[nhooyr]

> Private medical care is in most circumstances illegal in Canada and they have large enough wait lists that people are dying in large numbers waiting for medical care. Medical tourism to Canada is a non-starter for Yanks.

Can you cite a source for people dying in "large" numbers waiting for medical care in Canada?

[lostlogin]

Canadians live longer, and they spend about half as much on healthcare per person.

If Canadians are dying in large numbers waiting for care, something pretty grim is going on south of the border to make the stats worse in the US.

The bottom link is to commentary on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the case, and the criticism of a more privatised system is interesting.

“The entire premise underlying the Canada Health Act is that people ought to be able to access health-care services based on need, rather than ability to pay…

It's pretty clear that having physician's practice both in and outside of the public system, if anything, results in longer wait times for patients in the public system, not the other way around…

The people most likely to need urgent surgery are often the least able to pay out of pocket.”

Notably, the legal action was brought by someone with very vested interests.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/274513/life-expectancy-i...

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/analaysis-br...

[hgsgm]

There's no reason to assume that government care supply would rise to meet demand. If private pay is allowed, and medical school enrollment is not artificially constrained, supply can rise to meet demand at a low price.

[lostlogin]

> supply can rise to meet demand at a low price.

But would it? Those doing the training (eg surgeons) are benefitting from the high prices.