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After reading David Shribman’s article “The Canadian health care revolution” (Las Vegas Sun, April 17), I am confused. Did he mean to convince us of the wisdom and benefits of the Canadian health care system, or was he pointing out its flaws?
Shribman details how the system came about, with the election of the “first socialist government in Canada.” The plan’s author, Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas, promised the same thing President Barack Obama did in 2009: that “you (the patient) will choose the surgeon and you will choose the specialist.” Shribman does not explain how that promise played out. In this country, we know Obama’s words were not the truth.
After Shribman’s admission that over the years wait times for routine (and sometimes, not-so-routine) procedures doubled between 1993 and 2013, he makes baffling statement: “But the point ... is that once government-mandated health insurance is instituted, it very likely is never going away.” Kind of a like-it-or-lump-it statement: Good, bad or indifferent, get used to it.
So there you have it. A health care system, foisted on the majority by a narrow minority of socialists, in which the care offered is ultimately degraded, but, since it’s already in place, there’s not much anyone can do about it. Hardly a ringing endorsement. Shribman attempts to rationalize it all in his wrap up: “Neighbors have to look out for one another, and it’s that sense of compassion and community that makes us Canada.”
Well, dear reader, the United States is not Canada. Not that we don’t value compassion and community, but we also fiercely value liberty and freedom of choice. Most Americans don’t want a socialist government. Most Americans don’t want draconian Canadian gun laws (in which firearms are severely limited to law-abiding citizens but still seem to make it into the hands of criminals). Most Americans would not support the Canadian human rights tribunals, where citizens can be accused of “hate crimes” by anyone for any subjective reason.
The bottom line: Even though Obamacare has become law, some five years later, most Americans still oppose it. That number is growing as people find that their health costs are not decreasing, they cannot keep their plans they like, they cannot keep the doctor they like, and the increased premium costs and horrendous deductibles make the Affordable Care Act anything but affordable, unless you’re a member of the fortunate group who gets heavily subsidized at the expense of everyone else.
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