The Reality of Socialized Medicine and Medicare for All

We’ve heard talk lately about “Medicare for All” – the most recent proposal in which the federal government provides so-called “free” healthcare insurance to all Americans. It’s just another version of socialized medicine modeled after Canada’s. 

Previously, I’ve posted about my dislike for socialized medicine and why I feel the way I do. The question now is, what is the reality of socialized medicine? A recent Forbes.com titled “What Socialized Medicine Looks Like” answers that question by sharing details about Canada’s program. I hope you will read that entire article. However, below are some of the highlights:

1. Primary care doctors in Canada provide fewer services than their counterparts in the U.S. forcing people to go to ERs more often. Average Canadian ER wait = 4 hours.
2. Number of Canadian women to never have a mammogram = double the number of American women. Has led to the breast cancer mortality rate in Canada being 25% higher than U.S. rate.
3. Less than 20% of Canadian men have ever been screened for prostrate cancer. 50% of American men have. Has led to Canadian prostate cancer mortality rate being 18% higher than the U.S.’s.
4. Canadian adults who’ve had a colonoscopy = 10%. American adults = 30%. Canadian death rate from colorectal cancer is 13% higher than U.S.
5. Americans are more likely to get treatment for kidney failure (i.e. dialysis or transplant) than those in countries with socialized medicine – 5 times more likely if under 85 years old and 9 times more likely if over 85. People who do not get such treatment will DIE.
6. Average Canadian wait time after referral from primary care doctor until get to see specialist = 21 weeks (over 5 months).
7. Average Canadian wait time for CT scan = 4 weeks.
8. Average Canadian wait time for MRI = nearly 11 weeks (nearly 3 months).
9. Average Canadian wait time for ultrasound = nearly 4 weeks. 
10. At 21% of Canadian hospitals, a woman must wait over 3 weeks for a biopsy to confirm a possible breast cancer diagnosis. Only 1% of American hospitals have a wait time that long.
11. At half of Canadian hospitals, a 65 year old must wait over 6 months for a hip replacement. No American hospitals have wait times that long.

Additionally, in Canada, the powerful and rich have more access to specialists and services, more choices, and shorter waiting times. In fact, the poor, non-elderly white population is 22% more likely than similarly situated Americans to be in poor health.

The Forbes.com article also tells of problems within Britain’s socialized medicine program. However, I chose to focus on Canada here primarily because it is our next door neighbor.

Some Americans support socialized medicine. Generally, the ones who do are healthy. However, one day each of them could fall victim to illness, accident, or injury they never expected. If that day comes, that’s also the time they will fall victim to the pitfalls of socialized medicine as it’s generally the sick and weak who have their care rationed in order to save money, because socialized medicine plans are expensive to administer. The cost is also the main reason socialized medicine plans usually fail.

So, knowing what you now know, do you really want socialized medicine and / or “Medicare for All” in the U.S.?