There's a great new video in the front page of Rabble today - and I hope to see lots more like it. Yanks would be better off with a healthier system.
http://www.rabble.ca/multimedia/2009/09/most-interesting-health-care-con...
Here's a snapshot of health care in Ontario.
The budget for Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has been increasing every year.
http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/english/budget/ontariobudgets/2005/images/paper...
Now it is at $40 Billion. Only about one-third of that money goes to actual patient care.
$40 billion is the entire fortune of Bill Gates - or the combined personal fortune of Canada's top 15 Forbes billionaires. To see how much money this is, look at the L CURVE - http://www.lcurve.org/
In some communities in Ontario 40% of people do not have a physician and make do with walk-in clinics. Ontario's Doctor Connect is a sham - they have only the same list of doctors you can get from online searches, but make their service sound official and efficient by asking for your OHIP number and medical conditions before they will help you. That's coercion and a violation of privacy. How many people can they actually help if there are only 20 doctors - and maybe not the pick of the litter - for a city of half a million where 150,000 need physicians?
One in every six of us is disabled or senior or both, yet until recently the Ontario government had no real Seniors Secretariat and directed seniors' calls to the phone labyrinth of Service Ontario. There are now funds for "healthy aging at home" - which will pay for community care workers and social workers, but not for good food or to have the snow removed. Community care workers are angels but may not stand on a stool to change a light bulb - so Granny may try herself, and die with a broken hip in the dark. And don't even try to get volunteer help for seniors or disabled persons in Ontario - United Way has none and Mike Harris killed off all the little charities. I won't even get started on Ontario's e-health scandal...
We need to rein in our own system and practitioners:
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2009/08/28/HealthcareAdvice/?utm_source=monday...
The new NDP head says McGuinty is wrong to close hospitals, but with $40B Ontario should be able to have good health and its own space program.
Where is OUR health care? That's the $40 Billion dollar question.