In a recent Milwaukee Biz Blog, State Sen. Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield) attacked the Massachusetts health coverage plan in particular and universal "government run" health care in general, and the idea people regard these approaches as being free.
Hint – we don’t. He suggests that so-called free market approaches are best, which would be true, if it wasn’t for the existence of Canadian health care.
I can hear the conservative chorus of "Oh Canada," and I’m not talking about the national anthem, bemoaning once again that a "failed" system is being thrown in our faces.
Last week, Grassroots Northshore had James Clancy, the president of Canada’s 350,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees, to explain their system.
Many times he pulled out his OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) card. With it, he can stop in a clinic or hospital, get the treatment he needs, and on the way out all he has to do is say goodbye to the receptionist. His wallet stays in his pocket.
I know this first-hand. My new son-in-law in Calgary tells me this is how it works.
Oh, and what about those famous wait times? Clancy admits that there are waits for some procedures, but life-threatening cases get moved ahead.
He points out that in our country, one out of six people don’t have coverage. "If you’re in line for a movie and they pull one out of six people out of line, of course you’ll get in faster," he said. But have you been to a doctor here lately?
Canada is working on shortening the waits, and their conservative leader has a target set for 2010. Imagine that. A government actually committed to doing something for the public good. How quaint.
Clancy pointed out that their system runs $2,000 annually less per person than here. Full coverage and the ability to catch problems earlier and cheaper are a couple of reasons why their health outcomes are better than ours.
Then why do we accept such a system? If you had an employee that spent more on delivering a service and doing it not so well, you’d show him the door.
Sen. Kanavas says the free market will be our savior. Unlike Canadian health care, we don’t have proof that this form of faux populist empowerment is going to work as well. Look no further than the recent subprime mortgage blow-up, which right now is a real threat to our economy. People basically didn’t know what they were getting into with these mortgages and now many will be losing their homes, sucking down with them the financial institutions.
Look at the recent Medicare Part D scheme, which was to empower senior citizens. For a population who can get anxious over details, this has been a labyrinth nightmare. I know a professor at a university hospital, and she says she can’t hack her way through the plan for her mother.
We are stuck with our health care because the for-profit health care interests basically got to the politicians before the people and are doing it often. So how did Canada do it?
Clancy said it got rolling with a meeting of 72 people in Saskatchewan. From there, the movement snowballed and one of their political leaders, Tommy Douglas, took up the cause. By 1962, the province passed universal health care, and in 1966, it was Canada-wide.
Of course, the insurance companies howled this would be the death of Canada’s health care and economy. Last I checked, both are still functioning and in fact, if the value of the dollar is any indication, their economy is doing better than ours – no doubt in part because Canada got smart on health care.
I’m not against profit, just against one sector making it harder for others to make it.
The State Senate offered up the Healthy Wisconsin plan. Though not perfect and in need of some work, this is a bold step that would bring the reform people want and need.
Like Saskatchewan, the Badger State could lead the way to universal health care for the rest of the country. We’ve done it before by activating many programs for the good of this country, and we could do it again.
Keith Schmitz provides business-to-business public relations in Milwaukee and is chairman of Grassroots Northshore, a progressive political group.
