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Canadian Doctor Gives U.S. Senator A Clinic On Public Health Care

Canadian Doctor Teaches U.S. Senator A Lesson On Public Health Care

Martin, who serves as vice president at the Women's College Hospital in Toronto, was in Washington D.C. on Tuesday to answer questions from a U.S. Senate subcommittee on different health care systems around the world. Republican Richard Burr, an anti-Obamacare Republican from North Carolina, took the opportunity to try and score a few points for high-cost private health care.

But Burr didn't exactly get the responses he was looking for.

The highlight?

Burr: "On average how many Canadian patients on a waiting list die each year? Do you know?"

Martin: "I don't, sir, but I know that there are 45,000 in America who die waiting because they don't have insurance at all."

Watch the video above to see Martin's other priceless responses. You can view a full video of the subcommittee testimony here or an abridged version here.

And just for the record, Americans pay far more for health care than any other industrialized nation. Meanwhile, life expectancy in the U.S. is well below the OECD average and health outcomes on key conditions such as diabetes and asthmas lag other Western nations. Learn more here.

Perhaps Martin herself said it best: "We believe that when you try to address wait times, you should do it in a way that benefits everyone, not just people who can afford to pay."

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