A recent news item in the UK Daily Mirror -- "DIY dentistry: 1 million Brits yank out their own teeth" -- illustrates one of the hideous pitfalls of socialized medicine. The stat comes from an online survey that may well be unreliable. Nevertheless, it seems to accord with popular sentiment in Britain and most papers are ascribing the DIY 'problem' to "the introduction of Labour's botched dental contract which has left millions without an NHS dentist." Indeed, the headline in the Daily Mail states, "Three million do their own dentistry because they can't get an NHS appointment."

Being Canadian, I have socialized medical care. If I lived in the neighboring province of Quebec, then I would be able to pay for private care which exists in parallel with the socialized system. But, legally speaking, most medical matters are within provincial jurisdiction and Ontario does not permit the private practice of medicine. (NOTE: Dental care remains private.)

Despite ideological objections, Brad and I have had one practical problem with the socialized medicine we've experienced..at least, not yet; we don't have substantial complaints with our treatment but, then, we don't make substantial demands either. A flu shot here, a blood test there, a yearly check-up when we remember...

Moreover, we've been lucky; we have a decent doctor. Although doctors are not assigned up here, they are in such short supply -- even in our area, an hour or so outside Toronto -- that many people either cannot find a doctor who will accept them as a regular patient or they have to drive 100 miles for appointments. Those without a regular doctor must rely on open clinics to receive basic care. We became 'regular' patients when a neighbor died of a lingering cause; the doctor had an opening which we filled when the widow suggested our names to him. The doctor reckoned that 2 healthy no-problem people equalled one high-maintenance one and, so, he took us both on. Again as luck would have it, the doctor's office is about five miles away

Brad says, "we have terrific 1950s medical care." If you demand anything more advanced, the system has a marked tendency to break down. The practical problem to which I alluded came when I tore a rotator cuff and needed an MRI. In the States, I could have received one the next day. Indeed, because veterinary medicine up here is private, my dog could have been scheduled at a nearby hospital for the next day. (One way hospitals draw in extra funds is by renting MRI time to vets.) As it was, the wait for a mere human in agony was 6-9 months. That was the point at which I plunged into alternative medicine and became committed to healing myself whenever possible.

What I worry most about socialized medicine is getting the more extensive care that may be necessary as we age. A main concern: scarce and expensive care will be rationed according to a patient's circumstances, including life-expectancy. That is to say, if a 70-year-old and a teenager both need a specific operation, the bureaucratic decision to "approve" will favor the teenager. The 70-year-old would be put on a long, long, long waiting list...which is often a way to say no without having to fess up to a denial of essential medical service; such waiting lists are death sentences. If I pay for the operation myself, however, age becomes irrelevant. (BTW, the issue of rationing medicine became a flashpoint when it was revealed that the current Stimulus Bill included rather draconian "health care guidelines." To quote the post: the stimulus bill also contains provisions to set up a new bureaucracy, the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative effectiveness Research -- which would authorize significant changes in health care -- as advocated in a 2008 book by Tom Daschle, to ration health care and slow the development and use of new medications and technologies. The stealth healthcare issues are discussed by Hudson Institute senior fellow Betsy McCaughey in her must-read February 9 piece, Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan, on Bloomberg.com.

To quote from McCaughey's article:



BTW and IMO, Americans should stop focusing their wrath/fears on socialized medicine and realize that it is government control of medicine -- whatever form the control takes -- that's the problem. In some ways, medicine is more controlled by government in America than it is in Canada. Overall, it is still a freer system but very, very far from being a private one.

When the Stimulus Bill passes, it will be considerably less private than before. And, so, instead of relying upon a semi-free American system to which I can flee -- money-in-hand for treatment-- I'd better start looking much farther South.