Howard Dean and others debate Canadian versus U.S. health care

Posted by Esther on June 9, 2010 at 6:13 pm

As Howard Dean states, “We didn’t pass reform. All we did pass was putting more money into what we already have.” This is precisely why a debate on the Canadian versus the U.S. health care systems is more timely than ever.

A group of prominent American and Canadian physicians debated, in Toronto, the question: “Be it resolved that I would rather get sick in the U.S. than in Canada.” If you don’t have two hours to watch the full debate, you may want to watch the opening statements, and then slide the time bar forward to catch the closing statements (though I watched the full debate live-streamed, and it was well worth my time).

Howard Dean was interviewed before the debate on his views of Health Care in America. Here is a brief excerpt of what he had to say:

You were a strong proponent of the public health-care option in the U.S. Why?

A public plan allows people more choices. The truth is we have a social system for veterans, we have a single-payer system like Canada’s for people over 65 and we have a private enterprise system. I think the best way to get reform [is] to give people more choices and let them do the reform.

But one of the principal criticisms of a public system, a single-payer system like Canada’s, is that it robs consumers of choice.

Well, the U.S. system is not the same as Canada’s. What I was proposing is a choice: a socialist system, a single-payer system or a private enterprise system.

Would a Canadian-style system work in the U.S.?

It would certainly work in terms of delivering good health care for less money – because that’s what Canada does now. But from a political point of view, it would be very difficult to implement a single-payer system.

Read the rest of Howard Dean’s comments by clicking here.

The importance of this message is that this is a crucial debate that has not gone away in spite of the enactment of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We should all do our part to see that everyone in the United States becomes fully informed on the facts on health care.

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