Timely care more important

An Aug. 22 letter about single-payer health care touted the Canadian system. I grew up in Canada, and most of my relatives are in Canada. My greatest fear is that while visiting in Canada, I fall ill or have an accident. Norm Luther spelled out all the monetary benefits, but timely care is more important to me.

I wish I had the space to mention all the unbelievable wait times for treatment in British Columbia that I know of. My sister has excruciating knee pain and needs an MRI. Her MRI was scheduled out eight months. I have a niece who just retired from nursing due to bad knees. She will not be able to get an appointment to see a surgeon for almost a year. I know of people who have waited for over two years for a knee or hip replacement.

Doctors leave Canada for the United States due to the low pay they get from the government. As an example, in the B.C. interior there is only one dermatologist in most cities. Timely care is more important to me than the financial statistics Luther quoted. I’m glad for our Republicans.

Roy Tiefisher

Coeur d’Alene