The other day I was speaking with a dear friend who happens to be an American living in the US. He had injured his foot and suspected he may need stitches and a tetanus shot but did not want to go to the hospital cause of the expensive co-pay he would have to pay (over $1000). I couldn’t wrap my head around this for a couple reasons. First he works in the medical industry and makes a six-figure salary. If anyone in the US has good health insurance, surely it is he! Second, and most importantly, as a Canadian I literally cannot wrap my head around the idea of having to pay (twice) for health care.

In Canada we have universal health care, meaning all doctor and hospital visits, all medical tests and treatments (from blood work to vaccines, MRI’s to chemotherapy) are covered by our (provincial) health care plan. Many Americans like to call this free health care, but in reality universal health care is not “free” since all of us pay for it—to varying degrees—through our taxes (income taxes, sales taxes, etc), which are higher than US taxes. While certain provinces, like the one in which I live, have a semi two-tiered system where you may have to pay for a service (like blood work or an ultrasound) if you see the physician at a private practice, there is always the option to have these things done for “free” if you visit the physician at a hospital.

While I am well aware that the US does not have any form of universal health care, I assumed that those in a high-income bracket had full health coverage through their employers. I guess I know much less about the US than I thought. Now, I am not trying to promote the myth of the “Canadian utopia.” I am very critical of Canadian government policies in much of my research and writing elsewhere, especially in matters of foreign policy and geo-politics. And the wait-time for public health care is getting worse and worse. However, following another conversation with an American friend living in Canada, about the fact that few employers offer paid maternity leave beyond limited period and that there is no government subsidized child care anywhere in the US, it has dawned on me how behind US public spending is compared to other industrialized nations.

Almost all western European nations have universal health care and some level of paid maternity leave and subsidized child care. And they have Canada beat when it comes to subsidizing post secondary education! Though thanks to globalization, the EU, and the spread of “American-style” capitalism and economic austerity around the globe (which often entails the privatization of social services like health and education), public spending in all areas is declining in Europe. But even with ever-declining government social services (which are largely paid for through public taxes), the rest of the first world is light-years ahead of the US. Ironically, the “leader of the civilized” world seems rather uncivilized by comparison. Continue reading →