What Does a Good Health-Care System Look Like?
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Last week I asked, “What’s been your experience with the health-care system and what lessons have you drawn?”
Dennis kicks us off with a near-death experience:
I was young and foolish. I drove a motorcycle into the side of a car in 1980. After four-plus operations, [losing] 80-plus pints of blood, the removal of my gall bladder and most of my liver, two and a half months in the hospital, lots of infections and complications, and several more months of care, I recovered. It was intense and amazing, and since my union-member parents’ insurance paid for it, possible. I turned 23 in the hospital. I have never lost a scar contest.
The American health-care system saved my life. But my experience shows that it is not the best system in North America. I moved to Canada at 40. Now I can see my doctor at will and at no cost. Thankfully I have not needed the level of care in Canada that I required 42 years ago, but I know several cancer survivors who have had serious needs, and all have been well served, no worries about the cost. It’s better, it’s fair, it’s less stressful, and overall, it’s cheaper.
Since I’m now over 65, I’d be covered in the U.S. under a roughly equivalent system, Medicare. There is no good reason for Americans to wait 65 years each to get publicly funded health care.
Jaleelah gives harsher reviews to Canada’s health-care system:
Last fall, I struggled with disordered eating. After moving cities, I ate less than one meal a day. I experienced overwhelming nausea at the thought of cooking breakfast or going to dinner with friends. As a result, it became hard to live my life. I barely had enough energy to get out of bed, let alone attend my classes or see my friends. I entered a feedback loop where my lack of energy for grocery shopping and cooking made
