Expect little from life and get more from it.

"I think BOTH suck."

I agree. What we're being told, is one is the lesser evil compared to the other, but rearly is it said in that way.

<blockquote>The same principles apply to the health services. One thing nobody talks about is the damage done to people's health by the chemicalization of every breath we take, every bite we eat and drop of water we swallow, causing sicknesses that didn't exist even 30-40 years ago.</blockquote> Ed, you already know about how we subsidize corporations through hidden subsidies, but for those of you who don't understand how deep the rabbit hole goes, have a look at this excellent Canadian documentary: <a href="http://www.thecorporation.com/">The Corporation</a> If you plan on downloading this film, please note the passage written on the main page: It probably goes without saying, but it would really help our efforts if as many people as possible bought a copy of The Corporation from this site. If you already downloaded it—with the best of intentions, we're sure—why not check out the Special Edition DVD, packed with over 8 hours of extras. Or at least show a little financial appreciation. Even if it's only a couple of bucks, it all helps. The filmmakers are still trying to recover costs, and there are plenty of ongoing expenses—like maintaining this fine website, for example. Please contribute! These guys did a wonderfull job.