Two Analyses
 
T here are any number of adages that could be applied to the oft compared Canadian and US health care systems, but two come quickly to mind after reading this analysis - "Be careful what you wish for" and "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence".
As the health care debate heats up in the United States, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) continues to publish material reviewing health care on both sides of the border.
In Single-Payer Health Care for Maryland: Two Analyses, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) of Halifax, Nova Scotia and the Maryland Public Policy Institute of Rockville, Maryland partner in a joint evaluation of the proposal for a universal health care system in the US, providing both a Canadian and American prospective.
Originally authored to respond to a bill that was proposed by a Democrat State Delegate of the Maryland General Assembly. The paper evaluates the proposal and addresses the flaws in a statewide universal health care system including the high cost to the state budget that would inevitably lead to rationing of services by government officials. Single-Payer also issues strong warnings to Maryland from Canadians living under a single-payer system.
"Despite some Americans' misconceptions, Canada's health care system is not the envy of the world," said Ian Munro with AIMS and one of the study's authors. "Canada's single-payer system fuses the functions of universal insurer, provider, and evaluator of health care. The results are waiting lists, inaccessible drugs and services, and burgeoning medical tourism as people flee Canada to get services in the U.S. and elsewhere. Marylanders who hold up the Canadian health care system as the answer to their problems should be very careful in what they wish for."
Marc Kilmer, senior fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, and the study's other author states, "Single-payer advocates correctly diagnose that there is a problem in our health care system. Their prescription for change would only make the disease worse, however. Maryland health care consumers would benefit from much less government interference in the health care market. Turning over all our health care choices to government bureaucrats will only result in much higher taxes and less access to care."
Founded in 2001, the Maryland Public Policy Institute is a nonpartisan public policy research and education organization that focuses on state policy issues. The Maryland Public Policy Institute's work can be found on the Internet at www.mdpolicy.org.
The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, social and economic policy think tank based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. AIMS strives to make a difference, and has proven it does. Over its 15 years, it has become one of the world’s most decorated think tanks. It is a four-time winner of the Sir Antony Fisher Award, one of which was for its health care work. Designed to recognise excellence in think tank publications and other projects, a maximum of three Fisher Awards are given each year, and over 200 institutes are eligible worldwide. In 2005, AIMS was also awarded the Templeton Freedom Award for Institute Excellence.
Read the Report
"Single-Payer Health Care for Maryland"
click on the above link to read the report
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