Blame Canada! Blame Canada!

Canadian MP Bob Rae opines:

Watching the debate in the U.S. about health care has been a fascinating, if depressing, experience. In particular, the fact that a Canadian woman has played into the hands of the Republican lobby because of her understandable anxiety about her medical condition doesn't make me mad; it just makes me sad. [...] The ad Ms. Holmes appears in says Canadians are denied care because "the government says patients aren't worth it.” So private insurance companies that routinely deny treatment and coverage in the U.S. are Good Samaritans? I think not.

No one should demonize Shona Holmes. The health-care system we have in Canada has challenges – we all know people who are frustrated by delays. But that is hardly unique to Canada. [...] Even the most conservative of political parties in Canada want to maintain the integrity of our system, just as in communities and provinces we figure out how to improve both the excellence of and access to what we have. We shouldn't be afraid of a debate or a discussion, but since "the Canadian system" has been made the whipping boy of the Republican lobby in the U.S. it's high time we fought back, with facts, figures, and the deep reality of our shared experience with universal insurance coverage.

(Hat tip: KHN's Kate Steadman)