Big Canadian Labor Union Writes Obama & Congress Defending Canada’s Healthcare System !

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE


Ottawa (24 July 2009) - The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), one of Canada's largest unions, is asking President Barack Obama and members of the U.S. Congress to look past the "malicious misrepresentations and scare tactics" in their current debate over American health care reform and see the true value of Canada's single-payer health system.

"Our single-payer system is, quite simply, a good and sensible idea that serves Canadians extremely well," NUPGE president James Clancy says in a letter to Obama, U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and all members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

Clancy said he felt obligated to write to the U.S. legislators after Prime Minister Harper and Health Minister Aglukkaq refused to step in and counter the anti-Canadian propaganda being spread by private health care interests battling health care reform in the United States.

He says a multi-million-dollar tidal wave of special-interest propaganda is trying desperately to obscure the fact that Canada's single-payer health care system has been "a triumph of values and economics" for more than 40 years.

Health-related bankruptcy unthinkable in Canada

Canadian health outcomes, on almost every critical measure, are among the best in the world, and Medicare covers all Canadians at substantially less cost than U.S. citizens pay for a system that leaves millions without coverage, he notes.

"It’s totally unthinkable to Canadians to experience bankruptcy due to medical bills, as do over one million Americans every year. Unlike in the U.S., not a single Canadian who is unemployed has lost the ability to access health care during the current economic recession."

Canadian health care also gives small and large businesses "a clear competitive advantage" in today's difficult economy by freeing all employers from any obligation to provide health care to their workers. "Our single-payer system does that for them," Clancy says.

James Clancy
President
National Union of Public and General Employees



Please read the complete article at:

http://www.nupge.ca/node/2444

The following is the full text of the public letter:

July 24, 2009
Barack H. Obama, President of the United States
Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services
All members of the U.S. House of Representatives
All members of the U.S. Senate

Dear Friends,
I am writing to you on behalf of the 340,000 members of the National Union of Public and General
Employees (Canada) about the scurrilous misrepresentations of Canada and our single-payer health
system in the debate over the future of health care in the United States.

We applaud you for reopening the national discussion of health care reform in the U.S. There are
various policy proposals on the table and you’ll have important decisions to make in the months
ahead. As legislators, it’s critical that you use the best available evidence to inform your decisions.

Unfortunately, rather than a true debate about its merits, Canada’s single-payer system, and by
extension Canada’s reputation, has been the victim of a multi-million dollar tidal wave of special interest
propaganda and scare tactics. You need to know that an objective examination of the
evidence reveals that Canada’s single-payer health system is the triumph of values and economics.

Our system speaks volumes about the character of our nation. It provides all Canadians with equal
access to care on the basis of need, not wealth or privilege or status. Previous generations
understood that sickness doesn’t discriminate and they made the collective moral decision that health
care shouldn’t discriminate either. It was a courageous initiative by visionary men and women that
changed us as a nation and cemented our role as one of the world’s compassionate societies. We will
always defend the proud legacy we have inherited from previous generations of Canadians.

Indeed, Canadians today still strongly support the core values on which our system is premised –
equality, compassion and solidarity. In fact, our Medicare system is now tied to our understanding of
citizenship. More than just a social program, Medicare to us represents a birthright and an identifying
mark of “Canadian-ness”. It is, we believe, the clearest reflection of who we are and what we value.

But more than that, our single-payer system is, quite simply, a good and sensible idea that serves
Canadians extremely well. The overheated rhetoric and outright falsehoods that you’ve heard about
the quality and viability of Canada’s system simply do not stand up to scrutiny.

When it comes to health outcomes, on almost every critical measure, whether it is life expectancy
rates, infant mortality rates, or potential years of lost life, Canada rates much better than the U.S. and
we’re among the best in the world. Notwithstanding the “real life” stories you’ve heard in TV ads
launched by the group Patients United Now, a very strong majority of Canadians who use the system
are highly satisfied with the quality and standard of care they receive.

In terms of controlling costs, health spending in Canada is on par with most countries in the Western
world and it’s substantially lower than in the U.S. And yet we devote a smaller portion of Gross
Domestic Product to health care today than we did over a decade ago. It’s totally unthinkable to
Canadians to experience bankruptcy due to medical bills, as do over one million Americans every
year. Unlike in the U.S., not a single Canadian who is unemployed has lost the ability to access health
care during the current economic recession.

In addition, our single-payer system provides both small and large businesses in Canada with a clear
competitive advantage. Employers don’t have to provide basic health care for their workers – our
single-payer system does that. Our businesses also enjoy the benefits of a healthier and more
productive workforce thanks to our universal system. Unlike in the U.S. where basic health care is a
major source of labour relations strife, it’s hardly an issue at the bargaining table in Canada. We also
enjoy greater labour mobility because workers who don’t have to worry about losing health benefits
are more willing and able to switch jobs and move to where the work is.

Finally, what you’re being told about government-run health care with patients suffering and dying on
wait lists is nothing but lies. No need for emergency or urgent care is ever neglected in Canada. If
your doctor says you need the care urgently, you get it, period. Moreover, Statistics Canada reports
that the median wait time for elective surgery is four weeks and the median wait time for diagnostic
imaging like MRIs is three weeks. And contrary to popular myth, we’re free to choose whatever doctor
we want. And all decisions about care and treatment are left to patients and their doctors – there’s no
interference by the government or private insurance companies.

An objective review of the evidence shows that Canada’s single-payer system has consistently
delivered affordable, timely, accessible, comprehensive and high-quality care to the overwhelming
majority of Canadians on the basis of need, not wealth. It has also contributed to our international
competitiveness and the productivity of our workforce.

Times of great need, we are told, are the times when true leaders emerge and display the ability to
separate fact from fiction and the courage to set aside political agendas for the sake of the common
good. The challenge facing health care reform in the U.S. demands that kind of ability and courage
from each of you.

I would be pleased to speak or meet with you at anytime, or if you’re interested we could arrange a
“study mission” to Canada, to ensure you have an accurate picture of the benefits and popularity of
Canada’s most cherished social program. Please do not hesitate to contact my office.

Sincerely,
James Clancy
National President

http://www.nupge.ca/files/images/pdf/nupge_letter_to_US_legislators_july09.pdf

and the insurance corporations lies between the lines.

I have been running out of patience with the "facts" I keep being presented by Americans about Canadian health care...and British health care, Nordic nations health care, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

It gets worrisome, frankly, that so many people believe so much ....well, that stuff.

k+r