SOHC : data (part 3)

Continuing...some data I have gleaned from various sources on Canadian versus American health care:

WAIT TIMES:
24% of Canadians waited 4 hours or more in the ER, versus 12% in the US
57% of Canadians waited 4 weeks or more to see a specialist, versus 23% in the US
21% of Canadian Hospital Administrators said it would take over three weeks to do a biopsy for possible breast cancer on a 50 YO woman, versus less than 1% of American hospital administrators.
50% of Canadian hospital administrators said it would take over 60 months for a 65 YO to undergo routine hip replacement surgery, versus none of their American counterparts.

MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS:
Canada has fewer doctors per capita than the US--the US has 2.4 doctors per 1,000 people, while Canada has 2.2. (2005)
Many Canadian physicians go to the US for post-graduate training in medical residencies, since new and cutting-edge sub-specialties are often more widely available in the U.S. as opposed to Canada.

TECHNOLOGY
2004: Canada had 4.6 MRI scanners per 1 million people; the US had 19.5 million. Canada has 10.3 CT scanners per million people--the US has 29.5 million.

MONOPSONY--outlawing private medical care for services covered by the public health plan.
--Those with non-emergency illness such as cancercannot pay out of pocket for time-sensitive surgeries and must wait their turn on waiting lists.
--The Canadian Supreme Court ruled in 2005 (Chaoulli v. Quebec that waiting list delays "increase the patient's risk of mortality or the risk that his or her injuries will become irreparable." This ruling is expected to lead to greater privatization efforts.

Do we STILL think that this is the way to go? Cancer patients being put on waiting lists for surgeries and chemo? More than four months to see a specialist? Fewer than 5 MRI scanners for every million people in the country? Being unable to have a surgery when you need it, even if you can pay for it, because the government says no???