Ex-Canadian says national health care a nightmare

Guest Opinion
By Victoria Morrison

When I hear people talk about the need for a ‘one-payer’ health system, I have to wonder, “have you lived in a country that has National Health Care?”

I’m from Canada, now an American citizen. All my family still lives in Canada.

Here are some real facts about ‘free’ health care:

It’s not free!

Canadians and citizens of other countries, that have national health care, pay two to three times the taxes we pay here. There is also a ‘premium’ paid every three months that is levied on each person, which varies from province to province.

Your care is rationed. If your over 65 years old, retired, and not contributing to the taxes collected you receive very limited health care. You go to a doctor chosen by the government. A government panel decides what level of care you will get~not your doctor. There is no such thing as seeing a specialist, having an MRI or CT scan, or other specialized technology. It’s too expensive, and frankly, according to the government, you’re not worth the expense!

As my sister says about treating people over 65, “at that age your nothing but a drain on society.”

Regardless of age, all care is rationed in Canada. One example: two colonscopies in your lifetime.

Canada, (and eventually the U.S.) has quotas. If you discover in October that you have lung cancer, but all the lung cancer surgeries have been done for the year 2009 you wait until 2010 and hope to be near the top of the list for care.

My uncle died waiting for an operating room, six months after he was diagnosed.

Average wait 5-13 months

The average wait to get into see a doctor for any kind of care is 5-13 months. If you have an acute condition of any kind you are told to report to an emergency room. A brother-in-law reported to an emergency room with a 10 centimeter hole in his diaphragm. In this emergency situation, diagnosed in October 2003, he had surgery in August 2004.

The government begins to control every aspect of your life. If you are living a life style, whether it’s in your habits or what you eat, the government feels an investment in your life. After all, you’re costing them money. So what you eat and what you do becomes of acute interest to the government. You think you have ‘Big Brother’ now. This is only the beginning.

Is it any wonder that one of Canada’s leaders in parliament came to the United States for medical care.

Because there is no competition among doctors (they are paid a salary whether they see you or not) you are treated with little respect. They don’t care how long you sit in a waiting room or what kind of care they give you. They are all you’ve got, and they know it.

But, the greatest danger of National Health Care has nothing to do with what the government mandates~ it’s the mindset that develops among the citizens. Young people working two jobs in order to make ends meet, because of the high taxes, begin to resent the people who aren’t ‘contributing’ to the system.

That feeling of resentment filters to the elderly. Often the very segment of society that needs the care the most. Euthanasia is legal in Canada. Is it any wonder?

We already have a form of National Health Care in America. It’s called Medicare. It is already bankrupt. You complain now about your premium. That will be nothing compared to what you will pay when an entire nation is put on Medicare.

Newt Gingrich said, “The Declaration of Independence, a political document, states: ‘We are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights~Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.’

“This is fundamental to the nature of America. We are the only country in history which says your personal rights come from God~directly to you and you loan the government sovereignty….that’s the core doctrine of this country.”

Gingrich continued: “That is why quotas….are wrong. That is why rationing health care is wrong. No government bureaucrat has the right to take from you the rights God gave you. Rationing under health care is inevitable, limiting your life at the whim of a bureaucrat and the manipulation of a politician.”

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Before you get on the band wagon with this administration please look into the realities of national health care for yourself.

Let your legislatures know how you feel. Let them know you don’t want to give up the best health care in the world today.

Victoria now resides in Reedsport, Oregon