A new agreement will provide some Canadians with weight loss surgery here in America. The patients come here for the operation, and the Canadian healthcare system pays for it.
The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care recently partnered with 13 American hospitals to assist with Canadian bariatric surgery cases. Canadians can now cross the border to Michigan and get weight loss surgery, thanks to funding from the Ontario Health Ministry.
Why the agreement? Well, it seems many Canadian facilities are ill-equipped for weight loss surgery, compared to the U.S. Also, the new deal will spare Canadian patients long wait times. With Canada’s national healthcare system, the waiting list for weight loss surgery can be more than five years.
Scott Hagerstrom, Michigan State Director for the grassroots organization Americans for Prosperity, said the situation is proof that socialized medicine doesn’t work. But health economist Uwe Reinhardt believes the new system is a great way for Canada to deal with its patient capacity, since its national health care budget is smaller.
