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piranhathose of us who have it hate it! or not. instead we seem to actually be fairly realistic about its benefits and shortcomings.
canadians overwhelmingly support universal health care; think obama is on right track in US. (pdf from nanos research.)
The survey found that nine in ten Canadians support universal health care (90% support or somewhat support), and seven out of ten Canadians believe that President Barack Obama is on the right track with respect to health care in the US (71%). Results were consistent across regions.
When asked what they believed was the key strength of the current Canadian health care system, six in ten said, unprompted, it was accessibility and universality (61%). The key weakness identified, unprompted, was wait times (33%), a more than two-to-one margin over the next most cited weakness - a shortage of doctors and nurses (14%).
When asked to look south of the border to the US, the majority of Canadians felt that President Obama was on the right track when it came to making changes to the health care system in the United States (71%) with only seven percent saying he was on the wrong track. One in five were unsure (21%). Quebecers were comparatively more likely to say Obama was on the right track (82%), followed by Ontarians (74% right track).
i should add that the wait times are for non-urgent care problems. the paramour's mother waited too long (in my book) for a hip replacement. but when i had life-threatening high blood pressure and tachycardia, i was immediately seen at the ER, ushered past a waiting room with other people. i've also always been able to see my GP when i needed to. and all that costs a mere C$54/month for british columbians (and if you can't afford that there is help); nobody is dependent on an employer offering health insurance and spousal/dependent benefits; if you lose your job in a bad economy, you don't also lose your health care (i find that incredibly frightening).
having lived under both type of systems, i greatly prefer universal, single-payer health care. and i don't at all mind paying taxes to support such care for people who have less than i do. i like living in a society that cares about all its members, whether they're currently fortunate and able-bodied or not.
canadians overwhelmingly support universal health care; think obama is on right track in US. (pdf from nanos research.)
The survey found that nine in ten Canadians support universal health care (90% support or somewhat support), and seven out of ten Canadians believe that President Barack Obama is on the right track with respect to health care in the US (71%). Results were consistent across regions.
When asked what they believed was the key strength of the current Canadian health care system, six in ten said, unprompted, it was accessibility and universality (61%). The key weakness identified, unprompted, was wait times (33%), a more than two-to-one margin over the next most cited weakness - a shortage of doctors and nurses (14%).
When asked to look south of the border to the US, the majority of Canadians felt that President Obama was on the right track when it came to making changes to the health care system in the United States (71%) with only seven percent saying he was on the wrong track. One in five were unsure (21%). Quebecers were comparatively more likely to say Obama was on the right track (82%), followed by Ontarians (74% right track).
i should add that the wait times are for non-urgent care problems. the paramour's mother waited too long (in my book) for a hip replacement. but when i had life-threatening high blood pressure and tachycardia, i was immediately seen at the ER, ushered past a waiting room with other people. i've also always been able to see my GP when i needed to. and all that costs a mere C$54/month for british columbians (and if you can't afford that there is help); nobody is dependent on an employer offering health insurance and spousal/dependent benefits; if you lose your job in a bad economy, you don't also lose your health care (i find that incredibly frightening).
having lived under both type of systems, i greatly prefer universal, single-payer health care. and i don't at all mind paying taxes to support such care for people who have less than i do. i like living in a society that cares about all its members, whether they're currently fortunate and able-bodied or not.
no subject
on 2009-11-06 21:49 (UTC)no subject
on 2009-11-06 22:24 (UTC)And it most certainly isn't rational universal health care; President Obama has demonstrated himself to be equally satisfied with everything from the public option to poorly funded individual mandates while publicly favoring no specific plan. The only thing that he champions is forcing Congress to work out the details with some very basic qualifications like reducing the ranks of the uninsured and revenue neutrality. I don't know if it's a good idea or not (although I am concerned that the eventual bill will be written by insurance lobbyists much more than consumer rights advocates and contain as much compensation and as little public benefit as the credit card reform bill did). But the notion that the health care debate has been a struggle between Republicans and Barack Obama is a hard one to support with evidence.
Perhaps my statement is unfairly broad, but I've had a few specific conversations with Canadians where they perceived me to be a enemy of progress because I am not delighted with and unflinchingly supportive of President Obama. Maybe the international news covers his speeches well and the general impression is that his actions must match the intensity and passion of his rhetoric, but it is my sad duty to report that that hasn't been the case at all in my perception.
no subject
on 2009-11-06 23:01 (UTC)that does, in my mind, present a clear struggle with republicans, who seem to have no interest in that, as their lack of action for the last 8 years, and their latest plan show (it'd result in even fewer americans being covered than now). and i am now angrier at republicans than before, because obama seems so willing to go along with so many different options, but all i can see from them is "NO WAY". that is, in the end, not a subtle difference, however malleable obama's track seems to be, and i guess that might be what surveyed canadians perceive.
i don't think my support of him is unflinching (i flinch a lot, especially at his corporate support, and his lack of following through on campaign promises to be a "fierce advocate" and use his bully pulpit for equal rights), but i remember the last 8 years before him so well that he is still lightyears ahead of that fiasco, and i try to remind myself that i thought then it would take decades to clean up the mess.
his soaring rhetoric might in fact diminish obama's actual accomplishments; we might all expect way too much from him.