We need our own Tommy Douglas.......and a greater spirit of collectivism

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“I felt that no boy should have to depend either for his leg or his life upon the ability of his parents to raise enough money to bring a first-class surgeon to his bedside. And I think it was out of this experience, not at the moment consciously, but through the years, I came to believe that health services ought not to have a price tag on them, and that people should be able to get whatever health services they require irrespective of their individual capacity to pay.”

- the late Tommy Douglas, former premier of Saskatchewan and father of universal health care in Canada


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DR. MICHAEL RACHLIS: I think I can say that across the political spectrum in Canada, almost across the political spectrum, we’re quite appalled at the level of the debate in the United States and, in particular, what’s being said about our country’s healthcare system.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, when Tommy Douglas pushed through universal healthcare, single payer, in Saskatchewan, he had a major opponent: the US American Medical Association, who led a strike of Canadian doctors in Saskatchewan. Despite this more than three-week strike, universal healthcare, single-payer system in Canada, was instituted, first in Saskatchewan, then adopted all over. Explain the system as you have it today.

DR. MICHAEL RACHLIS: Yes, and I think that there are many misunderstandings, unfortunately, about our system. And I should make it clear that my intention certainly isn’t to push our system on your country. You’ll have to make your own choices. But I am trying to clear up some of the misconceptions.

Our system evolved over the same time as you were making decisions about your system in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. We initially had hospital insurance in Saskatchewan under Douglas in the 1940s. Then, in 1957, the federal government brought in a hospital insurance program, which led the way for other programs after it, in that our federal government is not responsible for healthcare. It is the provinces, by our constitution. But the federal government provided money to the provinces, if they met certain terms and conditions for their insurance programs. And one of them was universality. All the provinces bought into the federal hospital program in ’57. And then that—because Saskatchewan then had some money from the federal government for their hospital program, they were able to push ahead to medical insurance in 1962, which wasn’t as popular with physicians as the hospital insurance program, which is why, as you mentioned, physicians did go on strike. But the strike was settled. And a federal government royal commission in 1964 recommended a Saskatchewan style of medical insurance for the whole country, and the federal government passed their medical insurance legislation in ’66, enacted it in ’68, and then all provinces had bought in by ’71.

In parallel, in your country, Truman almost launched a national health insurance program in the late ’40s, defeated by a concentrated AMA lobby. And then, in the 1960s, you grappled with whether to go to a universal program, but ended up with two programs for those populations that the private insurance system wouldn’t cover—the elderly and the very poor—your Medicare and Medicaid programs.

So, in Canada, our national health insurance program, again, is a mandate from the federal government that if the provinces want the federal money, they have to meet certain terms and conditions. But as opposed to being so-called socialized medicine like in Britain—excuse me—where the government employs the doctors directly and owns the hospitals through the National Health Service, in Canada almost all doctors are in private practice. And although it varies from province to province, in the largest province, Ontario, with almost 40 percent of the population, all our 160 hospitals are private, although not for-profit, entities.

And the government program pays for care for whatever physician or hospital you choose. And that’s another myth in the US debate these days, that we can’t choose our doctors or hospitals. In fact, we have completely free choice of physicians in this country. And wherever you go, you take your Medicare card with you, and then the government will pay the bill. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/8/18/actor_kiefer_sutherlands_grandfather_tommy_douglas

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1. The Greatest Canadian!

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2. knr - n/t

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3. K&R