By Tyler King
The so-called Americans for Prosperity Foundation, not to be confused with the many Americans who oppose prosperity, is warning this country of an immense danger. That danger -- being more like Canada. The lobby group recently created a new agency with a well-sounding name; Patients United Now, not to be confused with those who intend to divide patients later.
They've run television ads in 11 states and the District of Columbia warning of the horrible consequences of a public healthcare system like that of America's neighbors to the north. A popular ad tells the story of Shona Holmes, a woman from Waterdown, Ontario, who was supposedly diagnosed with a brain tumor yet placed on a 6-month waiting list to see a specialist. Instead of waiting, she spent $100,000 of her own money to get treatment at the Mayo Clinic - had she not done that, the ad says, she would surely have died. But oh, how the truth so stubbornly gets in the way of political manipulation. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation recently revealed that Holmes did not have a brain tumor, but a lesser condition known as a Rathke's cleft cyst. It's a condition nobody has ever died from in Canada.
But that doesn't fit the horror story that this propaganda foundation would have unsuspecting television viewers believe. Instead, the buzz phrases are "deadly delays," "less liberty" and "more taxes." Patients United Now also says bureaucrats will supposedly make all the decisions, just like they do in Canada. Another reality check; under every provincial healthcare system in Canada, doctors decide on treatment; bureaucrats make sure it's paid for. The television ads also have you believe that vital treatments and procedures are denied in Canada, because, quote - "government says patients aren't worth it." What they don't explain is why a recent Harvard Medical School study shows Canadians outliving Americans by an average of two years. It also shows Canada accomplishing this while spending almost $3,000 per person less on healthcare than the United States does, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
There's no question that public healthcare is far from perfect; but maybe if this healthcare debate was centered on reality and fact instead of manipulation and lies, we'd all think a bit more of the politicians who are currently debating it.
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