<p>“Umm, the mammogram numbers are weird, as are most “wait for appointment” numbers.”</p>
<p>The reason for it is lack of machinery (the state lost more than a quarter of its machines in three years), and the fact that there is no profit in it. The folks in Hackensack are not likely particularly interested in the excuses. </p>
<p>Average wait times in Canada for elective surgery are now shorter than they are for cancer surgery in the U.S. </p>
<p>“Canadians are so famous for crossing the border to come and get their health care here, (i wonder why Michael Moore does not make a documentary on that) to the point that many canadian insurance companies began to place restrictions in their plans to avoid the practice.”</p>
<p>Bus leaves two blocks from my office to go to Canada weekly to buy needed cancer and other drugs. </p>
<p>“How would that wait be calculated?”</p>
<p>Ask the CEO of Aetna. HE says the waiting lists are shorter in Canada. (and this is AFTER the cancer diagnosis.) But IF you get the mammogram, and IF you get the follow-up (and IF you have insurance), you will still in all likelihood get a course of care with an 11% higher reoccurrence rate, and a 10% higher mortality rate, and a substantially higher rate of neuropathic symptoms, all delivered to you courtesy of the best health care system in the world. </p>
<p>But forget Canada or England or France. I have personal experience with running a business on both sides of the border. I also have personal experience with a single-payor, government-administered health system here, competing directly with private insurance (with better care, and a fraction of the cost.) Discount that too. Simply set up an experiment (which the Edwards Plan does) - put two systems on a level playing field, and which the insurers go bankrupt (if they aren’t allowed to buy their way out.)</p>