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Greens’ private healthcare ban is dangerous (and mad)

[8/8/16]

Greens’ private healthcare ban is dangerous (and mad)

The Green Party’s idea of abolishing private healthcare shows the Green Party is as kooky as ever, says ACT Leader David Seymour, the only MP to have lived in a country where private healthcare is banned.

“Private healthcare is illegal in Canada. During my time there I travelled to the USA to receive healthcare, as did many Canadians I’d met. Even one MP, Belinda Stronach, infamously took her doctor’s advice to skip the Canadian system in favour of the USA’s when diagnosed with cancer.

Canada’s draconian ban on private health care works only because ninety per cent of Canadians live within 100 km of the U.S. border. Desperate patients can easily cross to the USA. New Zealand would have no such safety valve. Patients who couldn’t afford a trans-Tasman trip could face mortal danger.

“Meanwhile Canada frequently underperforms in comparison with European healthcare systems which allow a mix of public and private provision.

“This outburst from Kevin Hague shows the Green’s mad ideological underbelly. Poor James Shaw is desperately trying to persuade sensible voters that the Greens represent mainstream New Zealand. But that old-time kookiness keeps rearing its head.”

ENDS


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