A staunch life-long believer in the moral superiority of government-delivered healthcare, Canadian physician Lee Kurisko, MD, radically changed his opinion when confronted with the reality of trying to actually deliver care in Canada’s single-payer system of healthcare. As Medical Director of Diagnostic Imaging at Thunder Bay Regional Hospital in Thunder Bay, Canada, he had to contend with a CT scan waiting list for seven months, and an MRI waiting list for 13 months. With government claiming a monopoly on healthcare, he came to realize that it is an illusion that government delivers care that otherwise wouldn’t exist, but rather impedes the level of care that could exist in a transparent, competitive free market.
Idealistically trying to improve care, Dr. Kurisko realized that government stands in the way of doing so while claiming benevolence ‘caring’ for the public. Dr. Kurisko finally “got it” that socialism not only doesn’t work and cannot work, but it is immoral because it is based on a loss of freedom. Dr. Kurisko became an advocate of free markets in healthcare and unconstrained charity care rather than government programs. Seeing the futility of striving to provide excellent care in Canada, Dr. Kurisko resigned from his position in Canada and moved to the relatively freer United States in 2002, where he has lived and worked since. Extrapolating from the valuable lessons learned in Canada, he came to see that freedom and limited government provide moral and effective solutions in all areas beyond just health care.
He and his wife moved to Iowa, where he now works as a radiologist. He has also worked as a family physician and an ER doctor early in his career. He is trained both as a general radiologist and neuroradiologist. He is Medical Director for Medibid.com, an online service for buying and selling medical services without the intrusion of third parties. He served briefly on a White House Committee regarding healthcare reform with Dr. CL Gray of Physicians for Reform under Assistant White House Chief of Staff, Dr. John Fleming with the Trump administration. He is also certified in Anti-Aging Medicine and along with his wife Joyce has started an online wellness company, “Kurisko and Company.” He is deeply honored and pleased to serve on the National Council of The John Birch Society.