Howard Dean in Toronto: "No doubt that you're better off getting sick in Canada."

Bottom line, which system is better for the patient?

Dean: I've spent a lot of time in both countries and there is no doubt that you're better off getting sick in Canada.

But don't you have the best health care in the world? We hear that mantra constantly.

Dean: We have the best health care in the world for people who can afford it. But Canada has very, very good health care for everybody.

On Monday, a group of prominent American and Canadian physicians will debate, in Toronto, the question: “Be it resolved that I would rather get sick in the U.S. than in Canada.” One of the panelists is Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, chairman of the Democratic Party and a one-time presidential candidate. He is also author of the new book Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Health Care. During the health-care reform debate, Dr. Dean was one of the most outspoken proponents of the “public option” – offering state-financed insurance similar to what exists in Canada. He spoke to The Globe and Mail about the views he will be putting forward in the debate.

..."But one of the principal criticisms of a public system, a single-payer system like Canada's, is that it robs consumers of choice.

Dean: Well, the U.S. system is not the same as Canada's. What I was proposing is a choice: a socialist system, a single-payer system or a private enterprise system.

What are Americans afraid of – why are they reluctant to expand those models?

Dean:I think they have been told a number of things that were not so, a number of very alarming things, and the Democrats were slow on the uptake in counteracting those lies.

Health-care reform dominated the headlines for a long time. Was it successful?

Dean: We didn't pass reform. All we did pass was putting more money into what we already have. It's successful in a sense that 1) we got a major bill passed, which is something for a new administration; 2) we created a system that's going to force reform because of the financial realities; 3) a great many more people are going to have coverage. But this system is still not nearly as effective and efficient as the Canadian system.

Dean: We didn't pass reform. All we did pass was putting more money into what we already have. It's successful in a sense that 1) we got a major bill passed, which is something for a new administration; 2) we created a system that's going to force reform because of the financial realities; 3) a great many more people are going to have coverage. But this system is still not nearly as effective and efficient as the Canadian system.

Calif. begins steps to enact health care reforms

The debate over national health care reform has moved to the California Legislature, which this week will begin taking the initial steps to implement the complex series of overhauls prescribed by the federal government.

More than 20 bills have been introduced and as many as a dozen might be voted on this week as lawmakers face a deadline to pass bills out of their house of origin.

Because of California's sheer size, its implementation of the new law could serve as a model for other states. The state has 8.2 million uninsured residents, nearly equivalent to the population of New Jersey. The number has ballooned in recent years as Californians lost jobs and health insurance due to the recession.

The bills seek to enact reforms signed into law by President Barack Obama in March. Among other changes, they would prohibit health insurers from denying coverage because of preexisting conditions and create an exchange through which individuals could buy insurance.

link