How well is “free” universal health care going in Canada? This well:

British Columbia will send hundreds of cancer patients across the international border for treatment in Bellingham [Wash.] beginning this week in a multimillion dollar, desperate and controversial effort to restore government funded health care to some of its most vulnerable residents. . . . [According to] BC Health Minister Adrian Dix in a lengthy interview with KOMO News in Vancouver. “In cancer care, we’re seeing significantly increased demand and an aging population and some also some challenges with equipment and health resources.” . . .

The issue surrounds wait times for radiation treatment and the mandate for care within 28 days of diagnosis. BC Cancer doesn’t hide the fact the province has seen wait times skyrocket, or “unacceptably high,” as Dix calls it. He cites stats that say patients meet the mandate 82.5% of the time, worst across Canada . . . His critics dispute the math and say the numbers are actually far worse.

BC Health “has already earmarked $39 million a year for two years” to get Americans to do the jobs Canadian health care can’t do.