Thread: Interesting international health care system comparisons

I'm trying to understand the statistic on wait times, since it says Americans wait about 18 days to see a doctor while Canadians wait about 33 or 34 days.

What kind of docs are they talking about in those cases? I've never had to wait in either country more than an hour or so to see a doctor, but then I've never really lived in the outback or anything.

Canadians enjoy walk-in clinics to serve them for minor problems; does this chart take those into account or emergency room visits only?

When it comes to charts dealing with days, I think we have to assume it's surgeries, but this blogger doesn't get behind the stats to tell us anything in more detail.

Wait times are the single largest complaint among Canadians because they're 32 million people spread out over the largest mass of land and territories in the world. People in urban areas will never complain about wait times while small townies and the more north you get, the complaints are always much more. On the other hand, in the most recent survey, despite their complaints 4 out of 5 Canadians prefer their health care system to that of the US, probably because it's free and you won't go bankrupt if you get sick, and because health care outcomes are at least the same if not better, like how Canadians live a full 3 years longer than Americans despite the fact that Americans enjoy a better overall climate.

And yet, cancer survival rates in the US top Canada's.

Canada has some of the best cancer survival rates in the world, and doctors are pointing to our much-maligned public health-care system as the reason.

In a report on worldwide cancer survival rates, Canada ranked near the top of the 31 countries studied with an estimate five-year survival rate of 82.5 per cent.

For breast cancer, Cuba had the highest survival rates -- another country with free health care. The United States was second, and Canada was third, with 82 per cent of women surviving at least five years.

"Canadians always tend to complain about our health-care system," Dr. Mary Gospodarowicz, a cancer researcher with Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital, told CTV News. "But this study shows us that in an independent study done by external bodies, the survival of cancer patients in Canada is among the best in the world."

The U.S. has a five-year survival rate in all the cancers studied of 91.9 per cent, while Europe's is much lower at 57.1 per cent. However, survival rates within the U.S. can vary.

Canada gets high ranking for cancer survival rates - CTV News

The US cancer survival rate exceeds Canada's - and both countries far outperform European health systems when it comes to cancer survival.

Another view, dealing with the US vs. European cancer survival rates.

Matt

Originally Posted by Jason Marcel

I'm trying to understand the statistic on wait times, since it says Americans wait about 18 days to see a doctor while Canadians wait about 33 or 34 days.

What kind of docs are they talking about in those cases? I've never had to wait in either country more than an hour or so to see a doctor, but then I've never really lived in the outback or anything.

Canadians enjoy walk-in clinics to serve them for minor problems; does this chart take those into account or emergency room visits only?

When it comes to charts dealing with days, I think we have to assume it's surgeries, but this blogger doesn't get behind the stats to tell us anything in more detail.

Wait times are the single largest complaint among Canadians because they're 32 million people spread out over the largest mass of land and territories in the world. People in urban areas will never complain about wait times while small townies and the more north you get, the complaints are always much more. On the other hand, in the most recent survey, despite their complaints 4 out of 5 Canadians prefer their health care system to that of the US, probably because it's free and you won't go bankrupt if you get sick, and because health care outcomes are at least the same if not better, like how Canadians live a full 3 years longer than Americans despite the fact that Americans enjoy a better overall climate.

once again you show your lack of knowledge
avg life span in the us is
78.3
canada is
80.7
so as you can see that is just over 2 years not three as you claim and as has been pointed out the avg life span is lowered in the us do to a big influx of illegals that canada does not have.
or are you going to try adn claim that when you have millions of people that have little or no health care in their lives and they come from a country that has a avg life span of 76.2 years it would not effect the avg age of the country the go into and die in?
you have also failed to lok at what the causes of death are in teh us the leading casues are from obesity related problems. the majority of those problems. we also have more deaths on the road and those deaths are usally younger people those thngs lower the avg life span. so just using the number does nothing about teh quality of healht care. and obama caer does nothing to adress the problems.

Originally Posted by MattInFla

And yet, cancer survival rates in the US top Canada's.



The US cancer survival rate exceeds Canada's - and both countries far outperform European health systems when it comes to cancer survival.

Another view, dealing with the US vs. European cancer survival rates.

Matt

The US has the best detection rate for prostate cancer, the best cure rate for prostate cancer, and the highest death rate from prostate cancer.
One of the reasons for the high survival rate of breast cancer is the detection and treatment of things that aren't cancer, and never posed any harm.
"Pay for procedures" means you get a lot of procedures.

Originally Posted by sailorman126

once again you show your lack of knowledge
avg life span in the us is
78.3
canada is
80.7
so as you can see that is just over 2 years not three as you claim and as has been pointed out the avg life span is lowered in the us do to a big influx of illegals that canada does not have.
or are you going to try adn claim that when you have millions of people that have little or no health care in their lives and they come from a country that has a avg life span of 76.2 years it would not effect the avg age of the country the go into and die in?
you have also failed to lok at what the causes of death are in teh us the leading casues are from obesity related problems. the majority of those problems. we also have more deaths on the road and those deaths are usally younger people those thngs lower the avg life span. so just using the number does nothing about teh quality of healht care. and obama caer does nothing to adress the problems.

Canada accepts a much larger amount of immigrants per capita than the US does, about an additional 1% of it's population every year.

In general, among First World nations, the smaller a country is, the more efficient its healthcare system is.

There are some exceptions to the rule, but the stats presented in the OP mostly correspond with that trend.

Originally Posted by Jason Marcel

Canada accepts a much larger amount of immigrants per capita than the US does, about an additional 1% of it's population every year.

guess you have a reading problem that would expalin a lot. i said illegal not legal imigrants.
leagal imigrants tend to be healthy and have had a history of health care. while the illegals do not.
so once again you have shown your lack of knowledge.

Originally Posted by sailorman126

guess you have a reading problem that would expalin a lot. i said illegal not legal imigrants.
leagal imigrants tend to be healthy and have had a history of health care. while the illegals do not.
so once again you have shown your lack of knowledge.

Does that sentence: "once again you show your lack of knowledge" make you feel smarter?
Or are we suppose to believe that you have superior knowledge? You seem to feel the need to repeat it in every post!

Please, I need an answer to increase my knowledge!:rolleyes:

Originally Posted by adaher

Enough with the wait times, already | The Incidental Economist

The US looks pretty decent on wait times, but pretty horrible on doctors spending enough time with patients or knowing their medical histories.

Canada has the worst wait times by a pretty good margin and doesn't do too well on any of the other measurements too. UK, also pretty bad.

As usual, the continental European systems shine.

With the US, Canada, and the UK at a the bottom of these indicators, maybe there's something up with Anglo culture that causes this, rather than the systems?

Right now, we are functioning in a system that WAS the best system in the world in 1955. A lot of things have changed since then which have impacted the system in a very negative way. I will be glad when I'm out of it. I'm also glad I know how to care for myself and can help my children with problems they have.

From the 'inside' I can tell you that the system is in chaos. Utter chaos. This boils down to far more than 'wait times.' The country has changed since 1955 but the system hasn't.

Originally Posted by sailorman126

guess you have a reading problem that would expalin a lot. i said illegal not legal imigrants.
leagal imigrants tend to be healthy and have had a history of health care. while the illegals do not.
so once again you have shown your lack of knowledge.

You don't know anything about health care via immigrants in Canada. A good deal of these people are refugees; legal, yes, but people from pretty rough places with no health care. People from places where the average life span is under 60 years old.

Canadians have a lot of fat people, but America is ginormous and less healthy overall.

Yes, America takes in more illegals, but they're from Mexico mostly, where the average lifespan is much higher than the people that come to Canada who are mostly from African countries, south east Asia and the Middle East.

You're not allowed to write "leagal" and "imigrant" and then accuse me of poor knowledge skills.

Originally Posted by Sadanie

Does that sentence: "once again you show your lack of knowledge" make you feel smarter?
Or are we suppose to believe that you have superior knowledge? You seem to feel the need to repeat it in every post!

Please, I need an answer to increase my knowledge!:rolleyes:

The numbers now are Canada 81, the US 78.4 when it comes to life expectancy.

81 is a very high number when you consider that Canada takes in more than 250,000 immigrants/refugees every year since the mid 80's, from places where the average life span is about 60 or under. Take all those people out of the equation and Canadians have a life expectancy around where the Japanese are, which is like 83 or 84.

Sure, the cancer survival rate is a notch behind the US, but when you consider that the US spends twice the money on health care than Canadians do, that's not bad.

Originally Posted by Jason Marcel

The numbers now are Canada 81, the US 78.4 when it comes to life expectancy.

81 is a very high number when you consider that Canada takes in more than 250,000 immigrants/refugees every year since the mid 80's, from places where the average life span is about 60 or under. Take all those people out of the equation and Canadians have a life expectancy around where the Japanese are, which is like 83 or 84.

Sure, the cancer survival rate is a notch behind the US, but when you consider that the US spends twice the money on health care than Canadians do, that's not bad.

You don't have to convince me, Jason! Although I have never experienced health care in Canada, I have experienced health care systems in England, Belgium, France, and Italy. . .I know that all the horror stories that are spread for propaganda are just "Urban legends!"

Then why are they reported by the British press? I guess the BBC, Telegraph, and London Times are just tabloids?