U.S. President Donald Trump asserted at a campaign rally in Richmond, Ky., Saturday that Canadians travel to the U.S. to see doctors because “socialist health care” doesn’t work.
READ MORE: More Canadians choose to be medical tourists: report
“(Socialist health care) doesn’t work anywhere in the world,” Trump said at the rally. “It’s good if you don’t mind waiting like five weeks to see a doctor.
“Frankly, they come from Canada because they want to use our doctors.”
According to the Fraser Institute, a Canadian public policy think tank, 1.4 per cent of Canadian patients received care outside of Canada in 2016. This data was derived from the institute’s own survey as well as a tally of the number of procedures performed in Canada by the non-profit Canadian Institute for Health Information.
WATCH: Trump says Senate should have passed healthcare bill
The study explains that one reason Canadian patients travel abroad for medical treatment may relate to the long wait times in Canada’s health-care system.
Although the result was a small percentage of Canadians, the think tank said it is a nearly 40 per cent increase over the previous year.
Trump’s comments on Saturday were not the first time he has criticized what he calls “socialist” health care. During the presidential campaign in 2016, Trump’s campaign said such a health-care system was “slow” and “catastrophic.”
READ MORE: Donald Trump slams Democrats’ health care proposal in USA Today op-ed
Trump has had mixed opinions about health care in the past. In September 2016, he praised universal health care during an interview with 60 Minutes and later praised countries that have universal health care, such as Australia, in May 2017.
Trump and the Republicans attempted to repeal Obamacare, which assures all Americans have access to affordable health insurance, multiple times in 2017 but failed.
Trump’s comment comes days after USA Today published an op-ed he wrote criticizing Democrats’ health-care proposal Medicare For All, saying it would take away benefits for seniors.
fuzzzybear on October 14th, 2018 at 16:35 UTC »
I am Canadian. While I will admit that it can be hard to see a doctor for minor and non life threatening illnesses our medical system jumps on serious ones immediately - and we pay nothing for the service. My friend's wife started bruising last August. She went to her doctor's office and couldn't get an appointment but when she explained why they took her straight to emergency. She had leukemia and had no previous symptoms to indicate it. They flew her in a medivac plane that evening from Northern BC directly to the cancer ward in Vancouver where she stayed for nine and a half months before they released her in May. She is now building up her strength and growing out her hair. Total cost to her was $0. While she was in the cancer ward her husband stayed in the rooms next to the hospital. His cost for room and meals was $25 per day.
This spring I took my girlfriend out of the country for a knee replacement. While the operation would have been free here in British Columbia the wait time would have been at least 18 months.
Going to the United States was not an option. The cost of the surgery and prosthesis seemed semi reasonable at $22,000 US ($34,000 Cdn) , but there were many hidden costs such as the hospital room, x-rays, nursing fees and so forth that doubled the price after the smoke cleared the water.
We ended up choosing a hospital in Belgium and had the surgery in May. She went back to work in July and her physiotherapist here told her three weeks ago that her knee was fully recovered but she needs to continue working on building up her strength.
The hospital does many procedures for medical tourists like us and put together a package for us. For 10,250 Euro ($16,000Cdn or $12,000 US) the hospital met us at the airport, paid for a nice hotel room for 3 people, provided us with a car and driver at our beck and call, did the knee replacement and provided her with physiotherapy every day until we left 23 days later. We had to pay for her medication once she left the hospital, but pills are cheap in Belgium and I didn't spend more than $200 Cdn on her pain, anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting pills.
Before we left the country, her doctor and our medical system provided the surgeon in Belgium with all of the X-rays, blood work and other pre-op tests at no cost to us. The only extra costs we had was for our flights and suppers in Belgium as breakfast and lunch was provided by the hotel.
When we returned to Canada I had high blood pressure and chest pains so went to emergency. The doctors and nurses wasted no time admitting me and running all of their standard tests for heart problems and blood clots and determined that I had bad indigestion from chowing down on a huge prime rib feast the night before. There's very little fat in European diets so my digestive system couldn't handle the sudden change. This visit cost me nothing.
Over all I would say that while our system can be slow for non life threatening visits it is exceptional for emergencies and will not bankrupt you afterwards. I can also say from experience that the American hospital system is grossly over priced for the procedures they perform.
Here is link to the Pricing Guide for all of the procedures done at the hospital we went to in Belgium. Compare them to the prices from hospitals in the United States. Then consider that while wait times in Canada may be up to a year long, they are free to us and ask yourself how does the American system measure up.
Seinfelds-van on October 14th, 2018 at 15:51 UTC »
Every country in the world has some citizens that travel to foreign countries for specialized services.
SingingThe0000FFs on October 14th, 2018 at 15:25 UTC »
How many Americans come to Canada for cheap pharmaceuticals?