All is not quiet on the Canadian health system front

AMA Leader Commentary. By Ronald M. Davis, MD, Sept. 17, 2007.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from AMA President Ronald M. Davis, MD.

"Our [health care] system was built to meet the needs of the underprivileged. It is now failing both them and everyone else, because it has not adapted to the times."

-- Dr. Brian Day, president, Canadian Medical Assn., inaugural address, Aug. 22

Debates about health system reform in the United States are heating up, stimulated by activity in Congress to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program, state actions and proposals (especially the new law in Massachusetts) that aim to achieve universal health insurance coverage, reform proposals offered by presidential candidates, and Michael Moore's movie, "Sicko."

Advocates on opposite sides of these debates often point to Canada to bolster their arguments.

Those favoring a single-payer system tout Canada's public health care system, which promises access to health care for everyone, and which is purported to achieve health outcomes as good as (or better than) those in the United States, while using a smaller slice of the nation's GDP for health care.

Opponents argue that rationing and long queues for modern diagnostic tests and elective surgery undermine and contradict the Canadian government's guarantees of universal access.

Last month I attended the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Assn. in Vancouver. And although "Sicko" portrayed Canada's public health care system as being problem-free, I heard a different story from Canadian physicians.

CMA delegates received the 7th Annual National Report Card on Health Care, which is based on a June survey of 1,000 Canadian adults. When asked to grade the overall quality of health care services (A, B, C, or F), three of five respondents gave the system an A (21%) or B (41%).