That song by the Boss has a particular meaning for a Calgary couple who came to Great Falls to have quadruplets delivered. They left a city of a million people, drove 325 miles, and crossed an international border in order to get what can be done in several cities in mighty Montana.
The magnificence of the Canadian health-care system was demonstrated when there was nary a hospital in all of Canada with the ability to handle the care. That's right -- according to the Calgary Herald article, it wasn't just a shortage in Alberta, it was a Canadian shortage.
This is not to disparage Canada. It is a beautiful country from coast to coast, Montreal is one of the most enjoyable cities in North America to visit, Ben-Hur has nothing on their greatest rodeo (which unlike ours is held in an actual cattle-industry city rather than in one built by Wayne Newton,) no American state has a name with the stately appeal of Prince Edward Island or the exotic flair of Nunavit, and Canada has a simple, beautiful, and melodic national anthem that can actually be sung even by hockey fans, for crying out loud.
The point is rather that nationalized health care has a few downsides.
Note that the mother didn't need to be transported to a major city in the U.S.
They didn't even have to come to largest cities in Montana. Instead, they came to Great Falls, population 56,000.
In Alberta alone, there are seven cities larger than Great Falls, ranging from Calgary (with about the population of the entire state of Montana) down to Medicine Hat, which is slightly larger than Great Falls.
Nor was the mother flown to Cuba to get free health-care, believe it or not.
Incidentally, according to the Calgary Herald article, this is the fifth time this year that patients have been flown from Alberta to Great Falls because of neonatal care shortages.
Granted, if America had a nationalized health-care system like Canada, we wouldn't have rationing or shortages like they do to the north. Cities like Great Falls would still have health-care capabilities that rival that of cities 10 times their size, and Canadians will still flock across the border in order to avoid months-long waiting lists.
After all, we are the greatest nation on earth, and American exceptionalism dictates that when we do nationalized universal health-care -- it will be done perfectly, and we won't bum it up like those tuque-wearing hosers to the north have. (Sorry, wrong link.)
Don't believe us? Just ask any progressive Democrat -- they'll give you the details.
2 comments:
Something tells me this story won't be in the sequel to "Sicko."
The silence is deafening in the Montana media regarding the implications of Canadians crossing the border to come to our state for health-care.
Post a Comment