Andy's posting regarding the relative merits of the Canadian and American health systems fails to address the substantive issues separating the US free market system from the socialist system of Canada. The fact that there are probably countless Canadians satisfied with their system does not mean that their system should become a model for the US (as some politicians advocate). Polling individual Canadians may reflect the influence of the anti-American propaganda that is utilized to maintain the illusion in Canada that the US system is inferior. Canadians pay much more in taxes than Americans to support their healthcare system, yet many Canadians cross the border to obtain their healthcare free of the bureaucratic regulations in Canada. The Canadian system even places restrictions on what a citizen may or may not pay for with their own money. While emergency surgeries may not be delayed in Canada, many routine but urgent procedures such as hip replacements have long delays. The conditions have even engendered strikes by physicians in Ontario. The flaws that exist in our system are the result of government meddling and intervention, not the free market. A Canadian-inspired solution would further exacerbate the problems with healthcare in this nation.

I thank Tom from North Carolina for his support of my position on this issue, but disagree with his implication that HMOs are problematic because of their profit-seeking behavior. HMOs are a suboptimal form of delivering healthcare for many reasons, but profit seeking is not one of them. The prevalence of HMOs was not due to market forces, but government subsidization (i.e. corporate welfare) in order to promote rationing of healthcare (denial of services). The HMO business model is based on managing care by minimizing healthcare utilization, in contrast to traditional insurance which is based on a fee for service model. Their success is a direct result of having a government granted advantage--via the HMO Act of 1973--over traditional insurance products which have been the historically preferred form of insurance. Removing restrictions on health insurance, as advocated by Senator John McCain, are a step in the right direction to drive down costs, increase affordibility, and preserve the freedom characteristic of the US system.