Poll Shows Canadians Happy With Health Care

Despite a blitz of TV ads here that make you think our neighbors to the north are basically dying in the streets or storming the border to get access to American hospitals, two new online polls show that Canadians are generally satisfied with their 'single-payer' model of health-care.

Canadians were much more likely than Americans to say that they had access to the health care services they needed at prices that they could afford. Canadians were frustrated over how well their system provided access to medical specialists - one area where the American system fared markedly better. But when it came to general access to the health care system 65% of Canadians (basically two-thirds) said they had the access the care they needed at a price they could afford, a claim only 49% of Americans made. And when you break responses down on the American side according to levels of wealth, you find that only 37% percent of Americans earning under $50,000 per year think they can afford needed health care.

Opponents of health care reform in America have slammed the Canadian system, saying that it puts bureaucrats in charge of dispensing medical care (and here I can only assume these people have never dealt with a private insurance company - I once fought for more than a year with my then insurance carrier over paying for a simple doctor's visit). But, a few dramatic TV testimonials aside, it seems like Canadians are generally happy with how they do medical coverage.