In the name of profit and efficiency, all slack as been wrung out of our healthcare systems. Systems with no slack are brittle and prone to failure under stressors.
Profit? Aren’t all of your provincial healthcare systems publicly run and publicly funded? I feel that there are two issues.
One is taxes. Canada already has high taxes, which does not pair well with low salaries and a high cost of living that isn’t too far from either the SF Bay Area or even NYC.
The second is your confederation’s central government is weak. Your provinces have too much power, and they’re the ones controlling the healthcare systems which seem to be managed completely differently from one province to another rifht?
> Profit? Aren’t all of your provincial healthcare systems publicly run and publicly funded? I feel that there are two issues.
The directly publicly run parts are only subject to the "efficiency" part. But more and more gets contracted out where it's also subject to profit pressure.
> The second is your confederation’s central government is weak. Your provinces have too much power, and they’re the ones controlling the healthcare systems which seem to be managed completely differently from one province to another rifht?
That's pretty backwards. Locally managed healthcare tends to beat centrally managed. It also helps inject a bit of competition in, gaining many of the benefits of for-profit healthcare without so many of the downsides.
> Locally managed healthcare tends to beat centrally managed
I tend to agree, but the downside to having each province having their own special healthcare system is that it’s hard for them to collaborate like with something as simple as sharing medical records. Also, the central government can’t do things like mandate minimum spending for healthcare and a more consistent floor on salaries for healthcare workers. Overall though I agree with you.
> It also helps inject a bit of competition in, gaining many of the benefits of for-profit healthcare without so many of the downsides.
People would have to be able to easily move between provinces for that to be true. Unfortunately, it’s hard due to the housing crisis and low salaries. Having a private option would increase competition. It might even offload some strain from the public system assuming that everyone still gets taxed for the public option.
Btw since we’re on the subject, how do Canadians mitigate the long wait for everything healthcare related? Is it common to cross the border for healthcare?
> People would have to be able to easily move between provinces for that to be true.
Not really. If a few people can move at the margin, that's enough to keep things in equilibrium. Even if no-one's moving, it still creates political pressure if one province is clearly offering better healthcare than another.
> Btw since we’re on the subject, how do Canadians mitigate the long wait for everything healthcare related? Is it common to cross the border for healthcare?
Again just assuming it works like the UK: a few people pay to go private and get treated quicker, some travel to a cheap place for the same, most people deal with it. While you hear about a handful of dramatic failures (partly since, unlike in a private system, there are many people with an incentive to publicise them), by and large the system is actually very good at prioritising the things that are actually urgent.
As for stressors...gestures broadly.