As an independent life insurance broker, I have never been aksed the question about comparing the ups and downs of the Canadian & US health care system more times than now, when the US congress is considering a huge change concerning the system. Certainly both of them have many faults, but the whoopers I sometimes encounter regarding the Canadian health care system, well, that's a bit too much. Let's have a look at some of them.

"The Canadian health system is much more costly than the American system."

To begin with, there is this cost-related myth. Compare the numbers yourself: US spends 15% of GDP, leaving at least 15 percent of its population without any coverage, while Canada spends 10 percent of its GDP, covering 100% of its population. An example from 2005 illustrate that the Americans spent US$6,401 per capita, which is almost 2 times more than the Canadian expenditures.

"The government in Canada is in control of everything: they make a decision who gets the treatment."

That's totally wrong: the only people in charge of these decisions are in fact the physicians. Unlike in the States, where no matter what you doctor thinks - if your insurance administrator says you're not getting it, because it's too expensive, then that's it.

"You pay much more than the basic insurance anyway, because it doesn't cover all the procedures."

The rules regulating the insurance's inclusion comes from the provincial government. Generally speaking, doctor's fees and all the hospital procedures are covered. Mostly various medical equipment and also vision and dental care are not. Because all these extras can be quite well averaged (all the really expensive costs are covered by the national insurance), some private plans are offered (i.e. FlexCare Program from Manulife) with low-cost premiums to cover them. To summarize, to get the same level of service in the USA as in Canada, the Americans have to pay so much more. The system is simply running better in Canada.

"The biggest problem with the Canadian system are the long waits. In fact, many Canadians choose to get treated in the US so that they don't have to wait."

The infamous wait concerns mostly a specialist treatment (up to 1 month because of the staff shortages - the US have a similar situation). Of course the times required for selective surgery could be even longer. But if you need an acute treatment, you get it fast. And, unlike in the US, noone cares whether you're rich or poor. For example, if you cannot get acute care you need (i.e. surgery) and you cannot get it as fast as it is medically required, you will most likely be sent to the US - at the expense of the state insurance. Only those Canadians who pay out of pocket for their treatment in the US wish to get the treatment faster than their doctor finds necessary.

"The physicians are employed by the Canadian government. And the government chooses the physicians for you!"

Not true. The physicians have, just like in the US, their private practises, and only have to handle one insurer, which is the provincial government. And of course you can pick the doctor yourself.