Canadian Health Care

[Nuggler]

Contrary to what some of our American brothers and sisters have been seeing in their newscasts (Fox and CNN mostly), here's one Canadian lady who has a few good things to say about our health care system:

http://cbcca.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mm...4c4a8970ca055588&maven_referralObject=7295261

It should be noted that the procedures she had would have cost upwards of half a million dollars. At the Mayo Clinic. In the US. In U.S. dollars. Of course we Cannuks all have half a mil or so stashed away, so no problem, right?8O

It's only a matter of time till Harpo gets his majority, and we all shall find out what being truly impoverished means.

Good luck to us!:angry3:

 

[Walter]

The 250+million Americans who have insurance would not be out half a mill. The others would be treated and medicare or medicaid would support them somewhat. Does anyone have any examples of Americans coming to Canada for treatment that is not available in the US?

 

[Niflmir]

In most provinces private health care is not banned. In fact I believe the supreme court ruled it unconstitutional. What is banned normally is having government funds paying for private procedures which the public system covers. Sometimes it is also banned for a practitioner to provide both public and private services, which is a little fishy.

In our case one can easily view the lack of private health care (for certain procedures) as the inability of the private health care to compete with the public one.

 

[petros]

America has no choice. If they don't go with a national system we'll see the start of a new sub-species of human and a more troublesome class structure than has ever existed in the past. Don't think so? It has already begun.

 

[Nuggler]

America has no choice. If they don't go with a national system we'll see the start of a new sub-species of human and a more troublesome class structure than has ever existed in the past. Don't think so? It has already begun.

Good ol'fashioned race wars, and food riots ? Gotta agree wit ya.

 

[petros]

Good ol'fashioned race wars, and food riots ? Gotta agree wit ya.

And ****fights. There is no social disorder more hideous than a good ol' ****fight

 

[AnnaG]

What I see the biggest difference between the States and Canada is that they can get quick medical service. We can't. That, I think is why people take a few thousand and head south. Other than the governments we've had ignoring the maintenance on healthcare (from the people who clean the laundry, the bloody hospitals becoming decrepit, people with relatively minor ailments catch serious diseases in our hospitals, no incentives for doctors to go to rural areas, nurses heading south and to Europe, etc.), there isn't a whole lot of difference between what the US can provide and what we can provide.

 

[lone wolf]

I hate to think what debts would have hounded me following my daughter's premature birth. Two months in neo-natal ICU can't come cheap....

 

[DurkaDurka]

What exactly is "quick medical service"?

 

[Unforgiven]

What exactly is "quick medical service"?

I had to get a diagnostic last week. I called them on Monday afternoon and I was booked for Friday. Barely long enough to prep for it. Wait times can still be long but we're getting faster.

 

[AnnaG]

Good thing for insurance, huh, Mr. Wolf.
Switzerland demands people have insurance. If people can't afford it, the gov't buys it for them. If they can afford it, they get their own, and if they can only afford part of their insurance, the gov't chips in the rest. But no-one stays in Switzerland for any longer than 6 months without insurance. And the care they have is topnotch according to WHO.

 

[AnnaG]

What exactly is "quick medical service"?

I forget. But I think it may be medical care within weeks of affliction. If it's life threatening, they'll push thousands aside and squeeze you in the front of the lineups.

 

[DurkaDurka]

I forget. But I think it may be medical care within weeks of affliction. If it's life threatening, they'll push thousands aside and squeeze you in the front of the lineups.

Funny, I have never had to wait weeks for any sort of medical appointment or procedure.

 

[lone wolf]

Good thing for insurance, huh, Mr. Wolf.
Switzerland demands people have insurance. If people can't afford it, the gov't buys it for them. If they can afford it, they get their own, and if they can only afford part of their insurance, the gov't chips in the rest. But no-one stays in Switzerland for any longer than 6 months without insurance. And the care they have is topnotch according to WHO.

Funny, I don't think of it like insurance. For basic care in Ontario, there are no premiums any more. They went when OHIP went to an employer-pay system. They who wanted them, paid extra for the bells and whistles - so there always really has been two-tier. Hospitals have been farming out the lab work and laundry for years. The only ones making noise are the unions - and the patients they play as pawns.

 

[AnnaG]

Funny, I have never had to wait weeks for any sort of medical appointment or procedure.

You must live in a city. Or else you got lucky. There are people that have waited for months in pain waiting to have a joint replacement. I think in BC there was one lady waited for 3 years.
Funny, you never look around to see if Canada has people in it other than you.

Here's a little interesting info. Waiting for medical services in Canada: lots of heat, but little light -- Sanmartin et al. 162 (9): 1305 -- Canadian Medical Association Journal

 

[#juan]

You must live in a city. Or else you got lucky. There are people that have waited for months in pain waiting to have a joint replacement. I think in BC there was one lady waited for 3 years.
Funny, you never look around to see if Canada has people in it other than you.

Here's a little interesting info. Waiting for medical services in Canada: lots of heat, but little light -- Sanmartin et al. 162 (9): 1305 -- Canadian Medical Association Journal

Sounds like some kind of fear mongering to me. On my recent birthday I turned seventy. I've had two heart attacks and after some tests, I had surgery. A lot of my friends who are roughly the same age, had similar experiences. No long waits, no hassles. Joint replacements are a specialized procedure but waiting times are getting better. There are a lot more things right with Canadian health care than things wrong.

 

[sirlorenzo]

I believe, and I don't think I'm alone, that the main reason people are against health care reform in the US, is because it is a cash cow. The more people get sick the more money corporations make, and they know how to share the wealth with people who will support and lobby there cause. Not to mention any person in a position to "help" their cause have good health care anyways.

However I do concede that i do not know all of the specifics regarding Obama's plan in particular, so who knows, maybe his plan is crap. Does anyone know the specifics and have an educated answer to this? Or is it just a fear of lost revenue?

 

[Nuggler]

What I see the biggest difference between the States and Canada is that they can get quick medical service. We can't. That, I think is why people take a few thousand and head south. Other than the governments we've had ignoring the maintenance on healthcare (from the people who clean the laundry, the bloody hospitals becoming decrepit, people with relatively minor ailments catch serious diseases in our hospitals, no incentives for doctors to go to rural areas, nurses heading south and to Europe, etc.), there isn't a whole lot of difference between what the US can provide and what we can provide.

True enough about the timeline, Anna, but: If a government refuses to fund healthcare, they can then sit on the sidelines and say: "see, it doesn't work".....Mulroo and Harris.

We have had several serious operations and hospitilizations in our family in the last five years; all paid for by OHIP, (taxpayers, eh), (us, over 40 + years) and all done in a timely manner.

A friend of mine had a heart attack, was airlifted to the Heart Centre in Ottawa, and was treated there. His wife had to pay for parking when she went to see him.
Triple bipass. Gratis.

I don't believe ANY of the horshyte from the US health service, and their shills.

But, it seems to be the way a lot of people want to go.

 

[YukonJack]

We moved to Winnipeg two years ago from Ontario.
We find that the Health coverage in Manitoba is so superior to the one Ontario, that it is hard to believe the two provinces are actually both in Canada.

For timeliness and quick attention, though, not even Manitoba comes close to Ohio, where I lived for six years from 1997 to 2002.

 

[DurkaDurka]

We moved to Winnipeg two years ago from Ontario.
We find that the Health coverage in Manitoba is so superior to the one Ontario, that it is hard to believe the two provinces are actually both in Canada.

How does the coverage differ in Manitoba?