Reply to "So you want health care like in Canada? They can't even pronounce their letter "O""

While browsing through my classmates’ blogs to look for an interesting blog to comment on, I came across a blog titled Getting Personal With My Government with an article titled So you want health care like in Canada? They can't even pronounce their letter "O".  First of all, what piqued my interest the most was: What would pronouncing the letter “O” have to do with healthcare?  As I read on, I thought that Canada being a developed country as it is, and many other developed countries in Europe that also have universal healthcare, must have some degree of legitimacy in their decision to offer universal healthcare.  After all, they all are democratic countries.  The majority of the citizens like it and prefer it, otherwise it wouldn’t be there.  So how can such a large number of people and countries choose something so absurd?   

So, I did some research on the comparison between Canada’s healthcare and the U.S.’, and boy was I in for a surprise.  Though both sides have valid arguments, the author of the above-mentioned blog overlooked some key issues in her argument in favor of privatized healthcare.  In an article titled Battle of Health Care Systems: Canada vs. United States written by Nicole Callsen, here is what I found:

1.       49 million Americans have no insurance.

2.       The U.S. is the only developed country where its citizens can become bankrupt due to healthcare costs.

3.       Some 700,000 American citizens go bankrupt every year due to their inability to pay medical bills.

4.       In 2006, some 19% of Americans under the age of 65 did not seek medical treatment due to the heavy costs of medical care.

5.       Canada’s population is overall healthier.

6.       The life expectancy rates of both males and females are higher in Canada: the men’s rate is 77.4 years, and the women’s life expectancy is 82.4 years. On the other hand, the United States’ rate for men is 74.8 years and for women it is 80.1 years (Healthcare Care System Grudge Match, October 2007).

7.       Fewer Canadians are obese and fewer have heart and other health related diseases.

8.       Canada spends less than 10% of its GDP on healthcare, while the U.S. spends 15%, and still 700,000 Americans suffer bankruptcy due to healthcare costs.

         Callsen states that though the U.S. is technologically more advanced than Canada in medicine and healthcare, only the wealthy are able to benefit from it.  One Ipsos poll concluded that Canada leads on affordability and access while the U.S. is ahead on availability.

My question to the author of this blog is: Do we just ignore the 49 million uninsured Americans?

Works Cited

O’Neill, June, O’Neill, Dave. “Health Care System Grudge Match: Canada vs. U.S.” Oct. 2007. Web. Healthcare—economist.com

Callse, Nicole. Battle of Health Care Systems: Canada vs. United States. Retrieved April 12, 2012 from http://www.interesting-health-facts.com/2010/01/battle-of-health-care-systems-canada-vs.html

U.S. vs. Canadian Healthcare: Poll Compares Citizens’ Experience as Patients. Retrieved April 12, 2012 from http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=4467