Government-run health care systems also deny or delay treatment

Many critics of the U.S. health care system claim the tragic murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is understandable because health insurance companies occasionally refuse to cover certain medical treatments. And they often assert that if the country were to embrace a U.K. or Canadian-style government-run health care system, no one would be denied care. Those critics are either misinformed or intentionally trying to deceive the public, because government-run health care systems frequently delay or deny needed medical care.

It's true the U.S. health care system has many problems — problems made much worse by the Democrats’ Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). The primary reason for our dysfunctional health care system is the convoluted economic incentives imposed on it. But that’s a topic for another day.

The goal today is to demonstrate, by relying on stories from the media and professional organizations, that those preferred government-run health care systems have serious problems.

Last February CNN reported, “Tens of thousands of nurses and nearly 12,000 ambulance workers went on strike Monday over pay and working conditions in the biggest walkout in the 75-year history of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).” The story continues, “At the end of November, a record 7.2 million patients in England were waiting for non-urgent medical treatment. … This spans diagnostic tests and scans, procedures such as hip and knee replacements, but also cardiac surgery, cancer treatment and neurosurgery.”

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reports that in May and June “junior doctors held 3- or 4-day strikes — and senior doctors have scheduled similar action.” But even before the strikes started, the NEJM says, “The Royal College of Emergency Medicine estimated in December that 300 to 500 people were dying each week because of these delays.” (Emphasis added.)

Important point: Care delayed is often care denied.

What’s the reason for the strikes? “The primary contributor is long-term underinvestment in health services.” In a government-run system, the government sets the country’s health care budget. That budget competes with other valid claims on taxpayer money, such as defense, education and welfare. As a result, the health care system is always underfunded, affecting the availability and quality of care.

For example, the NHS doesn’t provide certain prescription drugs widely available in the U.S. because it considers them too expensive. The BBC reports, “A 40-year-old woman who was denied a life-extending cancer drug because it is not available in Wales has died.”

Interestingly, many U.K. patients are buying private health insurance and going to private doctors. CNN cites a website designer who “decided to take out private medical insurance after waiting nine months to see a specialist on the NHS.” It’s a growing trend. “Bupa [a health insurer] added 150,000 new UK health insurance customers in 2022, while rival VitalityHealth has seen a 20% rise in customers over the past year to more than 900,000.”

So even as progressive U.S. politicians are saying we need to move to a government-run system to ensure universal coverage to quality care, many of those who are under the British system are fleeing it for private health insurance.

Is Canada a more successful model? In Canada, patients must go through their general practitioner (GP) to see a specialist, and the wait times can be extensive. The Vancouver-based Fraser Institute has been tracking Canadian wait times for decades and just released its most recent report: “In 2024, physicians across Canada reported a median wait time of 30.0 weeks between a referral from a GP and receipt of treatment. Up from 27.7 in 2023. This is 222% longer than the 9.3 week wait Canadian patients could expect in 1993.”

But at least once a patient sees a specialist, care is delivered quickly, right? “After seeing a specialist, Canadian patients waited 6.3 weeks longer than what physicians consider to be clinically reasonable (8.6 weeks).”

What about diagnostic tests? “Patients also suffered considerable delays for diagnostic technology: 8.1 weeks for CT scans, 16.2 weeks for MRI scans, and 5.2 weeks for Ultrasound.”

If a Canadian loses his general physician it can take months or even years to be accepted by a new one, which can mean no referrals to a specialist. That happened to a young Nova Scotia, Stage 3 cancer patient who, through tears, explained in a video appeal to Nova Scotia’s premier, “At 33, I am in menopause because when my tumour was a polyp I did not have access to a family doctor [for two years] and the ERs wouldn’t help me.” And she challenges the premier, “I dare you to take a meeting with me, and explain to me, and look into my eyes and tell me that there is no health-care crisis …”

Merrill Matthews is a public policy and political analyst and the co-author of “On the Edge: America Faces the Entitlements Cliff.” Follow him on X@MerrillMatthews.

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