Canadian Premier's Heart Surgery Plans Raise Questions About Health Care Surgery, Premier, Raise, Health, Care

快樂牛郎

Thursday, February 04, 2010  
By Jessica Ryen Doyle

A prominent Canadian politician’s decision to undergo heart surgery in the U.S. has touched off a debate about national health care in his own country.

At the center of controversy is Danny Williams, premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. Williams’ decision to head south across the border for his surgery is drawing fire from defenders of the Canadian health-care system – a favorite example for proponents of a government-run health care in the U.S.

Williams, a millionaire and former lawyer, left Canada on Monday to seek treatment at an unspecified hospital in the U.S. It is not clear what kind of surgery he’ll undergo, though Newfoundland Deputy Premier Kathy Dunderdale said that having the surgery in the province was not an option.

So what about a hospital in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver?

"Virtually all forms of cardiac surgery are looked after in Canada, and I would say extremely well," Dr. Chris Feindel, a cardiac surgeon at Toronto's University Health Network told the National Post. "Personally ... I would have my cardiac surgery done in Canada, no matter what resources I had at my disposal."

Feindel was quick to point out that U.S. patients have come to UHN's Peter Munk Cardiac Centre for valve repairs.

Canadian Sen. Wilbert Keon, a retired heart surgeon and professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa, told the Toronto Sun that Newfoundland does not have the kind of "post-surgery technical support to allow all advanced complicated procedures to be performed there."

But, "I can’t imagine anything that couldn’t be done in Canada that is done in America," he told the newspaper.

"Virtually all" complex heart surgeries could be performed Ottawa’s Heart Institute, as well as medical centers in Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton, Keon told the Sun.

Dr. Marc Siegel, an internist and Fox News contributor disagreed with Feindel and Keon.

"You would not find a U.S. governor going to Canada for surgery," Siegel said. "We’d be putting our quality of care at risk if we went to a single-payer system like Canada."

Siegel said if the U.S. does move to a universal health care system, people wanting the "crème de la crème" in medicine would probably have to go elsewhere.

"It is quite possible that the procedure he is getting is so specialized that the top doctors doing it are to be found only in the U.S.," Siegel said.

There also is the possibility that Williams has private health insurance, which may or may not have been accepted at Canadian hospitals.

"I would expect that he is eligible for all the rest of us would be in terms of our own private insurance or government insurance, and I’m sure there’s anything over and above that, the premier would certainly take care of it himself," Dunderdale told the Press.

Williams’ recovery is expected to take three to 12 weeks, Dunderdale said.

快樂牛郎

Exactly.  Those who have money should be able to receive top notch medical care with fast turnaround.  The poor can have less wait time at the hospital.

I guess the argument is, will all good doctors work in private hospitals in this case?  The answer will likely be yes, but as everything else in life, the more money you have the better quality you get.  It doesn't make sense for the poor to get the same quality of health care as the rich do.

快樂牛郎

I think it's ok to have private within some level of controls by the government.  One of the key thing is that I still think people who take advantage of our inexpensive education, should serve in Can ...
chobit 發表於 2010/2/4 17:01

Are you talking about me? Or maybe yourself?  LOL

快樂牛郎

may be do it this way, rich people also pay more but the money is reinvest to the system instead going to the doctors.
In this case, no doctor will go to private sector and we still get more money to ...
sheep 發表於 2010/2/4 17:44

No, because without additional incentives the good docs will not want to work over time for those who are willing to pay.

I know some docs who would work 14 hours a day if they can get better pays.

快樂牛郎

Even in the US, most doctors are overly booked.  Therefore, you always have to pay more if you want faster service.

快樂牛郎

So how about a certain percentage of fees are contributed back to the public system?
sheep 發表於 2010/2/4 21:21

If you work longer and earn a higher pay, you pay more taxes.  Since healthcare funding comes straight from general revenue, this is already a contribution.

That's why those people on welfare are so disgusting because they just want to ask for more dollars from the government when all they have done throughout their lives is just leeching off the high income earners.