Comparing US and Canadian wait times, the referral process here seems to be one of the largest contributors to wait times, even as identified by Aetna. BD
What country endures such long waits for medical care that even one of its top insurers recently admitted that care is "not timely" and people "initially diagnosed with cancer are waiting over a month, which is intolerable?"
If you guessed Canada, guess again. The answer is the United States.
Scrambling for a response to the popular reaction to Michael Moore's SiCKO and a renewed groundswell for a publicly-financed, guaranteed health care, single-payer health care solution like HR 676, the big insurers and their defenders have pounced on Canada, pulling out all their old tales of people waiting years in soup kitchen-type lines for medical care.
But, here's the dirty little secret that they won't tell you. Waiting times in the U.S. are as bad as or worse than Canada. And, unlike the U.S., in Canada no one is denied needed medical care, referrals, or diagnostic tests due to cost, pre-existing conditions, or because it wasn't pre-approved.
U.S. waiting times are like the elephant in the room few of the critics care to address. Listen to what the chief medical officer of Aetna had to say in March.
Statistics Canada's latest figures show that median wait times for elective surgery in Canada is now three weeks -- that's less time than Aetna's chief medical officer says Americans typically wait after being diagnosed with cancer.
Canada also has no waits for emergency surgeries. It also doesn't have 44 million people who are uninsured because everyone has a national healthcare card guaranteeing health care from any doctor or hospital they choose. And it doesn't burden those with insurance with rising deductibles or co-pays.
Deborah Burger: Ugly Health Care Waiting Times? Look at the U.S - Politics on The Huffington Post
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