Canadian Medicare: A System That Works America, a nation recognized for its astounding technological advances, offers citizens freedom, and opportunities lacking in other countries. Yet despite President Obama’s efforts to establish a governmental health care exchange, a considerable number of Americans have fallen through the cracks and remain uninsured or underinsured. In light of the recent scandal involving substandard care for our veterans and rising costs for basic medical procedures, America’s citizens demand reform of an insufficient system. Amidst this turmoil shines a light of hope; our neighbors to the north. Politicians and lawmakers, under pressure from the voting populace to find a solution, are looking toward…show more content… The facts show, that medications are much more readily available and at substantially cheaper rates than in the United States. In her article for Campaign for America’s Future, Sarah Robinson, who has dual citizenship between the United States and Canada, writes, “They are exactly the same drugs, made by the same pharmaceutical companies, often in the same factories. The Canadian drug distribution system, however, has much tighter oversight; and pharmacies, and pharmacists are more closely regulated. If there is a difference in Canadian drugs at all, they’re actually likely to be safer.” She goes on to argue that in Canada, the patient receives the first drug their doctor prescribes, unlike the back and forth between pharmacy, physician and insurance company that occurs in America to dispense the cheapest, but not always the best medication. Despite this fact, Americans continue struggling to obtain the medications they need for the management of their chronic and acute…show more content… Admittedly, wait times in Canada are sometimes longer than in the United States, however, those extended times result from numerous factors that also exist in the American system. Wait times may be longer in Canada due the fact that Canadians refuse to pay additional costs for their health care. They elect to wait longer for non-emergent procedures instead of paying higher prices to have the procedure sooner (Carroll). Another factor playing into this equation is the distance some Canadians travel for health care. Those living in the Northern provinces commute to larger cities for health care, schedule their procedures, and later return for them. Yet, a parallel to this situation exists in the rural areas of the United States (Chua). However, for Americans without insurance, wait times fail to be a concern, as they have no opportunity for the surgery at all. Despite this injustice, the government remains