Canadian Supreme Court: 'Our healthcare system doesn't work.'
I have to begin by saying that I am not an orthodox, doctrinaire conservative.
I believe strongly that four things should be guaranteed to every human soul, regardless of means: 1) some sort of shelter; 2) enough calories per day to sustain life; 3) justice (aka "equal protection under the law"; and 4) health care.
Having said that, in practice, delivering at least health care as a matter of right has proven, in practice, to be extremely problematic. The dirty little secret of the Canadian healthcare system has been the number of Canadians who die each year waiting for the simple diagnostic tests which the huge government bureaucracy can't seem to deliver in a timely fashion.
Well, guess what?
The Canadian Supreme Court has thrown out the law prohibiting private healthcare insurance on the ground that
I continue to believe that as a matter of simple justice, in an ideal world nobody should be denied health care for financial reasons.
The hard fact, though- and it is very hard indeed- is that we don't live in an ideal world.
That doesn't make me like the status quo. That doesn't make me willing to accept it. But it does require that we all deal with reality.
Eh?
I believe strongly that four things should be guaranteed to every human soul, regardless of means: 1) some sort of shelter; 2) enough calories per day to sustain life; 3) justice (aka "equal protection under the law"; and 4) health care.
Having said that, in practice, delivering at least health care as a matter of right has proven, in practice, to be extremely problematic. The dirty little secret of the Canadian healthcare system has been the number of Canadians who die each year waiting for the simple diagnostic tests which the huge government bureaucracy can't seem to deliver in a timely fashion.
Well, guess what?
The Canadian Supreme Court has thrown out the law prohibiting private healthcare insurance on the ground that
...the evidence in this case shows that delays in the public health care system are widespread and that in some serious cases, patients die as a result of waiting lists for public health care. In sum, the prohibition on obtaining private health insurance is not constitutional where the public system fails to deliver reasonable services.
I continue to believe that as a matter of simple justice, in an ideal world nobody should be denied health care for financial reasons.
The hard fact, though- and it is very hard indeed- is that we don't live in an ideal world.
That doesn't make me like the status quo. That doesn't make me willing to accept it. But it does require that we all deal with reality.
Eh?
Comments
While as I say something needs to be done about the huge numbers of Americans without adequate healthcare,
I hope we learn from the facts about the Canadian debacle rather than heeding all the propaganda.