State single payer moving right along

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. Countries that actually have single-payer generally provide true emergency care only to foreigners

For example, if you break your arm in Canada or the UK, they will put it in a cast and give you some pain pills, but they won't provide any follow-up care. If you have a heart attack, they will stabilize you and urge you to go back to your own country for further treatment. Nor will they treat you for minor ailments.

This is one thing the right-wingers didn't understand about the sad case of actress Natasha Richardson, who suffered a head injury while skiing in Canada. The Canadian system stabilized her, but then, since she wasn't a Canadian citizen or legal resident, they sent her back to New York, where she was living at the time. The right-wingers interpreted this as meaning that Canadian hospitals weren't competent to treat head injuries. They are, but Richardson didn't qualify for extended treatment, since she was only visiting Canada.