I am originally from Canada spending most of my youth in Saskatchewan.   Saskatchewan was one of the first places in the world to create socialized medicine through a system known as medicare.  This was later adopted by the entire country.   I grew up with socialized medicine as the norm and now live in a country without.   It is with great interest that I watch the candidates line up for the next presidential election discussing the possibilities of free health care for all.  It spooks me when they say Canada is a good model to follow.

Medicare I believe worked well in its early days, but with an aging population it is now bursting with very long waiting lists.  Surgery and catscans have long waiting lists for even the most critical procedures.  Emergency rooms are often used for convenience sake for basic diagnosis.  The experience with this makes me wonder a bit about people who say, "Give us what Canada has" if they really know what they are asking about.

My father is a textbook example in many year battle against Cancer.   I believe that he has survived with a positive attitude, perseverance and in spite of the Canadian system.  In order to get into the system for catscans he would fly to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and pay .  My Dad suffers from chronic pain due to the countless surgeries that have been performed on him over the years to remove the cancer.  Today is another one of those days and we're waiting for him to go into surgery, but there are no beds.  So in order to expedite things my Dad is camped out in an Emergency ward in Canada (at his doctors advice) waiting for a bed to open up so he can have some important surgery.   This is the only option for him to get in for surgery without waiting another 6-8 weeks.  

I believe that if Canada had a two-tier system maybe the system wouldn't be so overloaded.  I believe all folks should get health care, but those that can afford it should have to pay via insurance or self funding.

So food for thought when you hear about promises of universal health care for all in the upcoming elections.  When folks present Canada as an ideal system to follow, look closely at the system being proposed and ask questions.  Be careful what you wish for.