Canadian and U.S. health care

[greyowl]

Judge for yourself.

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Canadians healthier than Americans: Study
May 30, 2006. 07:39 PM
HELEN BRANSWELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS

A new study comparing the health and health-care access of Canadians and Americans suggests that Canadians are in general healthier and have better access to health care than their neighbours to the south.

Canadian wait times are bad, one of the authors admits. But the inherent inequity in the U.S. system and its failure to cover a huge swath of the American populace is worse, says Dr. David Himmelstein, of Harvard Medical School and the Cambridge Health Alliance.

"I think what our data . . . clearly shows that for any given level of expenditure, you get far more and far better care from a Canadian method of going about financing it (health care) than from the U.S. method," said Himmelstein, a specialist in primary care internal medicine.

"People in Canada spend at a very low level. And get very good value for care."

All the extra money Americans spend don't seem to be buying them better health. The study — based on identical large surveys conducted on both sides of the border — showed Americans are more likely to be obese (20.7 per cent versus 15.3 per cent), more likely to suffer from diabetes (6.7 per cent vs. 4.7 per cent) and are more likely to have high blood pressure (18.3 per cent vs. 13.9 per cent) than Canadians.

Americans are also more likely to live an entirely sedentary lifestyle; 13.6 per cent reported they had taken no physical exercise in the three months prior to the study, versus 6.5 per cent of Canadians.

Surprisingly, Canadian respondents smoked more than their American cousins. Nineteen per cent of Canadians reported being a daily smoker versus 16.8 per cent of Americans.

But for reasons that aren't clear, rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — a condition closely linked to smoking — were almost double among American respondents as compared to the Canadians.

"Canadians look a tad healthier on a number of measures, I guess most importantly diabetes and hypertension," said Himmelstein.

"And (they) also report generally that they get care a bit more easily than Americans, despite spending so much less than we do."

Himmelstein and his co-authors analysed data from the Joint Canada/U.S. Survey of Health, which compared health status, access to care and health-care utilization in the two countries.

The data were collected through phone surveys conducted by Statistics Canada and the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics between November 2002 and March 2003, with 3,500 Canadians and 5,200 Americans asked the same questions about their health and health-care usage.

The study was published Tuesday in the American Journal of Public Health.

Though many Canadians report having trouble finding a family doctor, the survey suggests Americans have a bigger problem on this front. Nearly 85 per cent of Canadians reported having a family doctor, versus just under 80 per cent in the U.S.

And only 5.1 per cent of Canadians reported being unable to pay for needed medication; the rate in the U.S. was virtually double.

Overall, 13.2 per cent of Americans said they had unmet health needs, compared to 10.7 per cent of Canadians. Himmelstein said the Canadian problem related to waiting times for care, but in the U.S. it was inability to get care at all because of cost barriers.

"Once you fall ill in the United States, your fundamental barrier to access — if indeed you have one — is your ability to pay. Whereas our fundamental barrier to access here is you get stuck on a long waiting list," said Dr. Tom Noseworthy, director of the University of Calgary's Center for Health and Policy Studies and a founding member of the new group Canadian Doctors for Medicare.

"But when you look at the end service — Do the people with low income have a better shot at getting service? Do our immigrants and non-whites have a better shot at getting service? — we're doing better," he noted.

"So it would suggest that a universal coverage system is acting to ameliorate some of the discrepancies that are otherwise found in our society."

There was one area where Americans fared better than Canadians. Despite being less healthy and having less access to a vastly more expensive health-care system, Americans are happier with their care than Canadians are.

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[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by greyowl

Americans are also more likely to live an entirely sedentary lifestyle; 13.6 per cent reported they had taken no physical exercise in the three months prior to the study, versus 6.5 per cent of Canadians.

Surprisingly, Canadian respondents smoked more than their American cousins. Nineteen per cent of Canadians reported being a daily smoker versus 16.8 per cent of Americans.

But for reasons that aren't clear, rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — a condition closely linked to smoking — were almost double among American respondents as compared to the Canadians.

"Canadians look a tad healthier on a number of measures, I guess most importantly diabetes and hypertension," said Himmelstein.-

I would like to put forth the theory that the first paragraph of this quoted passage answers the questions posed by the subsequent paragraphs and also explains why Canadians are healthier.

[Bob Smith]

America is the land of fat f*cks, its no surprise that we have all sorts of health issues.

An interesting, and I thought amusing, article in the paper yesterday showed the results of a recent survey. The conclusion "people are willing to give up 1 year of their life to not be obese." Umm, talk is one thing, action is certainly different! People arent willing to do jack shit to get into anything resembling decent shape, and they are losing that 1 year of their life BECAUSE they are a fat f*ck. These same people arent willing to remove themselves from the ass imprint on their couch. I realize Im part of that community right now (Grizz and I are fat buddies), but I make no allusions about the reasons for it and what I have to do to make changes. Once I regain about 30 hours of my week (beginning next Monday), I fully plan on getting back to the gym and becoming un-fat.

[Grizzly]

No, you're definitely much, much fatter than me. Trust me. And, dude, you're killing me with the asterik thing. Does saying "F*ck" make it any different than "Fuck". I don't really think so. Even "Fck" everyone's brain automatically reads as "Fuck". So knock it off!

Anyway, I once read an article where something like 70% of the respondents to a survey said it's alright to be a little fat. 95% of those same people said they wanted to lose 30lbs. LOL

[Imurgirlfriendsecret]

As a Canadian myself and have traveled several times to the U.S. I did notice one thing and it was that you guys sure have alot more fast food joints than us thats forsure. I know that is not the reason but has to have some effect somewhere. Just watched supersize me again the other night If any of you guys seen It, It has the cold hard facts on how the American people pretty much just let go and walked In the wrath of fastfood obesity. Like come on a Crispy Cream burger! Nasty!

[greyowl]

Originally Posted by Imurgirlfriendsecret

Like come on a Crispy Cream burger! Nasty!

WTF is that? The name demands an explanation!

[Bob Smith]

Krispy Kremes are shitty donuts to begin with, I dont understand why anyone would want to make a burger-esque sandwich out of one.

[Imurgirlfriendsecret]

I heard of the Krispy Kreme burger before a few times but wasnt actually sure If It was true, not having Krispy Kreme here and all but turns out after googling it up, It was just a time that It has happend called the Luther Vandross burger. Look on snopes.com. Guess I should have checked the facts before spu'in It out. But you never know. By the way I think Tim Hortons will by out the dwindling Krispy Kreme out one day.

[greyowl]

Originally Posted by Imurgirlfriendsecret

I heard of the Krispy Kreme burger before a few times but wasnt actually sure If It was true, not having Krispy Kreme here and all but turns out after googling it up, It was just a time that It has happend called the Luther Vandross burger. Look on snopes.com. Guess I should have checked the facts before spu'in It out. But you never know. By the way I think Tim Hortons will by out the dwindling Krispy Kreme out one day.

I ad that Krispy Kreme shit the last time I was in the States. Talk about horrible -- fat, sugar, flour and nothing else. Timbits would clean their clock in a fair fight.

While I'm on the subject ... I don;t know anyone would drink that bitter swill they ladle out at Starbuck's after having a real cup of coffee at Tim's place.

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by greyowl

I ad that Krispy Kreme shit the last time I was in the States. Talk about horrible -- fat, sugar, flour and nothing else. Timbits would clean their clock in a fair fight.

While I'm on the subject ... I don;t know anyone would drink that bitter swill they ladle out at Starbuck's after having a real cup of coffee at Tim's place.

Tim Hortons? I havent eaten there, but have heard its good.

I like Dunkin Donuts. Easily 100x better than Kripy Kreme. And of course, the closest DD to me is no about 400 miles to the east.

Good call on Starbucks coffee. There is a Starbucks directly across the street from my office. I drink the stuff my company buys because its free. Why pay for crap coffee when i can get it for free? BTW, Consumer Reports tested coffee - Starbucks was near the middle-bottom of everything tested. Caribou Coffee was the best and Dunkin Donuts was also pretty high.

[Grizzly]

Krsipy Kremes do suck balls. They're sooooooo friggin' sugary. Even they're chocolate iced doughnuts get dunked in the glaze mixture first. They're a cavity waiting to happen.

[oldtimer]

I have a Dunkin Donuts that is around the corner from my new apartment. Now that I'm on diet, I started noticing it a lot .

[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by oldtimer

I have a Dunkin Donuts that is around the corner from my new apartment. Now that I'm on diet, I started noticing it a lot .

Ahhhhhhh, the beauty of women completely covered. Doughnuts all day and you'll never be the wiser.