The Blue Ribbon Commission on National Health Insurance will present a "Report" to the Prime Minister on Monday, May 10, 2004. The meeting coincides with the latest report on Canadian Health Care from The Fraser Institute released on May 6, 2004.
A portion of the Press release from The Fraser Institute follows:
" Canada spends more on health care than any other industrialized country providing universal access, yet ranks low in access to care according to a new study, How Good is Canadian health Care: An International Comparison of Health Care Systems (2004 Report), released today by The Fraser Institute."
"Although Canada, along with Iceland, spends the most on and age-adjusted basis on health care among OECD nations, our system produces inferior access to physicians and technology, produces longer waiting times, is less successful in reducing deaths from preventable causes, and costs more than other systems that have comparable objectives." Said Nedeem Esmail, co-author and senior health policy analyst at the Institute.
"Given the current debate on health care reform we must look at incorporating successful policies from other countries, such as cost sharing and competition, if we want to fix our ailing health care system," Esmail pointed out. "Clearly Canada should emulate these more successful models."
The full pdf report is available at The Fraser Institute web site or by clicking this link. The full press release is available by clicking this link.
The message for The Bahamas is that the Canadian system is broken, and the Blue Ribbon Commission will do well to learn the lessons before recommending a government run program for The Bahamas.
