Health Care That's Always Here

The Canadian premier of Newfoundland and Labrador will be coming to the US for heart surgery for a procedure his deputy claims is not available in his home province.

While he is in the States maybe he can take a bit of time to meet with Pelosi and Reid and plot their next move on health care reform.

OK, fun's fun but let's have a "To be fair" moment - Newfoundland & Labrador has a population of roughly half a million, which would not even make it a big-time, NFL-ready city in the US.  I would think the premier ought to head to Toronto for top surgery, but he is independently wealthy and prefers US services.  No kidding.

Comments

[matt]

some thoughts on the O'Keefe case. LUN.

sheesh what a bunch of dirtbags both the U.S. Attorney and the press. SS Raymond Dovovan said after he was acquited, "where do I get my reputation back?"

Although in this case I think young Mr. O'Keefe may turn the tables.

[Captain Hate]

Re: O'Keefe. I want the squishes like AllahPerv to own up to how they went screaming like the insecure babies they are to illustrate how nobody should take them seriously.

[clarice]

White togas, though--immaculate, sparkling white togas. Never mind that one's allies are being knifed in the back before their eyes..the important thing is keeping those togas spotless.

[Porchlight]

Count Malkin and a few others in that group. Though many of their commenters were smart enough not to pile on w/o more info.

[narciso]

You know what it costs to dry clean togas nowadays.

[bgates]

Continuing on the thread topic (as opposed to the post topic) - some Althouse commenters raise the question of whether anybody who crashed a party at the White House would be guilty of Felonious Fibbing on Federal Property, or whatever that statute is.

[Bruce]

Where I live in Canada the publicly funded hospitals have a 14 month waiting list for "medically necessary but non-urgent MRI's."

For emergency MRI's, getting one in under 30 days "is a struggle".

Can you say ... 3rd world country?

[Rick Ballard]

I wonder who set O'Keefe up with the tip about Landrieu's incoming lines being disconnected at the panel? A pic of the wires dangling would of have been interesting for a moment but the Great Whore of Louisiana really wouldn't have suffered from it. Not in Louisiana.

[Mike Myers]

Some pigs are more equal than others and the Premier of Newfoundland ought to have enough pull to get to the head of the line at any Canadian hospital. But instead he crossed the line and went south. Wait until Obamacare comes along and he'll be heading to Argentina for medical treatment.

[jimmyk]

Bruce, are there private alternatives?

[Dave (in MA)]

I think the combination of O'Keefe's youthfulness and seeming naïveté with the NOLA corruption that surely extends to the law enforcement personnel investigating this "crime" would normally make me expect a bad outcome here, but Breitbart's confident “These decadent bastards are going down” over the weekend gives me hope.

[John A]

Shopping for medical treatment.

With absolutely no actual data, I suspect the reasons he is in the US are largely these two (well, one - money):
1. some treatments are simply not available - there is not enough money to provide for everything for everyone, and no incentive (money, plus the disincentive of disallowing "private" options though perhaps not as bad as the UK about that) to provide treatment for the few
2. wait time. Money again... A couple of years back, a recently retired Canadian was told he was going blind but an operation could save his sight if done within three months. Alas, the waiting time was eighteen months. Quite naturally, he opted to come to the US and have the operation within a week. Bonus - the position from which he had recently retired was Health Minister for one of the Provinces.

[Fritz]

What makes the Canadian Illness Care system unique in the world is that it outlaws private provision of critical health care services. In every other country with government health care private alternatives are allowed if you can afford it. Fortunately most Canadians live within an hours drive of the US border so this has become our private option.

Non-critical health services are allowed so you can get many services privately such as knee operations, cataract surgery or abortions. If you have cancer or heart disease you are stuck waiting in line for your turn at the public run hospitals. So for serious stuff my dog gets better health care than I do.

A recent supreme court ruling has stated that if the government does not provide timely care they must pay for it if the patient gets treatment elsewhere. The trend in Canada is for more private health care with governments ignoring their existence - it is only unions that seem opposed. The past president of the Canadian Medical Association runs a chain of private health care clinics.

[jimmyk]

Fritz, does that court ruling apply to "critical" care? And does "elsewhere" mean privately in Canada as well as the U.S.? Or is the private provision of critical care in Canada still outlawed?

I'm trying to reconcile conflicting claims. When I spoke with a Canadian recently and asserted that private care was outlawed, she disputed me. From your post it sounds like it's allowed, but only if it's not deemed critical. And doesn't that sound a**-backwards to anyone but a bureaucrat?

[Fritz]

Jimmyk, the ruling applies to critical care and the decision was specifically about someone who went to the US for treatment. No law has changed to make private critical care legal but the ruling in effect opens the door for a Canadian private hospital to offer treatment to people who feel the government system is too slow. Not sure its a business model that could work.

A few weeks ago I was at a small gathering where Gordon Campbell the premier of BC was asked about private health care. He said Canadian law did not prohibit the private provision of health care - it just had to be paid for by the government (single payer). How is that for a catch 22.

There are now numerous clinics that offer all kinds of non-critical health care that you can pay for directly. They openly advertise on radio, TV and in papers. So far they have not been shut down.

Health care now consumes almost half of our provincial budgets and rising rapidly as the baby boomers retire. I think more private health care is inevitable as the public system can no longer cope.

[Bruce]

jimmyk, yes I can get a private MRI if I wish to pay. But they won't refund me the taxes or health premiums I pay - actually my Employer pays my premiums.

In the past (I posted info here) I paid for my wifes cataract surgery for one eye on the last day it was legal in BC - it became illegal the next day - and then a few months later it became legal again. She was going blind in both eyes and the waiting list was 6 months.

[daddy]

"White togas, though--immaculate, sparkling white togas. Never mind that one's allies are being knifed in the back before their eyes..the important thing is keeping those togas spotless."

ANTONY (with apologies to William Shakespeare)

"Friends, JOMer's Conservative's, lend me your ears...

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
You all do know this Pimp-coat toga: I remember
The first time ever James O'Keefe put it on;
'Twas on a summer's evening, in an Acorn office,
That day he overcame the MSM:
Look, in this place ran MSNBC's dagger through:
See what a rent the envious ABC,CBS,CNN,NBC,LA Times, New York Times,Times-Pacayune,Richmond Times,Huff Post,Dallas Morning News,NYDaily News,The Atlantic,The Hill,Daily KOS,AP,TPM, and Newsweek made:
Through this the well-beloved AllahPundit stabb'd;
And as he pluck'd his cursed steel away,
Mark how the blood and reputation of O'Keefe follow'd it,
As rushing out of doors, to be resolved
If so unkindly knock'd, or no;
For HOTAIR, as you know, was O'Keefe's angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly James and Hannah loved him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all;