Some Rethinking in Canada?

While healthcare reform is dominating the political landscape here in the United States, there are some interesting developments taking place as well with our neighbors to the north.

Canada’s doctors are in Saskatoon this week for the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association and, according to a report in The Canadian Press, physicians in that country are confronting serious problems with the country’s government-run health system.

Long waiting lines for treatments, budgetary problems, and a need for better health information are on the doctors’ agenda.  Interesting, the current president of the CMA said “competition should be welcomed, not feared” and that there may be a role for private sector medicine in what has been an entirely government-controlled system.

It’s worth noting, as some advocate greater government involvement in the U.S. healthcare system, that some countries which currently have single-payer systems are looking in the opposite direction.