"The discoveries of healing science must be the inheritance of all [...] Disease must be attacked whether it occurs in the poorest or the richest man or woman, simply on the ground that it is the enemy [...] Our policy is to create a national health service in order to secure that everybody in the country, irrespective of means, age, sex, or occupation, shall have equal opportunities to benefit from the best and most up-to-date medical and allied services available" (Wollstein 23).

Completed in 1970, this socialized health plan provides free public healthcare. Every Canadian receives free doctors' visits, free hospital care, free surgery, and free medicine while in the hospital. So well known and regarded, Canada's healthcare system has long been looked to as a shining example of what socialized medicine could be and even won an international award for excellence in 1993.

Even though Canada's Healthcare plan has had such a positive history it is now plagued with problems. Some of these problems include lack of doctors, lack of beds and supplies, and ve

Week's Actual Wait Week's Reasonable Wait

In 1970 at the dawn of Canada's healthcare the federal government promised to provide 50% of all healthcare costs in Canada. The other 50% was supposed to be provided by local provinces. Since then the government has yet to pay 50% of healthcare costs and, to add insult to injury, has steadily decreased the amount of funding they once promised. From 1970 to 1983 the Canadian government paid only 37% of all health care costs leaving the local provinces to pay the other 63%. At this rate local provinces could fit the bill but in 1984, when the Canadian government amended the National Health Care Act, they cut their funding of health care costs down to a mere 29%. Then in 1990 after another budget cut the Canadian government paid only 25%. Since then there has been so many cuts in healthcare funding that ever since 1990 the Canadian government, with a population of 21 million, has spent less on healthcare than Washington D.C. who has a population of only 4 million (Frampton).

Apparently the Canadian government feels that an extreme waiting list will not kill you. This is not so when headlines like "Lack of beds and long lines killed my hubby, wife claims" appear in their newspapers. But even if the wait does not kill you, data published by Statistics Canada indicate that 45% of all patients waiting for healthcare say they are in pain. Some of these waits can be up to 6 months and according to Mr. Walker of the Fraser Institute, "The physical and psychological pain can be devastating."

These lists have become so bad that many Canadians are now crossing the border into the United States to receive medical treatment. This phenomenon of border crossing became prevalent in 1987 and has grown larger year by year. In fact by 1994 over 30% of Canadians have crossed the United States border for medical treatment of one type or another. Border hopping to avoid lines has now become a common practice for anyone who can afford to pay for medical services in American hospitals. Unless the Canadian government owns up to its responsibilities this problem is going to continue to grow. In fact people on waiting lists grow each year by 20%.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Unless Canadian, South America, Alberta Hospital, Dr Smith, Winston Churchill, Hospital Beside, Washington DC, Fraser Institute, Canada's Healthcare, Alexandra Hospital, socialized medicine, canadian government, local provinces, canada's healthcare, rural doctors, health care, caps rural doctors, clinically reasonable, caps rural, valleyview hospital, salary caps, cap doctors' salaries, health care costs, canadian government paid, argue socialized medicine,
Approximate Word count = 2042
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)