This doesn't mean a single thing. Look at biggest GDP per capita countries; mostly tiny countries and anomalies. I'd say we're doing pretty solidly here in Murrika. Either way, the fundamental thought is wrong. Canada's system isn't objectively better. Its easier to access for everyone, but harder to snag a seat in the doctor's office if you have something bugging you and are willing to put your clams down to get your worries cleared up. Its plain to see that the medical advancements in the U.S. (pharmaceuticals for one) are much greater than that of Canada. Not to mention the fact that it is very possible to get [insurance] coverage here, you just need to have the right mind to get it before you need to use it. Like I've said before, there's no free lunch in the real world. The money for your treatments have to come from someones wallet.
And personally, I'd rather not be the one paying. Call me an asshole. I'll see how well your medicare goes on the commune.
First off, you're not an asshole, you're just selfish.
Second off, while Canada's system might be as effective as the US's system, countries like Australia, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom do have better systems.
Findings in this report confirm many of the findings from the earlier two editions of Mirror, Mirror. The U.S. ranks last of six nations overall. As in the earlier editions, the U.S. ranks last on indicators of patient safety, efficiency, and equity. New Zealand, Australia, and the U.K. continue to demonstrate superior performance, with Germany joining their ranks of top performers. The U.S. is first on preventive care, and second only to Germany on waiting times for specialist care and non-emergency surgical care, but weak on access to needed services and ability to obtain prompt attention from physicians.
Any attempt to assess the relative performance of countries has inherent limitations. These rankings summarize evidence on measures of high performance based on national mortality data and the perceptions and experiences of patients and physicians. They do not capture important dimensions of effectiveness or efficiency that might be obtained from medical records or administrative data. Patients' and physicians' assessments might be affected by their experiences and expectations, which could differ by country and culture.
The findings indicate room for improvement across all of the countries, especially in the U.S. If the health care system is to perform according to patients' expectations, the nation will need to remove financial barriers to care and improve the delivery of care. Disparities in terms of access to services signal the need to expand insurance to cover the uninsured and to ensure that all Americans have an accessible medical home. The U.S. must also accelerate its efforts to adopt health information technology and ensure an integrated medical record and information system that is accessible to providers and patients.
While many U.S. hospitals and health systems are dedicated to improving the process of care to achieve better safety and quality, the U.S. can also learn from innovations in other countries?including public reporting of quality data, payment systems that reward high-quality care, and a team approach to management of chronic conditions. Based on these patient and physician reports, the U.S. could improve the delivery, coordination, and equity of the health care system by drawing from best practices both within the U.S. and around the world.
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2007/May/Mirror--Mirror-on-the-Wall--An-International-Update-on-the-Comparative-Performance-of-American-Healt.aspx#citation___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now on the topic of the federal budget, I think if the US cut from the Defense budget and put that cut into the Education and Science budget, it would benefit Americans more, and would be a better investment.
