What is the problem with Canadian and European Style Universal Single Payer Health Care?

The lies and half truths of the right say that universal healthcare would be a bad thing. As you point out, infant death rates in the USA are higher than other developed nations, and Americans play more for that. It surprises me that so many Americans seem not to be aware about Obama’s healthcare plans [a]. During the election, he campaigned for these changes stating that he felt it was unfair to have a system where insurance companies try to escape paying claims and was elected to bring in changes [b]. First of all, too many people do not know that Obama wants to make insurance more available to all. His system is similar to that which works in Holland, Taiwan [c] and Switzerland. It works there and private healthcare companies provide most the insurance to the people there. FACT - the USA spends more on healthcare PER PERSON than any other nation on the planet [d]. FACT – insurance companies admit that they push up costs, buy politicians and do not pay out for many claims when they should [e]. FACT - the US has higher death rates for kids aged under five than western European countries with universal health coverage [f]. That means that a dead American four year old would have had a better chance of life if they were born in Canada, France, the Netherlands, Cuba, Switzerland, Germany, Japan etc, all of which have universal health coverage. And no western European nation with universal healthcare has moved away from it. And the sad thing is, that the insurance companies have spent loads of money to fight these reforms [g] and loads of politicians are taking the thirty pieces of silver from them to fight the reforms, rather than fight for the health of the American people. Remember, I back my facts up with evidence. Those who say they are wrong tend not to. If they are wrong, e-mail me with proof and let me know.

I live in Canada and sometimes we have to wait a really long time to see a Doctor. Some people wait 2 years to receive Orthopedic surgery!

You are mistaken. For one thing, Canada has a smaller populations do the other countries you mention. People who have unusual problems do not get adequate treatment. People who need cardiac surgery or other things that can't wait, often die. I don't like that. These countries have a short list of medications that they can pay for. If you have ever been ill long term or had a relative die, you would understand. That is why prescription costs are lower. No new drugs. No expensive drugs. I pay six times what you pay a month for a high deductible ($2500 for 20% insurance pay/80% me) and prescriptions that are over twice your cost. I hate it as I need treatment like acupuncture which I have to pay out of pocket to function, and supplements. Already they have tried to prevent me taking the medicine that works and give me one that doesn't.

It would appear all of your articles listed are from Americans with and agenda. Hmmmm... With a little bit of searching I bet we could find many sites that say I should buy carbon credits and that Cuba will be underwater in 20 years. We now know that to be untrue. We openly pay more and we know what we get. At least from our paychecks. If you ever travel to these places with universal health care, you will find out real fast that they pay a lot more. Things tend to cost double in these countries as opposed to here. This would be corporations over there passing the buck off to the consumer. Trust me they pay a lot more. Also why is a Premier in Canada traveling to the U.S. for surgery if it is so much better there? http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2510700

The people who are slamming universal care systems abroad don't actually seem to know ANYTHING about those systems. They certainly don't seem to have spoken to anyone from those countries. The British think our system is barbaric. They like their system. Ditto the French. And the Swedes. And on and on. Shouldn't it tell us something that every developed country in the world is perfectly aware of the American way of doing health care and yet not a single one has our wild-west style system?

The have also been lied to by Fox TV about what "single payor" even means. All it means is Government sponsored insurance - not the ONLY insurance. EVERY country in Western Europe has public/private combined insurance, whichever one you choose. It works great - no lines, no waiting, no "death panels" (lol), and the private companies are doing JUST FINE and have been for over 50 years.

You made several untrue statements. First, the waiting time in Canada for for MRI or X-RAYS is weeks. The waiting time in ER is hours in Canada.They dont get to pic their own doctor because of the different provinces. High priced prescriptions are not available to ALL, the government decides what medication can be given. ALL THE ABOVE, was told to me by a friend of mine who lives in Toronto.-- BTW, the premier of Newfoundland, came to the USA for heart surgery a couple of weeks ago because Canada could not perform the procedure. One other thing, their system is going broke and it covers only 30 million people, Can you really imagine how OUR government could possibly supply health care to 300 million people?

Most of them do NOT offer health care to non citizens while most libs in an effort to buy hispanic votes want health care for the world, That is, if you step foot into our country you are somehow entitled to free health care. Plus, you need to be careful about statistics because they can be manipulated. For instance the infant mortality one is different for many countries. Most countries do not count infant deaths until the child reaches a certain age. For example, maybe 3 month while the USA counts from the minute or just before birth. It is like saying the Iran doesn't have gay people...that's because they kill them. Trying to compare one country to another with the same statistic when each country plays by different rules is useless. So, research your stats a little more. Just don't regurgitate liberal non sense. If you follow stats we are a 3rd world nation in health care. If that is so, why do many people from around the world come here for that same thing?

the wait to see a doctor is ridiculous and the treatment is not as good since the doctors wouldn't want to work at that cost. QUALITY my dear friend, we may pay more but the quality is far more better