WOW, You Canadians and your Healthcare

[bcb]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

you just contradicted yourself. the more doctors in private clinics the less there are available for the public, and if a doctor coming out of med-school has to choose between a private practice for more money or public for less, what do you think he'll choose?

you can't pay the police or fire department for extra care or special privileges, why should another essential service in health care be different? everyone deserves the same access to medial care, money should never have to enter the discussion

Of course you can. Bar owners do it all the time.

[FlamesAddiction]

As much as we complain about health care in Canada, I decided the other day that I needed to see a doctor so I went to a walk-in clinic. The wait, 20 minutes. I was prescribed meds.... and referred to the hospital to get a blood test (which I did today - waited 30 minutes).

The total cost = $20 for everything.

[Suzles]

There is a very good two tier system in the UK. Everybody has free health care (paid for by National Insurance contributions as a percentage of wages) and there is the option to also pay into a private medical policy (BUPA being the main one that comes to mind). They have hospitals nationwide so if you want you can jump the queue. You can't beat the care you receive by the NHS especially in an emergency situation. I have no problem with the health care here in Canada. We had heard how hard it was to get registered with a family doctor so hadn't even tried. Three months after we arrived I had a severe asthma attack so we tried a walk in clinic. The doctor was first rate and gave me his card to let me (and hubby) register at his own practice. Had a cancer scare six months later and I was in having MRI's and untra sounds within a couple of weeks. Fautless service.

[Clarkey]

I wonder how much that same appendectomy would cost in Canada?

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by bcb

Of course you can. Bar owners do it all the time.

So you're saying people should be allowed to pay doctors to come to their houses during their off hours to perform medical procedures?

Sounds reasonable.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by Clarkey

I wonder how much that same appendectomy would cost in Canada?

Nothing.

[missdpuck]

Very few Canadians I talk to here prefer the Canadian system, but it is a biased sample as they are usually quite well-off. I saw "Sicko" but realize alot of that was probably propaganda. How different are the British/French health care systems from the Canadian? And why does a health care plan that costs $65 a month in Virginia cost $262 a month in Florida? Of course the cost of living in both areas is different but.....
I pay about $150. a month for Blue Cross through my employer (post office). Funny how so many people think we get free medical insurance. The same policy would cost almost $400. a month (being Florida) if I had to pay myself. There is virtually no dental coverage, yet if I lived in ,say, New Jersey I could purchase a supplemental policy for $25 a month that actually has decent coverage far beyond the usual cursory $75 for a $600 root canal. I don't understand why it's not available to all employees.
One of my co-workers worked for the post office in NJ and a root canal ,under his supplemental plan, required a mere $5. co-pay. About 5 yrs ago I had several x-rays and ultrasounds ,and some minor "female" surgery. I paid $4000 out of pocket because some of the tests weren't covered due to my age (too young). If you can predict what kind of problems you are going to have you can choose a more fitting policy as a more expensive one is not necessarily better.

[Flame Of Liberty]

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

Nothing.

In Canada, every lunch is free.

[missdpuck]

Which comedian said that living in Canada is like being in college- free health care, lotsa beer, and you don't have to worry about the future?

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by Flame Of Liberty

In Canada, every lunch is free.

I'm guessing you're jealous because you have to pay for your hot lunches.

[First Lady]

I really don't want to get into this debate; ironically because I am not healthy enough.

But I will say this; for those who think our healthcare is "free", you need to give your head a shake and think about that for a moment.

If you still don't get it, investigate what percentage of our provincial (AB) budget is spent on healthcare.

[Table 5]

Honestly, Im not sure why any person, unless your fabulously wealthy, in the U.S. would not want the Canadian health system, warts and all. About 60% of all personal bankruptcies in the America were due to health care costs....and the real kicker is that almost 70% of those people had health insurance. To me that is mind boggling.

The issue is not when you break your leg or need your tonsils removed (George doesn't recommend holistic)...it's when something serious, but slow and long-term, happens and you have many years of issues and bills to deal with. Health insurance pays for the first while, but after you reach a certain spending limit, you are dropped and it's all up to you. A friend of mine recently had his appendix burst. When the 35k bill came, he was told that only half of his bill was covered by insurance, and he now owed over 17k. This is a young kid who had a fairly common procedure done. Imagine if you have some condition that is life-long and where treatment is expensive...then what? Another friend of mine is a hemophiliac who every once in a while has to get a shot of medicine that is $12,000 per dose. $12,000! If he wasn't German and had his insurance pay from back home, I have no idea what he would do.

Sure you pay higher taxes in Canada, but I know that if i get some long-term condition that requires many years of care and treatment, me and my family are not going to have our lives destroyed by paying hundreds of thousands of dollars. People sell their houses, liquidate retirement funds, move in with their children. All this, just because Americans don't want to be thought about as "socialists" ?

Even doctor's don't have it that great. My gf's dad is a very well respected family doctor in a small little town, and he pays over 100k/year in litigation insurance alone. The amount in insurance costs (both money and work wise) is so high, he basically dissuaded his daughter from entering medicine because the time you spend dealing with insurance companies just isn't worth it (never mind the couple hundred grand of debt you rack up going through Med school). He spends hours every day just filling out insurance claim forms, something which Canadian doctors are not subject to.

Canada's system isn't perfect, but I really have to laugh every time someone things the alternative down here is better. Sure you have to wait for certain procedure, but every time I've had a semi serious issue, I was always taken care of right away by great doctors, and walked out knowing my life savings wasn't in danger.

Ive had to utilize both, and there is no doubt in my mind which system I would want for me and my family.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by First Lady

I really don't want to get into this debate; ironically because I am not healthy enough.

But I will say this; for those who think our healthcare is "free", you need to give your head a shake and think about that for a moment.

If you still don't get it, investigate what percentage of our provincial (AB) budget is spent on healthcare.

You know what, I'll gladly take it. Because in the end, there are certain guarantees that you have, even if you have to pay a few hundred dollars extra year. If you get cancer or become a paraplegic, you know you will at least be taken care of for the long term, and you don't have to mortgage your life savings, or that of your family, in order to do so.

As I mentioned above, I have a friend who takes a $12,000/dose form of medicine for his rare type of hemophilia. Luckily he's not American, but if he was, do you think he'd rather pay a little bit higher in taxes every year, instead of having to face THAT monster of a bill?

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by HOOT

The part that kinda bugs me is that you can't even pay to go ahead of the line for those who are getting the same procedure for free.

Its only free if they aren't paying taxes. Otherwise, they are paying just as you are.

[missdpuck]

If my brother did not have lots of financial help from various charities his son's leukemia would have bankrupted him.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Are you saying what I think you're saying? Do you really think the wealthy should be able to jump the queue?

The wealthy do jump the queue. So do the connected (in the system. know the system).

Its only us poor schelps not quite rich enough to go south, east or west, and not quite connected enough to work the system who get held back to make sure we can claim the system is 'fair'.

[joe_mullen]

The system isn't the problem in Canada, it's years of mismanagement that is. We need more primary care physicians and nursing staff. Part of the reason specialist wait lists are long is that a large proportion of referrals are inappropriate as people are simply going to walk-in clinics were GPs don't have time to work-up relatively simple problems. Approximately 30% of Albertans don't have a GP, if that problem gets fixed then I think everything else would more or less fall in line. As for level of care, even in the case of the very rich, I know a number of people that went to see world famous specialists at the Mayo Clinic for second opinions on their problems and came back disappointed as they had a massive bill but the same information they had received in Canada.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by First Lady

I really don't want to get into this debate; ironically because I am not healthy enough.

But I will say this; for those who think our healthcare is "free", you need to give your head a shake and think about that for a moment.

If you still don't get it, investigate what percentage of our provincial (AB) budget is spent on healthcare.

Single-payer socialized healthcare is significantly more cost-efficient than American-style private health insurance. Per capita, Americans spend nearly double what Canada does on healthcare despite a significant portion of their population not even having insurance. According to several studies, health outcomes for a given condition are either similar on both sides of the border or even slightly better in Canada, so it's not like the US is getting better quality care for the extra money they're spending.

[Resolute 14]

Basically, American health care is awesome for the super rich, no better than, or slightly worse than Canadian for the middle class, and could care less if you live or die for the poor.

[MarchHare]

On a similar note, is the competitiveness of American businesses harmed since most must pay for expensive private health insurance plans? Would GM, for a recent example, be in much better financial shape if they didn't have to spend billions each year on healthcare for their employees and pensioners?

Obviously many Canadian companies provide their employees with health insurance too, but the cost is significantly lower since it tends to be for "extra" things like optical and dental care.

The cost of providing health care adds from $1,100 to $1,500 to the cost of each of the 4.65 million vehicles GM sold last year, according to various calculations. GM expects to spend at least $5.6 billion on health care this year, more than it spent on advertising last year.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...are-usat_x.htm