"Matt Barrow" writes:
"Chris Colohan" wrote in message
.. .
"Rob Montgomery" writes:
The difference is that, in Canada, there's only one government playing
the
medical game (per province) whereas in the U.S., a doctor doesn't have
to
honor the "low ball" insurance.

The plus side: since doctors in Canada have to deal with only one
insurer, there is _significantly_ less administrative overhead
involved in treating patients.

The amount of paperwork says much the same regardless of the number of
providers. Doctors have to compile the same records and it makes not a whit
who the payor is.

The data seems to indicate otherwise. According to a study published
in the New England Journal of Medicine:

"In the United States, administrative tasks consumed 13.5 percent
of physicians' time [...] Canadian physicians devoted 8.4 percent
of their professional time to practice management and
administration" [1]

Chris

[1] Costs of Health Care Administration in the United States and
Canada. Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H., Terry Campbell, M.H.A., and
David U. Himmelstein, M.D. Volume 349:768-775, August 21 2003,
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/349/8/768
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