Reading Room

10 Myths About Canadian Health Care, Busted
Socialism is evil? Wait times would be unbearable? Doctors won't have enough cash in their wallets? Pshaw! AlterNet tees 'em up and knocks 'em out of the park.

Phantoms In The Snow:
Canadians' Use of Health Care Services in the United States (PDF)
Surprisingly few Canadians travel to the United States for health care, despite the persistence of the myth.

Ezra Klein: Health of Nations
Journalist and blogger Ezra Klein details the nuts and bolts of the Canadian health care system. How is it funded? Who does it cover? How much better is it than our system in the United States?

Administrative Waste in the U.S. Health Care System in 2003 (PDF)
A paper published in the International Journal of Health Services shows that the United States wastes nearly $400 billion a year in administrative costs - and by switching to a Canadian-style single-payer system, we could save $286 billion annually.

Nurses to screen Moore doc for Dion, Smitherman
Nurses in Ontario treated Federal Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman to a screening of SiCKO in Toronto. The Canadian system is great, but the threat of privatization is always there - and the nurses want their politicians to know just what kind of sicko system they'll get if they privatize.

Canadian health-care system provides businesses a big competitive advantage
Free-market types often say universal health care would be "bad for business." This Canadian businessman and politician tells of everything universal health care has done for his company - like providing healthy, happy workers and lower operating costs.

Final Report of the Federal Advisor on Wait Times
It's true there are some waiting times in Canada - you'll get that in a system that covers everybody. But how do they stack up to wait times in the United States? Well, we don't know, because our health care system isn't centralized and there's no way to collect that data. Not only do Canadians collect data on wait times - but they appoint federal officials to deal with the problem. Here's the report of the Federal Advisor on Wait Times on how to make the Canadian system even more efficient.