Canadian HealthCare

Canada has a population smaller than the state of California. Yet its socialized medicine is administered at the provincial level -- not at the federal level. (Whereas the United States, with its huge population, the ObamaCare will be administered at the federal level.)

Each province of Canada has its own version of "Medicare-for-all." In British Columbia, every individual (whose annual income is $28,000 or greater) must pay a flat-tax premium of $57.00 per month -- regardless of age. In Alberta, there is no premium, but merely a progressive tax based solely on income -- again no discrimination based on age. (Under ObamaCare, the mandated insurance will allow insurance rates to be three times higher for the 50's + age group versus the 20's age group.)

In all the provinces of Canada, the "Medicare-for-all" covers for basic healthcare, routine doctor visits and  emergency care. It does not cover optional procedures (like plastic surgery) nor does it cover prescription drugs (except for seniors, who do get drug coverage.) But employers often provide supplemental insurance. These employer-provided plans are often "Cadillac plans," where they can include things like massage therapy and fitness clubs.

Via my interviews with many Canadian citizens, medical clinics for "emergency care" tend to get overcrowded with young families having only minor ailments (like the common cold). Waits in Ontario can last for 3 to 6 hours.

Primary care doctors and surgeons (covered under the government) are forbidden to privately contract with patients. In other words, patients are not allowed to pay those doctors for personal care.

For things like hip-replacement surgery, it may be a wait of several months. But wealthier Canadians often travel to the United States or to Europe to privately contract with a hospital and pay cash out-of-pocket ... to "jump the line" and get instant surgery. (But doing that inside Canada would be strictly forbidden.)

When ObamaCare gets fully implemented in the United States, healthcare would become two-tiered. The U.S. citizens would be stuck in overcrowded waiting rooms; healthcare will be rationed -- especially for seniors. But the ruling class elites will be able to "jump the line" by traveling to Panama or Costa Rica for first-class healthcare down there. Whereas swelling numbers of ordinary Americans will be stuck in the U.S.A. within the Medicaid ghetto.

But ObamaCare will be worse than Canadian care, in that the 50's + age group would be discriminated by their age via the higher "tax" they'd be forced to pay (otherwise known as an insurance premium.) This reduces the saving potential for that age group as they approach retirement. They'd be trapped in poverty.

Whether it's Canadian healthcare, ObamaCare, RomneyCare or Medicare ... they all are based on the model of  "Third-party Payer." The ordinary citizen does not have an incentive to economize. Whereas the healthcare monopolies become hooked to this arrangement of easy profit, guaranteed by the government.

Under ObamaCare (and because of the "certificate of need" regulations), hospitals are going to be "too-big-to-fail" ... just like AIG and the investment banks of Wall Street. This will be horrible for the healthcare consumer. Welcome to our future nightmare.