Opponents of universal health care are fond of quoting horror stories about the quasi-holocaust known as the Canadian health care system. They natter on and on about lengthy waits for elective surgery, lack of modern technology, and probably Soylent Green as well. My favorite recent example came from Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster, trying to defend Governor Paul LePage’s IRS/Gestapo comparison:

“I’ve got friends of mine who came here [from Canada] because they couldn’t get their knee replaced in eight months,” he said. “That would be the only way you could tie [the IRS and the Gestapo] together.”

Ah, the sweet breath of Republican reason.

But here’s a very different take on Canadian health care, from a recovering conservative who had to move to Canada four years ago, and “was somewhat disgusted” at the prospect of government health care, which she saw as “a violation of my freedom.”

And now, after multiple pregnancies?  

I had better prenatal care than I had ever had in the States. I came in regularly for appointments to check on my health and my babies’ health throughout my pregnancy, and I never had to worry about how much a test cost or how much the blood draw fee was. With my pregnancies in the States, I had limited my checkups to only a handful to keep costs down. When I went in to get the shot I needed because of my negative blood type, it was covered.

…I started to feel differently about Universal government mandated and regulated Health care. I realized how many times my family had avoided hospital care because of our lack of coverage. …

Here in Canada, everyone was covered. If they worked full-time, if they worked part-time, or if they were homeless and lived on the street, they were all entitled to the same level of care if they had a medical need. People actually went in for routine check-ups and caught many of their illnesses early, before they were too advanced to treat. People were free to quit a job they hated, or even start their own business without fear of losing their medical coverage. In fact, the only real complaint I heard about the universal health care from the Canadians themselves, was that sometimes there could be a wait time before a particular medical service could be provided. But even that didn’t seem to be that bad to me, in the States most people had to wait for medical care, or even be denied based on their coverage. The only people guaranteed immediate and full service in the USA, were those with the best (and most expensive) health coverage or wads of cash they could blow. In Canada, the wait times were usually short, and applied to everyone regardless of wealth.

Somehow, I don’t think this person will be a guest on Common Sense Radio or speak at an Ethan Allen Institute event anytime soon.