A Usenet persona calling itself BCITORGB wrote:

Scott asserts without knowing the facts:
================
Difference is that if she doesn't like the priority given to her based
on
her income, she can seek out another service provider willing to put
her
higher on the list. Canadians can't.
==============

Not quite correct. When my father-in-law didn't like the coronary
surgery options available to him in his smaller community, he asked his
GP to refer him to one of the surgeons in the preemminent heart
hospital in a larger city.

No problem.

And, when it came time for the surgery, he was helicoptered onto the
roof of the city hospital from his island community. [damned good
service if you ask me]. In this case, HE chose his surgeon and HE chose
the hospital and he got his wishes.

Only because at that moment, the capacity was available and his heart
condition jumped him up the queue.


The problem with you, Scotty, is that you make up what goes on in
Canada and/or you comb the internet for one-off bad examples. Yet those
of us who live here and have experience (BCITORGB, KMAN, Michael, etc)
with the system know that what you insist is true is, in fact, a
fantasy.

And I say that you are living in a fantasy world and are in denial about the
crumbling state of your health care system. Your anecdotes of success are
not necessarily indicative of either the overall experience, the overall
solidity of the system, or the long-term prospects. Socialize medicine often
works fine at first, while the blush is still on the rose and funding is
available because the demand for health care hasn't caught up with or
exceeded capacity. But in the long run, it's always a failure and people
suffer and die as a result because socialized medicine presumes that the
individual is of lesser value than the interests of the society as a whole,
so it's easy for the system to abuse individuals while touting it's
egalitarian principles.


--
Regards,
Scott Weiser

"I love the Internet, I no longer have to depend on
friends, family and co-workers, I can annoy people WORLDWIDE!" TM

© 2005 Scott Weiser