In Canada, the wait for routine hip replacements that happen within a few weeks in the U.S. is apparently 15 months--well, they promised 15 months, but 3 years after the diagnosis of operable damage to the hip, a Canadian is still waiting to hear back from their government health authorities. Thankfully, she was able to go to Lithuania to get it done last fall.
One wonders how many Canadians are on disability because their national health service isn't getting these important "quality of life" operations done, and what the cost is because these people cannot work.
On a related note, socialized healthcare may be partly to blame for the death of our family friend Sam Perry. His death came after a large heart attack and about a week in an NHS hospital, but I did not hear anything about stents, open heart surgery, or other treatments typically used in the U.S. to improve the life chances of cardiac patients. In fact, I'm pretty sure this played a role, as 25% of cardiac patients in the UK wait over four months for these life-saving procedures.
Yes, bypass surgery and stents are expensive, but let's consider the alternatives. And of course, Putin delenda est!
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