CNN - 20 July 2009: Rick Sanchez Interviews Canada's Fmr Minister Of Health Ujjal Dosanjh About Lies About Their Healthcare System - Debunks Republican Senator Mitch McConnell Claims.
RICK SANCHEZ: And then there's more. Mitch McConnell, for example. He's says that our health care system, in its present form, is already the very best in the world. And to those who say the Canadian system may be better, he said this on 'Meet The Press' yesterday morning.
SEN. McCONNELL (VIDEO): I had a friend of mine in Florida who called up recently who said he just lost a friend of his in Canada because the government decided he was too old for a certain kind of procedure, and apparently he didn't have the money or ability to get down to the United States for quality health care.
SANCHEZ: So what is the truth? As Americans, were hearing everything from 'our system is the best' to 'our system is in complete disarray.' As for the Canadian plan, we hear 'it's an absolute panacea - perfect - everybody gets treated anytime that they want' to 'nobody gets treated unless they're willing to wait for months or years to get that treatment.'
So here's what we want to do for you. Let's try to make some common sense out of this. Let's trying to get to the truth. Joining us now is Ujjal Dosnajh. He's a member of the Canadian parliament and former minister of health there. Sen. McConnell - let's start with him. He says Canadians don't treat old people for certain procedures. That's a heck of thing for a senator to say. Is it true?
UJJAL DOSNAJH: Absolutely untrue. Decision as to whether or not certain procedures ought to be carried out for a particular patient, those decisions are made by doctors in the hospitals, and doctors don't make those decisions based on money or no money unlike the United States of America where ...
SANCHEZ (interrupting): So it's absolutely not true that age is ever taken into account?
DOSNAJH: Abso... Well, age and condition may be taken into account with respect to a particular procedure.
SANCHEZ: (interrupting): Well, I'm not, I, listen, I get condition. There are times when a person is so frail that operating on them or giving them a certain treatment might make them worse. You have to weigh things. But that's not what he's saying. We're talking about age.
DOSNAJH: Age alone. Absolute nonsense.
SANCHEZ: O.K. Here's another one: Critics say that in Canada you have to wait forever to see a doctor or schedule surgery, and there is person after person who has said that they know someone there who will share that anecdote with them. Is that true? Is it true in part? Is it true at all?
DOSNAJH: It is untrue substantially. The fact is that 9 out of 10 Canadians have permanent doctors that they go to and the fact is that if you are in a queue waiting for surgery, if you have a heart attack you'll get to the front of the line, if you have a broken leg you may have to wait a day or two. I think those decisions are made all the time at hospitals by specialists and by doctors and those decisions are made based not on money that somebody can pay or not pay, because ultimately the government is the insurer.
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