Canuck Gal

The Essence of REAL Universal Coverage and Why Americans Need It

A brilliant, briliant description by Dr. Carolyn at the noquarter blog of what life is like in a health care crisis in a country with and without universal health care.

In part (emphasis is mine):

“I am near the end of another busy shift in a major Canadian emergency department. The nurse in charge asks me to see two women in the minor care area – a daughter and her elderly mother. Both of them are in tears and pale with fear. I go into the room that they are in and immediately observe the elderly mother is holding her acutely swollen wrist. I am not surprised that she is crying; however, her daughter’s tears take me aback. The first words out of her daughter’s mouth are that they are American and do not have insurance. They were visiting our city and her mother slipped on the water front pier, badly injuring her wrist.

In Canada, we have the “Canada Health Act” which requires that all residents of a province or territory [Canada] be accepted for health coverage. This means that every Canadian, regardless of the amount of money they have, receives quality healthcare that is within their financial means. Everyone is covered. If someone genuinely cannot afford healthcare, they are covered by the province’s social assistance program.

Not fully grasping the extent of what not having health insurance in America means, I begin assessing the mother. Immediately, I offer her something for pain before she heads off for an x-ray. Her response again puzzles me: “How much will that cost”?

I have no idea. I just show up for work and do that best job that I can. I, like many of my colleagues, are oblivious to the costs because cost is not an issue for Canadian patients. Before the patient allows me to do anything, she insists that I find out what she will be charged. In this particular emergency department, foreign patients who visit the hospital are charged up front. In this case, I manage to wave all costs because the thought of contributing to someone’s financial ruin in the name of compassionate healthcare is too disturbing for me to comprehend.

When I go home that night, I still feel nauseated by what I observed.

I witnessed patients who were too sick to be transferred denied surgery or advanced care because the hospital would not get reimbursed.

This begs the question: Why aren’t Americans demanding affordable and compassionate quality healthcare for everyone?

The only candidate in the 2008 Presidential Election who has significant experience and expertise in reforming America’s healthcare system is Senator Hillary Clinton. Keep in mind that I am a Canadian physician. I have nothing to gain by endorsing anyone. I am writing this letter because I never want to see a patient like the elderly woman who broke her wrist in tears because of fear, and not pain, again. No one should be denied quality healthcare. Becoming ill or injured should not become a point of financial sacrifice or ruin.”

Bravo, Dr. Carolyn.