Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal has found that Canadians are living longer and healthier than Americans. David Feeny, from Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Oregon, on the Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health, said, "Canada and the US share a common border and enjoy very similar standards of living, yet life expectancy in Canada is higher than in the US. The difference? The reports says the main difference is that Canada offers its citizens Universal 'prenatal to grave' health service, which is free, while Americans' access to health insurance is typically based on employment, income (Medicaid), or age (Medicare), and is not universal. While Obamacare is a step forward, it'll take years - and tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths during that time because people still lack insurance - to implement. Although NPR and PBS and the corporate media in America and our congress refuse to even discuss it, Single Payer national health care - what Canada has - is the easiest and cheapest solution to the crisis America faces. Vermont is the second state to pass a law making it possible, the first being California, although that law may be vetoed by Vermont's Republican governor the same way California's law was twice passed and twice vetoed by Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
