So, it's predictable that the great champion of private medicine would be that typical Canadian, David Frum.

Here's the take of the New Republic on honest Dave:

quote:

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THE HEALTH OF NATIONS: After Al Gore came out in favor of a single-payer health care system, it was perhaps inevitable that former Bush speechwriter David Frum would denounce his position. Frum is not only a conservative but Canadian. And to that particular species there is no phrase more likely to produce a hostile reaction than "single-payer."

Frum does not disappoint. His entire argument is that the Canadian system is inferior to ours because Canadians are forced to wait for health care. And he provides statistic after statistic to prove it. But with all due respect to Frum's authority on the matter, there are two massive flaws in his analysis. First, Canada only devotes about 9 percent of its GDP to health care, while the United States spends 14 percent (and rising fast). If the United States imposed a single-payer system that cost 14 percent of its GDP, it would no doubt be vastly superior to Canada's. Second, Frum writes as though American health care were universally available. In fact, more than 40 million Americans lack health insurance. It would seem that a fair comparison of two health care systems would at least take account of the fact that one leaves tens of millions uninsured. Yet Frum fails even to mention the fact that Canada has universal insurance and the United States doesn't.

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