Canadian Health Officials: Our Universal Health Care Is 'Sick,' Private Insurance Should Be Welcomed

Last week there was quite a spirited debate between my bogger friends and a Socialist woman from Wales. She was sure we are all ignorant, (her word) and could not believe we were unwilling to accept Socialism. She ranted about a few other things too, but the main focus of our debate was over health care. Ros sent me this this morning. I thought of posting it on Yes They are all Mine, but my intention was to keep that one fun and fluffy, so I am posting it here where it belongs.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Dr. Anne Doig, the incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association, said her country’s health care system is “sick” and “imploding,” the Canadian Press reported.
“We know there must be change,” Doig said in a recent interview. “We’re all running flat out, we’re all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands.”
Canada’s universal health care system is not giving patients optimal care, Doig added. When her colleagues from across the country gather at the CMA conference in Saskatoon Sunday, they will discuss changes that need to be made, she said.
“We all agree the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize,” she said.
Current president of the CMA, Dr. Robert Ouellet, will make a presentation at the conference about his findings when he toured Europe in January, and met with health groups in several countries.
Ouellet has said that “competition should be welcomed, not feared,” meaning private health insurance should have a role in the public health system.
Doig said she isn’t sure what kind of changes will be proposed when the conference wraps up, but she does know that changes have to come – and fast. She said she understands that universal health care, while good in some ways, has not always been helpful for sick people or their families.
"(Canadians) have to understand that the system that we have right now — if it keeps on going without change — is not sustainable," Doig said.
Click here to read more about this story from the Canadian Press.
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