Waiting Game: Rhetorical Evocations of Canada in U.S. Health Care Debates

Abstract

American health policy scholars often use comparisons with Canada to illustrate the benefits and liabilities of certain policy developments, especially concerning single‐payer health care. Few scholars seem to have taken note, however, of the rhetorical work that comparisons with Canada do in American politics. Moving from policy to politics, this article seeks to understand the key rhetorical patterns that characterize evocations of Canada within American health‐care debates. Through an analysis of almost 10 years of American media, the authors argue that five rhetorical frames—waiting, misrepresentation, Canadians traveling to the United States, health outcomes, and the fact that the Canadian system “is not perfect”—comprise the key political dynamics in which rhetoric about Canada plays a role. Ultimately, the authors argue that the evocation of Canada in American health‐care politics creates a policy environment in which nuance and imperfection cannot be acknowledged, thereby forestalling problem solving.