What is Canadian-style health care really like?

President Barack Obama’s push to overhaul the U.S. health care system, including most recently a speech to the American Medical Association this morning, has many people on both sides of the issue drawing comparisons to the Canadian system. What is the truth about Canada’s health care system, and how does it compare to the American system, both as it exists now and as it may look if Obama’s efforts to reform it are successful? The following experts from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) are available for comment today:

Antonia Maioni
Director, McGill Institute for the Study of Canada
Expertise: Health care reform in Canada and the U.S.; Canadian and American politics.
antonia.maioni [at] mcgill.ca
514-909-9566

Erin Strumpf
Professor, Department of Economics, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health
Expertise: Characteristics of health care and health financing systems and effect on access to health care, quality of care, costs and outcomes.
erin.strumpf [at] mcgill.ca
514-398-2880