Op-Ed Columnist - This Time, We Won’t Scare - NYTimes.com Source: www.nytimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/opinion/11kristof.html

Today was the second time I have seen this Op-Ed from the NY Times linked on Facebook implying that the Canadian single payer health care system is comparable to what we have here in the U.S. I would argue that the fact that the Canadians can successfully treat a known stroke emergency in no way alleviates the fear many Americans have that we would be giving up the best health care system in the world in favor of having the same government that runs Amtrak, and the Post Office involved in our health care decisions.

First I would say that I know very few people outside the United States, and I can count the times I have even left the country on my hands. Even so, I can relate two personal stories that make the counter point to the Times rather explicitly. One, Roger, a friend of mine in Ottawa had ringing in his ear. He was wait listed for nine months for the necessary CT scan of his skull. Six months into the wait for the scan, he lost the ability to hear in his left ear, and was subsequently moved up a few weeks. The CT revealed a tumor, and he was again wait listed for the surgery. He eventually came to the states, on his own dime, and paid a very high cost to learn the tumor is malignant. It was semi-operable, and he is now back in Canada getting radiation, but his prognosis is not positive, and could very well be much better, if he had not had to wait so long for the diagnosis..

And then there was my sister, and her experience before dying in Israel, where they also have socialized medicine. The government would not pay for the chemo that was being used in the U.S. at the time, but they would pay for a generic chemo. She probably would not have lived in either event, but the meds in the U.S. at that time were far superior to what she had available as part of the government health care system in Israel, both with respect to treating the disease, and the medication for dealing with the side effects of the chemo. She did end up getting the U. S. meds by paying for the medication outside the government health care system.

That may or may not be possible in the plan being tossed about by Congress this week. Of course we don't know that, since neither the president, nor the Congress have made any details known, and they are likely to pass legislation without having the details determined. They did so with respect to the stimulus funding, and apparently have no inclination to even read legislation before making it the law in any event.

In Israel there are no private or even semi private rooms, even for those dying of cancer. They are kept in wards with multiple beds, up to double digit numbers in a single room. I certainly do not presume to have all the answers to the health care issues in our country, but just from my personal knowledge of family and friends, I will gladly pay the cost of the care available in this country rather than be subjected to any government health care I am familiar with, although I would probably be comfortable with emergency care of a known issue, such as represented by this NY Times comparison, in most any country in the world, nationalized medicine or not. After all, even government doctors are probably capable, assuming you have access to the one you need. There are apples, and then there are tomatoes. The Times rarely knows the difference.