Bernie Sanders Went to Canada and Learned a Few Things

Margot Sanger-Katz @sangerkatz NOV. 2, 2017

Excerpts:

Many developed countries have achieved universal health coverage, but Canada is relatively distinct in its insistence that individuals should not have to pay any money at the point of care. When Canadians go to the doctor or hospital, they just show their Canadian “Medicare” card. There are no alternatives to the government system, which means that there’s no way for patients with more money to get faster or better care in Canada.

Several patients told him about the comfort that comes from not having to pay for their care directly. And doctors, too, said they felt more comfortable recommending their patients get an operation or see a specialist than they might if those treatments weren’t free.

“What I think stuck out to me was from both the patients and the physicians, the importance of not having to worry about money in terms of the doctor-patient relationship,” he said in an interview after his trip on Tuesday.

Equity. Fairness. Throughout the weekend, Mr. Sanders kept asking Canadians what they thought about the higher taxes they’d paid to finance their system. Every one among the patients and doctors selected to meet him said the trade-off was worth it because it made the system fair.

“I think it’s a really fair way to do it,” said Frederick Brownridge, 67, of Etobicoke, Ontario, as he sat by the window in his Toronto General Hospital room, with I.V. lines in his arms. Mr. Brownridge had had two heart valves repaired and a double bypass three days earlier. “It also means if you’re in a lower economic status or higher economic status, you’ll get the treatment you need.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/upshot/bernie-sanders-went-to-canada-and-learned-a-few-things.html



Bernie Sanders at Toronto General Hospital. He drew crowds wherever he went. Credit Aaron Vincent Elkaim for The New York Times