The government followed his advice, leading to his modern-day moniker: "the father of Quebec medicare." Even this title seems modest; Castonguay's work triggered a domino effect across the country, until eventually his ideas were implemented from coast to coast.
>Four decades later, as the chairman of a government committee reviewing Quebec health care this year, Castonguay concluded that the system is in "crisis."
"We thought we could resolve the system's problems by rationing services or injecting massive amounts of new money into it," says Castonguay. But now he prescribes a radical overhaul: "We are proposing to give a greater role to the private sector so that people can exercise freedom of choice"...
What would drive a man like Castonguay to reconsider his long-held beliefs? Try a health care system so overburdened that hundreds of thousands in need of medical attention wait for care, any care; a system where people in towns like Norwalk, Ontario, participate in lotteries to win appointments with the local family doctor.
Just as we're starting down the road to socialism, one of its Canadian pimps has already seen the light.
6 comments:
I have even heard that people have to wait months or even years for necessary surgery. Maybe we can learn a few things from Canadians before it's too late. If not, I might as well order one of those $200 hamburgers from Burger King and just enjoy myself.
*banging head against wall* you can't win, those who need to listen won't, those who are listening already know. There ain't no such things as a free lunch, and there's also no such things as free healthcare. This will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Something I find puzzling is that many of the proponents--of government directed universal health care--frequently criticize government actions and policies. I can only wonder why they think our government will do better on health care than it has on other problems.
Unfortunately, there's a very strong desire to believe that there is such a thing as a free lunch and, if you work it right, there sometimes is. For a while.
But my favorite beef about socialized medicine is that it's inherently unfair.
Nobody expects the prime minister to have to wait months to see a specialist or the prime minister's wife or kids. What about the prime minister's head of security? Or the nanny? The head of the election campaign?
Over time the pressure to dispense favors in the form of preferential treatment can only ramp up as delays increase and access declines.
The process reaches its ultimate expression in an explicit separation between political haves and political have-nots in the form of two tiers of medical care such as is found in Cuba and was found in the Soviet Union.
In 2006 my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and received world-class treatment within days by a team of supportive doctors and nurses within a 30 minute bus ride of our Nottingham home and, yes, it didn't cost us a penny at the time. We had been paying our state National Insurance (NI) tax for over 40 years and never had surgery before. Like everyone else I know in the UK, including my Tory friends, we say 'God Bless the NHS', which we all pay for when we can.
There is no political party in the UK which campaigns to abolish the NHS and wins elections — even the Conservative Party supports the NHS.
The NHS was born of free choice when Labour won the 1945 General Election and we have voted for it ever since. Of course we grouse about how the government runs the NHS and a great many other things as well, but, hey, I'm 64 and I have a free bus pass which takes me anywhere in England for free and a free public park outside my front door and lots of other good public things besides. I say 'free', but I pay for them and lots more besides when I pay my local council tax every year.
Even America practices municipal socialism and, from what I see and read, it does it far better than we do in England, so I'll have some American socialism when it comes to running local councils!
Having had my second rant in eight hours I am going to go and relax watching the Williams sisters play in the women's doubles at Wimbledon and will be very disappointed if they don't win. From now on I'm just going to read your blog and enjoy it. It makes me feel all good and smug inside, so thank you.
And that's what makes you a European and me an American.
I'm glad you like what you have. I wouldn't want it, no way, no how.
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