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Dr. David J. Demko, Editor-in-Chief AgeVenture News Service, Boca Raton, Florida 06-21-07 |
 Canadian Shirley Healey required "urgent" surgery on her blocked artery. Canadian health care scheduled her "urgent" surgery to occur in four months' time.
Ontario resident Lindsay McCreith needed a "critical" MRI on his cancerous brain tumor. That "critical" procedure was scheduled to occur in four months' time. Welcome to the Canadian health care system, a so-called "model" for modern medicine. That model health care system forced both these gravely ill Canadians to cross the border into the United States, where they received life-saving treatment within days, not months. Maybe the moral of this story is that Canada is a great place to vacation when you're tired, but don't get SICK and tired. For that, you're better off back home in the good ol' USA. These and other tragic health crisis episodes are featured on-line at FreeMarketCure.com, a new film website dedicated to educating the public about health care. Sponsored by the Moving Picture Institute (MPI), FreeMarketCure.com debates whether the government can and should manage your personal health care. Created by MPI fellow Stuart Browning, FreeMarketCure.com features short films challenging the myths and realities of health care in Canada and the U.S. The web site also plans to host commentary by experts on health policy, medicine, and health care finance. FreeMarketCare.com says it hopes to debunk the many inaccurate claims that Michael Moore makes in his film, Sicko. "Moore is promoting the myth that government-run health care is a magic bullet," Browning says. "But the facts just don't support his claims. People need to have a rounded understanding of the issues. Only then can we hope to have a meaningful debate about what kinds of reforms will actually work." Browning's films recounts how Canada's government controlled health care is a dysfunctional system of long waiting lists for critical care, where private health insurance is illegal, and where frustrated patients must often take matters into their own hands, crossing the border into the U.S. in order to get the timely, quality care they need. "As our national debate about health care heats up, it's crucial to distinguish between the facts and the spin," Browning says. "Canada is facing a health care crisis ... but you won't hear about that from those who argue that America should resolve its health care woes by modeling itself after the Canadian and Cuban systems." In my opinion, the Cuban health care system appears far superior to Canada. Refugees have often confided to me that one thing they do miss is the excellent health care they received in Cuba. That free health care system, however, is available only to those willing to live under the iron rule of Castro's Cuba, a place where a worker's monthly salary is less than what Americans spend on lunch every day. Moore's Sicko is one side of the health care debate. But, as the philosopher Spinoza liked to say, "No matter how thin you slice something there are still two sides." FreeMarketCure.com is the proverbial other side of the story. Definitely worth a look if you are the kind of person who would rather think for yourself than have someone else do the thinking for you. Castro insists on doing all the thinking for the Cuban people ... quite a task for a man who doesn't appear to have a brain. MPI is a non-profit film production and distribution organization dedicated to promoting human freedom through film. It is based in the Tribeca Film Center in New York City. AgeVenture News Service welcomes opposing points of view. Submissions may be edited for content and length. |
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