Healthcare Wait Times: A Reality Check

Ever thought about how other countries handle healthcare? Let's take a peek at Canada and the UK. At first glance, their systems seem pretty good. But look closer, and you'll see some big issues. In Canada, it's against the law to have private insurance for necessary medical services. The government controls spending by making people wait. A lot. Right now, the average wait time to see a specialist after a referral is a whopping 30 weeks! And if you need an MRI or CT scan, you'll be waiting even longer. You'd think with a single-payer system, everyone would have access to the newest medicines. Not quite. In Canada, many new drugs aren't covered at all. Only 45% of medicines launched in the last decade are available. Compare that to the US, where 85% are available. Now, let's cross the Atlantic to the UK. Private insurance is legal there, but many people still rely on the public system. And the wait times? They're huge. Over 7. 5 million people in England alone are on waiting lists for NHS treatment. That's a big increase since the pandemic started. And for heart care, over 420, 000 people are waiting, with 40% of them waiting over 18 weeks for urgent treatment. It's not just about wait times, though. The UK government also limits access to new medicines. Less than 60% of new drugs launched in the last decade are available there. Before we jump to change our healthcare system, let's think about what's really happening in these other models. They might look good on paper, but the reality is different.