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Comment by numakerg | Hacker News Reader

>This wait time is almost twice as long as it was in 1993 when national wait times were first measured.

Why? Are there more sick people? Are there fewer doctors and resourced? I've seen many articles covering the issue, but nothing that provides a concrete explanation for why a system used to work but doesn't anymore.

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> Are there more sick people?

Yes, mainly due to an ageing population and partly due to obesity. An increasingly old and obese population needs more healthcare and is more complicated and expensive to treat.

Economic incentives (or lack there of) under socialism. There's too much demand for the supply at the price established ("free").

I don't think this is quite true. And if I were to accept it as a hypothetical, what you are saying is that if too many people need to see a specialist, many of them should outright not be able to because they do not have enough resources. Which is ethically horrific.

No I'm saying the supply is artificially constrained by the price of "free" so there is less incentive to go into medicine, hence shortages at the price demanded.

Are you insinuiating doctors work for free in these countries?

No, but they aren't compensated nearly as well due to the market prices being "set" lower than what they can command in another market. i.e. practicing medicine in the U.S. commands a higher wage than in Canada so doctors leave the Canadian system after completing their residency. Hence, the shortage of supply caused by a market distorted by socialism.

TANSTAAFL

I don't think anything is caused by the Canadian means of production being owned by the people.

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