A Stitch in Haste

If you believe in government-administered, single-payer, command-and-control, Paul Krugman style socialized medicine such as the "model" system used in Canada, then this is what you believe in:

The head of orthopedics at Santa Cabrini Hospital in Montreal is complaining the hospital is being punished for being too efficient.

The Health Department has ordered the hospital to stop doing hip and knee surgeries until the next fiscal year, which begins in April, according to Dr. Ethan Lichtblau.

The hospital in the Rosemont district has hit a government-set target number, and depleted its prosthesis budget for this year.

So for the next two months, this hospital is banned from providing healthcare.

A "model" single-payer healthcare system?

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who fully understand the phrase "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch" and those who don't.

And there is also no such thing as a free hip replacement. Somebody pays, either in terms of tax-and-spend redistributionism or in terms of rationing like this Montreal disgrace.

A "model" single-payer healthcare system?

Oh, and in case you think, "well, at least it's egalitarian," remember that the rich in Canada can simply hop a flight to New York or Minnesota and get their new hips there. Rationing only affects the poor.

A "model" single-payer healthcare system?

Give me a break (but not a broken hip).

(Via Kevin, M.D.)