Sarah Palin’s Canadian healthcare

Here’s a weird snippet. At an appearance in Calgary, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin described growing up using Canada’s single-payer socialized healthcare.

This from the Globe and Mail:

The vocal opponent of health-care reform in the U.S. steered largely clear of the topic except to reveal a tidbit about her life growing up not far from Whitehorse.

“We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada,” she said. “And I think now, isn’t that ironic?”

Having grown up in Alaska, my guess is that her family crossed the border not because healthcare was more affordable, but because it was closer.

Alaska’s a big place.

In those days, the Al-Can border was essentially invisible, and communities often shared services across the line.

Still, it seems that experience should have left Palin with a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of what “socialized” medicine looks like.