Current Events International Health Care Systems

British Columbia mulls over expansion of private health insurance

While most Americans envy the Canadian single payer system, Canadians may be looking south for inspiration to reform their health care system.  Today’s Vancouver Sun reports that:

British Columbia’s Liberal government is launching a sweeping review of medicare, promising to let citizens decide if they want a health care system that might feature even more private clinics…

The government’s announcement came the same day B.C. [British Columbia] doctors chose private medicine pioneer Dr. Brian Day their nominee as 2007-08 president-elect of the 60,000-member Canadian Medical Association, a powerful lobby organization. The B.C. doctors’ choice must still be confirmed by the CMA’s general membership.

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia has a nice article summarizing the differences between the “Canadian and American health care systems…”