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If there is one thing Barack Obama has emphasized as he pushes for a sweeping reform of the U.S. health care system this summer, it’s that it should not end up looking like Canada’s. Obama took the prospect of a Canadian-style “single payer” system—in which the government acts as a national insurance provider—categorically off the table. “There are countries where a single-payer system works pretty well,” he said in a speech to the American Medical Association on June 15. “But I believe—and I’ve taken some flak from members of my own party for this belief—that it’s important for our reform efforts to build on our traditions here in the United States. So when you hear the naysayers claim that I’m trying to bring about government-run health care, know this:...