Hi Nancy,

I guess what you are getting at is the need for a "universal health care" policy . . .?

In Canada, most of our medical costs are done this way, at a NATIONAL level, and the government pays for the vast majority (except prescriptions, in most cases). This is true of our car insurance costs (provincially) too . . . .

When it comes to some variable costs though; where an employer may be able to influence the costs they incur (like for health plans/prescriptions, Workers Compensation, disability costs, etc.), most of our employers are charged based on their claim history.

Using Workers Compensation as an example, rates charged to employers are based on their industry, then their claim history. For example, a company that employs office workers only might only pay 1% of their payroll into their WCC premiums, but a construction company may pay as high as 7% because they tend to have more accidents. Prices charged for goods and services reflect these costs . . .

This principle is applied for the first year or two, and then WCC starts factoring in claim history. A construction employer who has lots of accidents might end up paying 10%, and a construction employer who has very few accidents might end up at 4%. That can be a significant cost or cost reduction, and can influence how an employer conducts their business, sets policy, etc.

I tend to agree with your feelings about health care, since there really isn't a whole lot that an employer can do to influence the costs incurred (except lay undue pressure on employees , who generally have no choice in how sick they are). However, the people who are "well" might not agree with us . . .

Most people don't really consider their health until it fails. If they are paying $300 a month for a health care plan, many don't want to see it raise up to $450 in order to pay for the "sickies" of the country. Therein lies the difference between the way Canadians vs. Americans have "elected" to deal with their citizens' health costs.

On the other hand, Canadians don't mind not having the cadillac of service and treatments either. Most of us would SERIOUSLY consider the cost of a very high priced drug, and how that will affect the total costs of our healthcare, before we demand the "best" (or fastest) treatment there is available to us.

There are lots of things that would have to change (current procedures, policy, mindset, etc.) in order to make a universal (or national) health care system work in the US.

Cherie