So What If A Rich Canadian Comes To The U.S. For Heart Surgery?

Here's an interesting piece I ran across today, about some rich Canadian opting to come to the U.S. to have a special type of surgery on his heart. Of course, those that oppose health care reform in the U.S., and who continue to tout the mantra that "we have the best health care in the world" (lie) have jumped on this story as proof that the Canadians can't offer quality health care, and that is why we should not institute anything here remotely like that. Except for two things. One, the man is filthy rich, and can pretty much bypass the public options of the Canadian health industry, which basically, so can anyone here in the U.S. that is filthy rich. Second, though, is that more and more Americans are going OUT of the U.S. to have surgical procedures done, cheaper, quicker and better.

Williams — a former lawyer and wealthy businessman — is “known as Danny Millions.” To Canadians, Williams’ trip suggests that “if you have money, you can forgo the hassles of public health care and pay for quicker service south of the border,” but it also underscores the high cost of American health care. “Every year, thousands of Americans undergo surgery in other countries” where they can receive the same care “at half the price.” “In 2007, an estimated 750,000 Americans traveled abroad for medical care; this number is anticipated to increase to six million by 2010″ — far outpacing the number of Canadians coming into the United States for medical treatment.

Get that? Anticipated increase to six fucking million who will leave the U.S. and seek medical care elsewhere. That says a lot about the crappy health system we have in the U.S.

Best health care in the world, my ass!