“Does the United States Have a Better

Health Care System than Canada?”

Discussion Article – Yes Side

Summary

Canadian Health Care:

• Provides health care to all Canadian citizens at no direct cost.
• Affordability is never an issue
• Same amount of taxes paid by the taxpayer, but in the US large amounts of those taxes go for building weapons, whereas in Canada they go towards the healthcare
• Perfect for women, because they use the health care chronically, or systematically, almost every month.
• Men however only use the health care system in an emergency, or critical situations that are rare, or when they are older, such as in their late 60s.
• Transplant in Canada and trauma care are 15 years behind the US
• Non-heroic system, non-heroic medicine. Most people don’t need that kind of medicine, but the care that doctors and nurses can provide. They don’t need cutting edge technology
• Life expectancy is higher than in America
• Patients have to wait too long for care
• The quality of care is poor, polls taken in Canada say
• There is a serious lack of hospital beds
• There is an absence of appropriate technology
• Bad for the economy, cheaper treatments cause people to be longer in the hospital resulting in them loosing money as well as their employer

Ex 1: In France where the healthcare is universal, a woman is guaranteed 4 nights in the hospital to have her baby. In New York, with the best medical insurance there is a maximum of 36 hours (1 ½ days).

Ex 2: A baby is born premature and needs months in intensive care. The family never has to worry about the cost and insurance coverage.

American Health Care:

• Individuals are required to provide their own private health insurance. Treating the health care more as a business, using the market model to operate it and not the government.
• Quality of health care is very high
• Some of the best, most educated doctors work in the states. Since there is more money coming from private funding, they can get better training
• The world’s best technology in medicine
• 43 million (16%) have limited or no coverage’
• Hospitals are obliged by law to provide charity care for the poor
• Heroic medicine
• Morbidity over higher life expectancy. Living better not living longer
• The two most vulnerable people in society are taken care of – poor and old. For everyone else a maximum flexibility health care is created
• The system is more flexible and easier to adapt to changing times in the future
• Impelling money into research, and virtually all new technology and innovations come from America
• Better for the economy, faster healing process
• The right type of insurance will not put you in debt (preemie baby). Not a fault in the system but a fault in educating people about insurance

Ex 1: Men only use the health care system in a case of rare emergency, and they only start using it periodically in their late 60s (Medicare). It seems unfair then that they must pay taxes for the health care system their whole lives. And even though women tend to go to the doctor systematically (ex: every month), until their older age is generally low tech (pap tests).

Ex 2: A guy who is 68 years old in America, that has clogged arteries will get a bypass within a month and becomes more active, and his way of life improves. On the other side a 72 years old in Canada has a severe angina and doesn’t get a bypass.

Ex 3: When Washington D.C. and Toronto were compared because they are exactly the same size, there is only one team of cardiac surgeons. In D.C. there are six teams.

Ex 4: When a woman has a hysterectomy in Canada she needs to be in the hospital for at least 2 weeks. Where in the US they have pioneered laparoscopic surgery with a laser and is in the hospital for only a day. enable

Canadian Health Care vs. American Health Care

COST: no direct cost government funded through taxes	COST: direct cost at time of service Medicare & Medicaid Insurances available
TECHNOLOGY: No new technology Minimum technology in hospitals Long wait for complicated procedures, if possible	TECHNOLOGY: Private funding allows for research Newest, best, and most cutting edge technology available Complicated procedures available and done easily
CARE: Lack of hospital beds Long wait for appointments and procedures Poor quality care	CARE: Faster, more efficient care and appointments Very high quality care Some of the most educated doctors – money for better training
ECONOMY: Cheaper treatment keeps people longer in hospital, preventing them from work Employers lose money	ECONOMY: Faster, more high tech procedures enable fast healing process and almost immediate return to work Employer looses minimum amount of money
LIFE EXPECTANCY: Higher but morbidity is low	LIFE EXPECTANCY: A bit lower but morbidity is much higher
THE FUTURE: System that is not designed for change and hard to innovate	THE FUTURE: A lot more flexible system that can easily change and innovate

Glossary

American Health - The American Health Care is run privately as a free-

Care System enterprise or a market model. Individuals are expected to provide their own private insurance. The only government funding for health care is Medicaid and Medicare

Anomaly - Deviation or departure from the normal or common order, form, or rule

Canadian Health - The Canadian Health Act was established in 1984 ensuring that

Care System the Canada's health care provides coverage to all Canadian citizens. It is publicly funded and administered on a provincial or territorial basis, within guidelines set by the federal government. Also referred to as a ‘single-payer system’ or a ‘universal health insurance’

Egalitarianism - Affirming, promoting, or characterized by belief in equal political, economic, social, and civil rights for all people

Market Model - Used to describe the way the American Health Care is run. Such as a business would be a run, a free-enterprise

Medicare - In Canada it is referred to the government funded health care system which is available to everyone. In the US is referred to the government funded health care that is available only for the elderly (over the age of 65)

Medicaid - A division in the American health care system that ensures that previously qualified people are provided with health care for which is funded by the government since it is impossible for them to afford it on their own.

Modality - A tendency to conform to a general pattern or belong to a particular group or category

Morbidity - Frequency of illness, sickness, and diseases contracted. Level of suffering

Mortality - Death, especially of large numbers; heavy loss of life. Frequency of death.

Non-Heroic - Used to describe the way the Canadian is managed. An

System idiom describing that the doctors, government, and society does not go over and beyond using unnecessary and drastic treatment that is not easy to justify in terms of cost. The exact opposite of the American “heroic” practice.

Red Herring - Something that draws attention away from the central issue

Status Quo - The existing condition or state of affairs. Latin for "state in which"

Utilitarianism - In ethics, the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happiness of all those affected by it. Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism, which advocates that those actions are right which bring about the most good overall.

Whopper - Something exceptionally big or remarkable. A gross untruth.

Discussion Questions

1. Adam Gopnik argues that “walking into an emergency ward not having to worry about the cost… is the most powerful argument” for the Canadian Health System. Do you agree with that?

2. Would you be willing to sacrifice quality of care and faster treatment for universal health care?

3. Do you think cutting edge technology is important to have in Canadian health care, or do you agree with Gopnik that “you need what doctors and nurses are able to give”?

4. Do you believe that heroic medicine is justifiable?

5. If you were put in a situation such as the woman having the hysterectomy, which treatment would you chose? Why?

6. In his arguments Gladwell says that “An American system shifts costs from businesses and families on to the health care system. The Canadian system does the opposite”. Do you agree with that statement?

7. Medicaid and Medicare provide government funded health care for the most vulnerable in society, the poor and the elderly. Do you agree that for the rest of the population it is ideal to have a flexible health care system that is paid, therefore providing better quality of service for those that can afford it?

8. Gladwell argues that if people educated themselves about proper insurance they would not have the problem of “run-up bills” in a time of crisis. Do you agree or do you think that it is more secure if the health care was always paid for, such as the Canadian health care?

9. Looking into the future, which system do you think would be best?

10. It is undeniable that both system have their faults. However when you way the advantages and disadvantages of each, which would you prefer to use?

11. Private clinics are technically illegal in Canada. Do you think that there should be ones available for those that can afford it?

12. Give other options for improving each system.