Unlike the private enterprise model,which is the
foundation of the U.S.health care system,Canada has a health care system based
on different principles:1) Universality:everyone is covered.2)
Portability:people can move from province to province and from job to job,or be
unemployed,and they will still be covered.3) Comprehensiveness:the plan covers
all medically necessary treatment.4) Public administration:the system is
pub-icly run and publicly accountable. Since 1947 Canada has
had a tax-supported health care system in which every Canadian is covered for
the costs of all medically necessary services.Under this plan,each citizen is
issued a health card by the government,which is presented when health care is
received.Using tax money,the government pays back physicians and hospitals,based
on a fee schedule determined by the government,not the market.The keys are that
the health services are paid for by the government and all Canadians have equal
access to the care they need.Canadians can select any doctor they like.The plan
is a“single payer” plan,with the doctors hilling the provincial insurance plans
directly (the government of each Canadian province pays the medical bills of its
citizens).For patients,there are no bills,claim forms,fees,and long waits for
compensations from insurance carriers. The key difference
between the Canadian system and that in the United States is that“in Canada
health care is considered a social right,while in the United States it is
treated more like a commodity”. The usual arguments against
such a plan are that it is inefficient and costly.In Canada’s case, health care
is administered more efficiently,at less cost,and with better results,than the
health care system in the United States.The results,as measured by infant
mortality and life expectancy,show that Canada is ahead of the United
States.Administrative costs are less in Canada (about one-fourth of
U.S.administrative expenses for physicians,hospitals,and insurance
companies). The Canadian health care system is not
perfect.Canadians have less access than Americans to the latest technological
innovations.There may be waits for those not needing immediate surgeries.But
despite some small problems,most Canadians like their health care system.A
Gallup Poll in 1991 revealed,for example,that 91 percent of Canadians rated
their health care system better than that in the United States,compared to only
26 percent of Americans who felt their system was superior to that in
Canada. What is the author’s attitude toward the U.S.health care system?
A. Prejudiced.
B. Critical.
C. Sympathetic.
D. Approving.