A new poll reveals that Canadians hold far less trust in their socialized healthcare system than Americans do in the U.S. system.
According to a poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute, only 37% of Canadians are “confident” while 24% are “not confident at all” in their ability to receive timely, emergency care. Comparatively, 70% of Americans are “confident” and only 6% are “not confident at all” in their ability to access emergency treatment.
Not only are Canadians struggling to receive emergency care, but they are also unable to schedule non-emergency care. Accordingly, 51% of Canadians say it was “difficult,” “very difficult,” or “impossible” to schedule a surgery and 58% said the same in regards to scheduling specialist appointments. On the other hand, fewer than three in ten Americans spoke of limited accessibility to healthcare.
Recent analyses, such as a 2018 report by the Fraser Institute, suggests that the problem lies in Canada’s system of socialized medicine which causes “slower and lower-quality care.” With an average patient wait time of 19.8 weeks for medically necessary procedures, Canada’s government-controlled healthcare system may not be everything the left praises it to be. In fact, the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act might be cause for great concern regarding the future expense and efficiency of the U.S. healthcare system.