Canada points way to fair health care policy

By Evan Weisman, M.D.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Letters, March 24, 2014

While the Affordable Care Act is a step in the right direction, a much simpler and more comprehensive solution to what ails the American health care system would be a single-payer system as in Canada — effectively, Medicare for all Americans, not just those over 65 years old. Recently there was a Senate hearing on comparative health systems in other countries. When Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina asked the testifying Canadian physician, Dr. Danielle Martin, how many Canadians she would estimate die while they are on waiting lists for elective health care, she replied that she did not know, but she did know that 45,000 Americans died last year because they did not have health care insurance.

Dr. Evan Weisman resides in Sandy Springs, Ga.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/opinion/readers-write-march-24/nfJGs/