wrote:
On Sun, 31 May 2009 20:45:46 -0400, Gene
wrote:

On Sun, 31 May 2009 20:18:25 -0400, John H
wrote:

Canada is not a great example of same:

" With respect to patient’s rights, waiting times and availability of
pharmaceuticals Canada places at the absolute bottom in the rankings.

Canada ranks dead last in the "Bang-for-the-Buck" index (Estonia is
first in the value-for-money-adjusted "Bang-for-the-Buck" index). "

http://tinyurl.com/mxq9ut


Socialized medicine may suck.... I have no personal experience. The US
has only ONE limited experiment in socialized medicine. It
administered by the "Department of Veterans Affairs." Anybody have
experience with this? Is it as bad as they say it is in Canada and
England?


There is also Medicare but they are going broke taking 14% of every
wage earned in the country and only covering about 12% of the
population.


Interesting that no one pointed out the impossible load of bull****
Herring is trying to sell. The study in the survey compared Canada with
European countries, most of which have much more highly evolved
socialized medicine than does our neighbor to the north.


In 2008 the Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP) and the Frontier Centre for
Public Policy presented the first Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index.
This marked the induction of Canada into a comprehensive benchmarking
exercise that analyzes the consumer responsiveness among 29 national
European healthcare systems.

The Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index (ECHCI) was an alarm bell, as it
showed that Canada was placed in the bottom quarter of the Index –
though it spent more money to achieve worse results than a large number
of European competitors. In specific:


- - -

• Canadians suffer from a healthcare system officially based on equity
and solidarity – but in reality it is a sub-standard one that ***denies
Canadian healthcare consumers many of the services taken for granted in
Europe***;

• Patient rights, access to information, and choice and services without
delay are underdeveloped in Canada and deliver low value for the money
spent;

• The positive part of the comparison is that the quality of treatment –
when delivered – puts Canada on par with most European countries.


- - -


(In other words, the problems up north are not with socialized medicine
but with Canada's implementation and operation of it)


The authors believe in the power of benchmarks. The lesson from the
HCP’s five years of healthcare benchmarking is that comparisons count.
Weak or excellent performances among the national healthcare systems are
highlighted as good examples. But to serve the intended purpose,
stakeholders must take action when the alarm bell rings.

The 2008 Index caused a stir within Canada. But that is far from enough.
Governments, patients and consumers now have a better foundation for
taking action. This year’s Index will provide additional fuel for that
fire as it confirms the poor cross-Atlantic position of Canada; 2008
evidently was no isolated poor score on Canada’s part.

Canada can ill-afford another lost year without closing the gap and the
question remains: why should Canadians be satisfied with a level of
(poor) care that is becoming outdated in Europe?

Executive Summary

In this second annual Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index (ECHCI), Canada
ends up in 23rd place. This year’s winner, the Netherlands, scores 824
points out of 1,000 edging out runner-up and last year’s winner,
Austria, by a margin of eleven points. Luxembourg and Denmark take third
and fourth place with 795 and 794 points, respectively.

In terms of medical outcomes, Canada compares reasonably well with the
best performing healthcare systems and on the generosity scale Canada
collects an average score. With respect to patient rights, waiting times
and availability of pharmaceuticals Canada places at the absolute bottom
in the rankings.

Estonia prevails in the value-for-money-adjusted Bang-for-the-Buck
index, while placing 11th overall in the ECHCI Index and competing very
well with countries spending vastly more per capita on healthcare. Taken
together – Canada’s poor overall performance in the Index along with a
high expenditure on healthcare services – leads to Canada’s lastplace
ranking in the Bang-for-the-Buck index.

- - -


Nice try, Herring, but, as usual, you are full of ****.