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I should add that I only have experience with Ontario, within the Canadian system. Each of the provinces administers its own health care program. I've heard that Quebec's is a nightmare (substantiated by the huge numbers of Quebecois who cross the Ottawa River for care in Ontario, rather than in their own system), and Alberta's is fantastic. But no personal experience.
The Ontario government, in its wisdom, decided in 1991 that doctors were the reason health care costs were rising, and fewer doctors would mean lower costs (i.e. less access to care, less billing of the system). The government put some programs in place that begged doctors to leave, slashed medical school enrollments and residency training programs, and waited for the magic of lower health care costs.
The crisis is ongoing twenty years later. There are still completely inadequate numbers of physicians in the province. It's nearly impossible to get a family doctor, which means it's impossible to get access to specialist referrals or anything else. People use Urgent Care and the ER for basic care.
No system is perfect. I do prefer a system that guarantees access to insurance (but preferably also to care). I think the European medical systems have worked out better than the Ontario system has, on the whole.
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The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Ghandi 
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10-31-2012, 01:59 PM
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