March 14, 2002 05:12 PM

Canada's healthcare system is in disarray. A council is being formed to investigate ways of fixing it. Some want to privatize it.

While I've certainly had an unfortunately close relationship with the US healthcare system, I've never been one to advocate a federally run system. What we've got sure kept me alive, who am I to complain? Our system, however, is incredibly inefficient, which is why I'm a shareholder in WebMD. It's going to take forever, but at least they're trying to streamline things.

It'd be nice to see some reform on the insurance side. The system is designed so it's nearly impossible to get medical treatment without insurance. Yet insurance is generally only available through an employer. It's a historical artifact that doesn't really make sense. Sure, it's nice to get it through an employer, but what if you don't have a job? Or the company is so small that it can't afford to offer insurance, or worse, the coverage is lousy? Two Senators, John Breaux and James Jeffords, recently introduced a bill to address this with tax credits.

Putting movies like John Q aside, our healthcare system does keep people alive better than any other country in the world. Even with all its flaws, that's something to be proud of.

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