Because of misguided government policies, health care in America is expensive and inefficient.
But it’s always possible to have a system that is even worse. I have often cited the United Kingdom, which has genuine socialism (government employs the doctors and runs the hospitals).
However, as part of an ongoing series about “great moments in government-run healthcare,” today we’re going to look north to Canada
Here are some excerpts from a news report about a massive failure by Canada’s system, which may be even worse than the one in the United Kingdom.
Authored by Amy Judd and Kylie Stanton, the article explains how a woman from British Columbia named Allison Ducluzeau traveled to the United States to save her life.
It all started last year at Thanksgiving when Ducluzeau said she started to feel pain in her abdomen. …She started doing tests, an ultrasound, and a CT scan, but she said everything would take weeks to get an appointment. …the results of the CT scan indicated it looked like it might be something called peritoneal carcinomatosis, which is abdominal cancer.” …her doctor referred her to the BC Cancer Agency. …She said she didn’t even see an oncologist with BC Cancer until two-and-a-half months later but at that point, she had already received treatment somewhere else. …Ducluzeau decided to get treatment with Sardi in Baltimore. …Before she left, Ducluzeau said she called BC Cancer to ask how long it might be to see the oncologist was told it could be weeks, months, or longer, they had no idea. …No word at all from (BC Cancer) until after I flew to Baltimore, had my surgery and got home.”
You may be thinking that there is nothing surprising about this story. Especially if you remember the Hypocrite of the Year from 2010.
But here’s the shocking part.
Ducluzeau said the surgeon told her. “…I suggest you talk to your family, get your affairs in order, talk to them about your wishes, which was indicating, you know, whether you want to have medically assisted dying or not.”
Yes, you read correctly. The government’s helpful suggestion was that she should kill herself.
I guess that would have been a cost savings for taxpayers, but hardly an ideal approach since Canada already has demonstrated a better way of dealing with fiscal policy (though Paul Krugman missed the boat).
