2 ms·

source? I know dozens that went to the US for treatments. Some even took out second mortgages because it was a choice between languishing on a waiting list wit

source? I know dozens that went to the US for treatments. Some even took out second mortgages because it was a choice between languishing on a waiting list with a heart condition that can kill you, or getting it fixed next week.

arcticbull 6y ago
I suspect their new insolvency created a different kind of heart condition. One way of deriving this is the cost of an average hip replacement in the US is $100,000 USD ($128K CAD) - how many Canadians have a spare house kicking around to finance a hip? Probably not that many. Further, this paper, [1] and this write-up [2]. If you actually read the policy brief on which your article was based [3] you'll find a few interesting things. For one, they acknowledge that this travel includes traveling for non-covered procedures like cosmetic plastic surgery. It also implies snowbirds are not covered in this data, but then acknowledges in the next line that they probably are too but they don't have actual breakdowns other than their own "knowledge" that people are leaving due to wait times. "The federal agency wasn’t able to provide a breakdown of patients seeking medically-necessary procedures and those leaving Canada for cosmetic surgery." This feels like important information to know. I find this paper incomplete and un-compelling. With that said I did find this statement in the second street brief pretty funny: "While health care debate in Canada often focuses on comparing our current system with the United States, readers should note that the Commonwealth Fund report ranked the United States 11th out of the 11 countries it examined." [1] https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.21.3.19 https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.21.3.19 [2] https://www.vox.com/2016/10/9/13222798/canadians-seeking-medical-care-us-trump-debate https://www.vox.com/2016/10/9/13222798/canadians-seeking-med... [3] https://www.secondstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Policy-Brief-Flight-of-the-Sick.pdf https://www.secondstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Poli...

arcticbull 6y ago

I suspect their new insolvency created a different kind of heart condition. One way of deriving this is the cost of an average hip replacement in the US is $100,000 USD ($128K CAD) - how many Canadians have a spare house kicking around to finance a hip? Probably not that many. Further, this paper, [1] and this write-up [2]. If you actually read the policy brief on which your article was based [3] you'll find a few interesting things. For one, they acknowledge that this travel includes traveling for non-covered procedures like cosmetic plastic surgery. It also implies snowbirds are not covered in this data, but then acknowledges in the next line that they probably are too but they don't have actual breakdowns other than their own "knowledge" that people are leaving due to wait times. "The federal agency wasn’t able to provide a breakdown of patients seeking medically-necessary procedures and those leaving Canada for cosmetic surgery." This feels like important information to know. I find this paper incomplete and un-compelling. With that said I did find this statement in the second street brief pretty funny: "While health care debate in Canada often focuses on comparing our current system with the United States, readers should note that the Commonwealth Fund report ranked the United States 11th out of the 11 countries it examined." [1] https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.21.3.19 https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.21.3.19 [2] https://www.vox.com/2016/10/9/13222798/canadians-seeking-medical-care-us-trump-debate https://www.vox.com/2016/10/9/13222798/canadians-seeking-med... [3] https://www.secondstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Policy-Brief-Flight-of-the-Sick.pdf https://www.secondstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Poli...