When compared to Americans, Canadians live longer, live healthily longer, pay less individually for health care, pay less through our taxes for health care, and overall devote less of our GDP for health care. That’s what socialized health care is about in Canada – better health for all for less cost.
Canadians live longer than Americans:
79.3 years = Canadian life expectancy (2001)
77.0 years = American life expectancy (2001)
Canadians enjoy better health longer than Americans:
69.9 years = Canadian healthy life expectancy (2001)
67.4 = American healthy life expectancy (2001)
Canadian individuals and insurers do not pay as much as American individuals and insurers:
28 = Canadian private expenditure on health as % of total expenditure on health (2000)
55.7 = American private expenditure on health as % of total expenditure on health (2000)
Canadian taxpayers do not pay as much for health care as the American taxpayers:
$1826 = Canadian per capita government expenditure on health in international dollars (2000)
$1992 = American per capita government expenditure on health in international dollars (2000)
Less of Canada’s GDP is spent on health than the USA’s:
9.1 = Canadian total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2000)
13 = American total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2000)
World Health Organization stats: http://www.who.int/whr/2002/annex/en/