Health Care

I have not seen Michael Moore's movie Sicko about the lack of health care in the United States, but I am sure it is suitably biting. With 45 million uninsured Americans, there is matter for concern. The reviews I have read also mention that he makes much of the Canadian system of universal care which, we are told, he much favors ( and won't get). The insurance companies are not about to roll over and die, there are only so many Harvard med school graduates to go around, and so forth.

What is the system like in Canada, and are there some aspects of that system that could transfer. It is true that there are long waits for many surgical procedures. That is because there are only so many hospital beds 'open' at any one time, only so many operating rooms 'in business'. And the high-end expertise often gets hired away to the U.S. It's like being on a budget, or a diet. Because the demand for health services can easily get out of hand. But a child who has been waiting for a long time for an organ transplant gets his picture in the papers, or a fund gets put together so that someone in need with a rare condition can get care elsewhere. Those are our limits.

I once read somewhere that the old need to be old the way the young need to be young. That is they need to express their condition of maturity, need to be recognized for what they are experiencing. Those at end-of-life need company, need to talk about dying. Surely all that need not be medicalized.

Pregnant women need to be medically cared for, reminded of the dos and don't. Given vitamins and food vouchers.

I, personally, am a great consumer of health information. And diet and exercise. And trends in mental health care. And the latest beauty products. The New York Times sends me a health feed every week. It all comes with my Internet connection.

American statistics in any field are often misleading because there are sub-populations that account for almost all the down-end figures (and mask just how well-off the non-minorities are). It is not always the Blacks, although it might be for something like teen pregnancy. There are also regional differences (like anybody who doesn't live in the greater Boston area). Michael Moore comes from a relatively isolated part of the country which might well be experiencing a shortage of medical personnel. American political discourse just doesn't cover that kind of issue.

It would be a pity if, given the present configuration of candidates for the Presidency, improvements in the delivery of heath care could not be agreed on. Many Americans are feeling left out.