Highlights of Coming Attractions In Canadian Health Care

Thousands of surgeries may be cut in Metro Vancouver, leaked paper reveals:
"# Health authority to cut funds for mental health and addiction service providers to save $400,000
# Core patient services face deep cuts in Metro Vancouver, NDP says
# Massive cuts planned for Fraser Health region: NDP
# 2,500 elective surgeries delayed for 2010 Games
# Health jobs cut, your fees and wait times will increase
# Elective surgeries to be cut by 35 per cent during Olympics"

I'll say it again. Despite all of President Obama's protestations, no nationalized health care system has demonstrated any propensity to slow or control the growth of health care spending, except thru draconian service rationing. Hat tip to Pragertopia.

Another Answer To My Friends Who Cite Euro Health Care

Barack Obama healthcare: NHS patients missing out, British expert warns - Telegraph: "“Inevitably in a tax-based government run health service, the increasing costs will be borne by younger working population.

“At a time of rapid health inflation due to innovative technology, this is just unsustainable. The same tensions apply to defined benefit pensions for public sector workers. We are rapidly approaching the point at which the political fudging of pensions and health care will no longer be possible,” he warned."

Read the whole linked article - lots of sobering facts about the British NHS.

Just as my earlier post on France indicated, the nationalized health care systems of Europe that President Obama wants to emulate are, in fact, careening out of control. They have not succeeded in controlling the growth of health care spending, despite sometimes draconian rationing.

France Fights Universal Care's High Cost - WSJ.com

France Fights Universal Care's High Cost - WSJ.com: "France claims it long ago achieved much of what today's U.S. health-care overhaul is seeking: It covers everyone, and provides what supporters say is high-quality care. But soaring costs are pushing the system into crisis. The result: As Congress fights over whether America should be more like France, the French government is trying to borrow U.S. tactics.

In recent months, France imposed American-style 'co-pays' on patients to try to throttle back prescription-drug costs and forced state hospitals to crack down on expenses... And service cuts...are prompting complaints from patients, doctors and nurses that care is being rationed."

The French system's fragile solvency shows how tough it is to provide universal coverage while controlling costs, the professed twin goals of President Barack Obama's proposed overhaul.

Click the link above and read this article. One of the most persistent arguments I get from people defending the ObamaCare agenda is, "it works well in Europe, Europeans love their health care." Well, after I point out the Americans overwhelmingly love their health care too, I point out that the Europeans are living on borrowed time. As the article points out, the French system is running persistent deficits and health care costs are climbing steeply. Unfortunately, after decades of French citizens considering health care a God-given right, it has become politically impossible to implement reforms to bring costs back in line.

France has a nice system - lot's of choice - limited central planning. But, it does not have any free market mechanisms to help reduce costs at the margin. There are only two choices for the French going forward: 1) accept free-market reforms like co-pays, health savings accounts, etc, or 2) create an ObamaCare central authority to ration care. The health care free lunch is over.