Dear Sir,

Robert Stewart’s recent opinion piece was of interest to me for what it did not discuss — no mention of Canada or, for that matter, any other country with a socialised, publicly funded healthcare system.

His economic arguments as evidenced by the United States is wrong. Their system of healthcare is an expensive “business”, with healthcare secondary.

In Canada, doctors get one cheque from the Government to deposit and don’t need a complex system to keep track of the myriad forms to manage accounts. I recently had surgery performed by the chief thoracic surgeon at a major hospital.

Not because I paid extra, or because I have “Dr” in front of my name, but rather it’s inherent in the system.

I have two prosthetics on my legs and, where I live in Canada, the Government pays three quarters of the cost every two years for new ones. Etc, etc.

Publicly funded systems do work if the will to make it so exists.

ALAN NEIL ENNIS, MD

Toronto, Canada