My most recent experience with the public health system was the same one as my father's; his near brush with death. He got quite lucky; when he went into a coma there was a bed in the emergency ward; later that day he was moved into ICU. The care was top-rate, and after two months he was able to go home.
I can only imagine how much the bill would have been if there wasn't single payer. Probably $150,000 or more. For so many families, the system works. It works because we see good health care as a right and not a privilege.
But the system is in trouble. The introduction of the hated health care premium has helped only slightly; and it would have been totally irrelevant in my father's case because his condition required he go to the front of the line.
The fact remains, though, many families -- both in big cities as well as in the country -- don't have access to GPs at all. Waiting times in hospital ERs can be several hours or more. We all know the stories about ambulances who go all over town looking for an open bed -- and patients dying in transit.
What have the three parties said about health care, other than John Tory's completely unbelievable promise to phase out the health tax? Nothing.
What has been said about preventative health care? Nothing.
And pollsters want to know why we're so cynical?
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