Canadian Members on U.S. Health Care Debate: ‘We Watch With Horror and Shock’

No one argues that Canada's system is perfect. But Canadian CWA members say they're fed up with lies from south of the border about government interference, long lines and low quality.  They get good care, never see a bill and that means peace of mind.

A few years ago, a TV show in Canada asked viewers to vote — "American Idol" style — for the "Greatest Canadian." More than a million votes were cast and no one came close to politician and health care reformer Tommy Douglas, known in Canada as the "father of Medicare," the system that ensures every citizen has access to free health care.

Is the Canadian system perfect? Of course not, CWA members in Canada say. But it's not anything like it's been depicted by health care reform opponents in the United States.

"We watch with horror and shock about what goes on south of the border on this issue," said Lise Lareau, president of the 6,000-member Canadian Media Guild, part of The Newspaper Guild-CWA. "Yes, we pick our own doctors. The government isn't involved — other than paying the bill and ensuring that we never have a moment's worry about it. In fact, doctors here have fought successfully over the years to ensure that choices in medical care are made by the doctor and patient and no one else. Where do these myths come from?"

When we asked Canadian CWAers to share their experiences, the results were positive, and realistic. Are there waits? Sure, just like in the United States. The Canadian health care system provides timely, high-quality care that means working families aren't worrying about bills. Read what two CWA members have to say:

An American in Canada: Excellent Care, No Bills

Colin Preston

Colin Preston is an American who moved to Canada in 1977 when he was 30 and now has dual citizenship. He is a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation media librarian and recording secretary for the Canadian Media Guild, part of TNG-CWA.

Between the two countries, he says the biggest difference in health care isn't quality or wait times, it's money.  "Never once has the ability or lack of ability to pay influenced my health care decisions or the care that I got," Preston said.

He might need to make a non-emergency appointment with his doctor a week or so in advance, but if he's sick he gets right in, whether he sees his own physician or another at the clinic.

"There's this idea that the country's rife with people hopelessly waiting," he says. "There can be bottlenecks, but they have to do with shortages of doctors and an aging population, just like in the United States. These are strategic public policy issues, not inherent faults of 'socialized' medicine."

Five years ago, Preston was diagnosed with diabetes and can't say enough good things about his care. "It's been a really affirming experience for me," he says. "My doctor got me right into an outpatient program at the hospital where I worked with an endocrinologist, a nurse, a nutritionist. It was all holistic and integrated."

He never got a bill. Not then, not when his twin sons were born prematurely. Not during his wife's difficult pregnancy. Not when bicycle spills have sent him to the emergency room.

"It's a question of what you value within your society," he says. "Health care is clearly seen as a right here and a public service that we highly value."

Why I'm So Grateful for Our Health Care System

Terri Monture with her parents Belva and Ron

Terri Monture recently joined TNG-CWA's staff in Canada as a representative for human rights and equity.

In 2004, my mother was 64 and in relative good health, managing her Type 2 diabetes with medication and diet. But that March, she developed a severe ear infection that antibiotics wouldn't cure. One morning she was groggy and unresponsive. She had trouble speaking. My father feared it was a stroke. An ambulance rushed her to a rural hospital in southern Ontario, where she was seen immediately.

Just as quickly, doctors sent her to a larger hospital 30 miles away. Within minutes, she was whisked off for an MRI, with neurologists and infectious disease specialists standing by. Tests showed she had developed meningitis and was in critical condition.

High-powered antibiotics seemed to work, until she collapsed three days later from a brain abscess that brought on garbled speech, paralyzed limbs and seizures. Late on a Saturday night, she had another MRI, an EEG and other diagnostic tests, with specialists called in to oversee her care.

Several critical hours passed as they again administered state-of-the-art antibiotics and blood thinners. Once she was stabilized, she needed complicated surgery that involved removing the skull bone above the abscess to relieve swelling and remove infection. Afterwards, she spent four more months in the hospital and another four months in rehabilitation.

One of my aunts, a registered nurse, tallied up the cost of my mother's illness. Between the MRIs and other tests, specialists, drugs, the long hospital stay and the months of physical therapy, she arrived at what I consider the extremely conservative figure of $350,000. The cost to my family for my mother's illness? Zero.

My mother recovered and was able to return to work for a short time before retiring as an elder care facility administrator. She remains healthy, managing her diabetes and taking anti-seizure medicine as a result of her trauma.

I remember sitting with my father late that first critical night, when we were fearing that she would die, and my father saying fervently, "Thank God for Tommy Douglas," the father of Canadian national health care.

It's not just traumatic care that gets the kind of attention I've described. It's the fact that I can walk into any emergency room in the city with my asthmatic son and he is treated on the spot. Or that I was able to take my daughter to one of the best children's hospitals in the world — the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto — when she was having convulsions at 10 months.  They still bring us in for callbacks even though she is a beautiful and healthy 13-year-old.

I fear that in the United States my mother's care could have been delayed and her life risked while we filled out forms, answered questions and worried whether our insurance company would find an excuse not to pay. My parents could have gone bankrupt. They could have lost their home. I am so grateful that in Canada those are problems we never have to worry about.