Canada’s health care system has been getting plenty of 按中美. 近期 during the intense debate about health care reform.

American journalist T.R. 里德, has just published a new book, 美国的愈合: A Global Quest for Better, 便宜, 和公平的卫生保健, in which he looks at not just the Canadian system, but at health care models around the world.

Reid shares his own experiences seeking care for his “bum shoulder” in the U.K., 法国, 德国, 日本, 和加拿大.

In an article for the “华盛顿邮报”, “5 关于卫生保健的神话环游世界,” Reid argues that the U.S. health care system actually takes elements from many other countries’ medical models, including Canada’s:

多方, foreign health-care models are not really “foreign” to America, because our crazy-quilt health-care system uses elements of all of them. For Native Americans or veterans, we’re Britain: The government provides health care, funding it through general taxes, 和病人没有得到票据. For people who get insurance through their jobs, we’re Germany: Premiums are split between workers and employers, and private insurance plans pay private doctors and hospitals.

For people over 65, we’re Canada: Everyone pays premiums for an insurance plan run by the government (医疗保险), and the public plan pays private doctors and hospitals according to a set fee schedule. And for the tens of millions without insurance coverage, we’re Burundi or Burma: In the world’s poor nations, sick people pay out of pocket for medical care; those who can’t pay stay sick or die.

You can also listen to an interview with Reid about his health care adventures on NPR’s 新鲜空气.

那么，什么加拿大人认为自己的健康保健系统?

Despite ongoing concerns about 漫长的等待 for certain types of medical procedures, a recent survey by the 加拿大卫生信息研究所 found that overall, Canadians are “happy with primary health care.”

图片©卡罗琳乙. 海勒