I’ve written several times (including several feature-length columns) about the lies that liberals in Canada keep telling about Canada’s healthcare system—led now by the Minister of North Korean-style healthcare, Ujjal Dosanjh, who keeps up the liberal-left tradition and insists on leading a dishonest debate in our country about our healthcare system.
They love to use the convenient non-universal system down south in America to compare against our universal system, rather than make the more fair and honest comparison with virtually any other industrial country (Japan, nearly all of Europe) which has private and public healthcare, no wait lists, better outcomes, costs less than ours, and everybody in their nation are guaranteed access no matter how much money they have.
Here’s another article to add to the pile, which actually takes on the myths about the American system—myths which were created by the liberal-left (imagine a political philosophy and party based on myth-creation!) —which the liberal-left will once again brush aside in order to maintain the lie, trot out their “Yucky scary America-style healthcare system” baloney, and hopefully stay in power still longer. That’s progressive!
45 million Myths About American Healthcare
In the debate over Canada’s health care system, the United States provides a convenient scarecrow. We hear constantly that 45 million Americans have no health insurance, that public health care spending is inadequate and that the U.S. system is characterized by unbridled capitalism. These perceptions, however, are urban myths. While the U.S. health care system is far from perfect, the causes of its problems are not what most people believe.
The U.S. health care system is primarily criticized for its lack of universality and the presence of large numbers of uninsured people. To put this problem into perspective, the uninsured represent just 15.6% of the population. More than two-thirds of Americans hold private health insurance, most through their employers. Most without private insurance depend on public health insurance systems, namely Medicare for those aged 65 or over and Medicaid for low-income people. These two systems also cover handicapped persons.
Furthermore, being without insurance is often a temporary situation. About a quarter of the uninsured lack coverage for less than one year. As the Census Bureau confirms, “Health insurance coverage is likely to be underreported.” A large number of people declared as uninsured – about 14 million – were eligible for Medicaid or for programs covering children but had either not taken advantage of this or were unaware of it.
The non-insurance problem is largely a job problem: 57% of those under 65 who were without health insurance throughout 1998 (the latest year for which figures are available) had no full-time jobs or lived in families where nobody did. Tax treatment of medical insurance in the U.S. creates a tight link with employment.
Many uninsured persons have the means to pay for private insurance but choose not to:17% of the uninsured lived in households with incomes of at least US$75,000.
The uninsured have at their disposal a safety net, namely the public hospital network: This in fact constitutes a sort of informal hospital insurance. Even the uninsured can obtain health care. The Congressional Budget Office writes that “many people without insurance have access to at least some sources of health care, either through public hospitals, community health centres, local health departments, or Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.” OECD researchers have made a similar observation: “Local governments, in conjunction with states, play an important role in financing the so-called safety net providers (e.g., county hospitals) that serve the indigent.”
[… Read the rest (5 minutes) PDF FILE …]
[… Or read a synopsis written in the Financial Post (3 minutes)
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
Contact Mr. Johannesen about this article using this form. Please refer to article's title.
FOLLOW @JoelJohannesen ON X!
- State-Funding of Sports Boondoggles Need To Be Sent To The Penalty Box - Wednesday March 13, 2024 at 4:44 pm
- I’m from the government and I’m here to help you become barely mediocre like us. - Tuesday March 5, 2024 at 11:53 am
- Big-Ass Government makes Big-Ass Blunder - Friday March 1, 2024 at 12:36 pm
