A Canadian surgeon told a group of students that the pressing issue in U.S. health care — millions of uninsured citizens — is nonexistant in the country’s northern neighbor Tuesday.

Dr. Lee Hunter, who now works in the U.S., told a group of about 20 students at Henderson Tolson Cultural Center the government-funded health care system means medical insurance is not necessary in Canada.

“Forty to 45 percent of every tax dollar paid in Canada goes to health care,” Hunter said.

The Canadian government is the primary medical provider and there are very few private clinics, she said.

The downfall of the health care system in Canada is rationing, and a patient may wait years for non-urgent procedures, Hunter said.

Hunter came to OU to discuss medical economics and the health care reform bill currently in congressional committee. OU’s Medical Ethics and Issues Discussion Panel hosted the speech.

Lynn Mercer, biochemistry major, attended the speech and said it was interesting to hear these things from such a different perspective, because Canada’s health care system is so different from the U.S. system.

Zoology major Niekia Franklin, president of MEIDP, said Hunter has an unbiased view of the health system because she has worked in both the U.S. and in Canada.

Hunter was asked which country had the superior health care system.

“I don’t know if there is such thing as a perfect health care system,” she said.