Canadian Physician Pans Canadian Health Care System

The incoming head of the Canadian Medical Association, no less, has some pretty harsh words to describe the Canadian health care system. (h/t State Policy Blog) The Canadian Press reports on his inaugural address to the association. He says a private system can help where the public system is "overburdened."

He cited a host of statistics to back his case: Canadian health-care costs have quadrupled in the last 20 years; the country's doctor-to-patient ratio has plummeted; by 2011, the number of Canadians over 80 will have jumped by 43 per cent.

Ouellet called the overall state of Canadian health care "alarming."

"We have one of the most costly and least efficient health systems of any industrialized country," he said.

Looks like that's one model we needn't emulate.