Americanization of health care in Canada

[Suzique39]

I am grateful that when I had a life threatening problem I had good Canadian care. I spent 1 partial day in hosp in a regular ward. Then it became obvious that without surgery I was going to die. I had the surgery that night, and spent 6 days in ICU, and 4 more days in hosp. I am grateful for our universal medical care, believe me. I have lived under both the Canadian system and the American system and that one illness would have wiped us out in the states.

I am also in the position of having had the exact same surgery twice, once here and once there. The first time they took 1/2 of my thyroid out here in Canada, it cost us $24.00. The second time they took the other half out in the US, that was $12,000.00 !

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Americanization of he

That's a story I've heard all too often, Suzique. People driven into bankruptcy, people paying off bills for the rest of their lives. It's terrible.

 

[Suzique39]

Re: RE: Americanization of he

That's a story I've heard all too often, Suzique. People driven into bankruptcy, people paying off bills for the rest of their lives. It's terrible.

True it is terrible, and even worse often it is older people who end up wiped out, can we say cat food for dinner? It is pitiful that a nation as rich as the US says it is (forget the borrowing from China) has always resisted universal medical care , which makes the AMA very happy. I can't imagine anyone wanting that for Canada. Yet there seem to be people who actually think the American way is better. Good medical insurance there costs upwards of $1000.00 per month for a single person. For those with good insurance the medical care is good, for those without insurance the care is so-so to non existant.

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Americanization of he

The costs are staggering in the US. GM cited medical benefits as a major reason why they were losing money there. If we had a similar system, we would have lost a lot more autoworker jobs, but because of universal healthcare we have a competitive advantage.

 

[the caracal kid]

now you are getting into government subsidization of corporations. I thought you did not like that (or is it alright to use healthcare as a subsidy as long as it is also benefiting citizens)?

 

[Suzique39]

okay I just sent out $600 to my health insurer
by - Michael 1 hour ago (Wed Dec 28 2005 10:16:40 ) Ignore this User | Report Abuse

UPDATED Wed Dec 28 2005 10:17:10

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My bill went up to six hundred a month as of Jan 1, 2006.
The country is run by the insurance companies.
In May I think I'll be eligible for medicare as I have been getting SSD since May 2004.

I just lifted this from another message board. Thought it fit in quite nicely with this discussion, The reason Canadian older people live as well as they do is because we don't pay insurance bills like that. Hubby and I for the 2 of us pay $96.00 per month now that he is retired and we are glad we can afford it and to live well too.

 

[cyberclark]

All Private insurance is an industry of denial; strict limitations. Computers sciences are producing locations in the country where incident of one ailment or another is prevelant. No coverage here!

The Calgary Health Authority is now writing up a list of items not covered under Alberta Health Care. Much of the coverage we now enjoy will be gone! In it's place, a recomendation to go to private health for the cure.

On the other side, the Governments are turning a "cost centre" into a "profit centre" because these same people now are collecting fees from you and paying taxes on them.

What happens to Automobile accident people? These same insuance companies are now saying "we can't be held responsible for Medical costs, we will go broke1"

These are not contradictions! This is a scenario where Governments are pressing to create a profitable industry in insurance at your expence!
cyberclark@shaw.ca

 

[Reverend Blair]

What happens to Automobile accident people? These same insuance companies are now saying "we can't be held responsible for Medical costs, we will go broke1"

Public auto insurance is an excellent option too, Cyberclark. I'm sure glad that we have it here.

All Private insurance is an industry of denial; strict limitations. Computers sciences are producing locations in the country where incident of one ailment or another is prevelant. No coverage here!

They will be fully prepared when they move in. They will dump as many expenses as possible onto to the public system. We will then be told that what's left of the public system doesn't work at all, which leads us to this:

The Calgary Health Authority is now writing up a list of items not covered under Alberta Health Care. Much of the coverage we now enjoy will be gone! In it's place, a recomendation to go to private health for the cure.

Oops! Sorry, but you have no coverage under the public or private systems. Pay cash. Can't afford that? Then you do what poor people have been doing in the US for years, and used to be forced to do in Canada. You can wait it out. You'll either get better on your own or die.

That's the world that Stephen Harper, Paul Martin, and all of the rest of the privatizers are leading us too. Their excuse is that we cannot afford the public system, yet all of the studies show the public system costs less per capita than the private system. Canadians pay the price either way, we are the capita in the "per capita", but we are being told that we can't afford the less expensive option so must adopt the more expensive option.

 

[Timetrvlr]

Canadians pay the price either way, we are the capita in the "per capita", but we are being told that we can't afford the less expensive option so must adopt the more expensive option.

Beautiful summary! And that is exactly why I am going to vote NDP! To hell with strategic voting, I'm going to vote for what I believe in.

 

[I think not]

Comparing the American health care system with Canada is like comparing bananas with a tractor trailer.

Compare Canadas health care with other socialized health care systems around the world, like France or the UK.

Some of the things I have read in this thread are beyong comprehension, $1000 a month for an individual in the states for health coverage? :roll:

I must be the only single individual then that pays $325 for a PPO plan, but I'll resell it for $500 if you guys want

 

[FiveParadox]

RE: Americanization of he

I had no idea that health insurance premiums in the United States cost that much. My family is, let's say "low income" at the moment; if that were the case in Canada, then quite simply, we wouldn't have any health insurance. I far prefer Canada's universal health care system.

 

[I think not]

Re: RE: Americanization of he

I had no idea that health insurance premiums in the United States cost that much. My family is, let's say "low income" at the moment; if that were the case in Canada, then quite simply, we wouldn't have any health insurance. I far prefer Canada's universal health care system.

$325 for an individual is alot? I think it will be increasing to $344 by next year, what do you consider low? Just curious.

"Low income" families get funded through the state by the federal government, and I am not referring to medicaid.

 

[cyberclark]

I know of a small shop in Montana where the owner covers himself, wife and 2 employees as a group. He has to pay 550.00 per month for each employee.

How many businesses in Canada are ready to step up to the plate for this kind of a hit?

The Workers Compensation in the US is a law that tells business what it has to cover by way of accidents. It is up to the business to buy private insurance for the coverage.

The 550 above (US) would also cover what we would call Workers Compensation Insurance.

We should start working on a way to turn out the vote and fix some of these things!

 

[FiveParadox]

RE: Americanization of he

Well, $325 to me sounds like a lot, considering right now I pay $0. By way of comparison, it's a bit high. lol

 

[I think not]

Re: RE: Americanization of he

Well, $325 to me sounds like a lot, considering right now I pay $0. By way of comparison, it's a bit high. lol

Well I should of rephrased it differently, $325 can sound like alot to a great deal of people. If you are employed btw, it's not costing you $0. But anyway, the point I am trying to make is that there are many avenues to take to get insured in the US and simply put, many people don't know about it.

 

[FiveParadox]

RE: Americanization of he

Oh, okay, I see.

But I think that the point of the Canada Health Act is that one's health care should not be dependent upon their financial situation. For example, a rich person should have no more right to timely health care (by paying for private or "for-profit" service, for example) than would a person living in poverty.

 

[Summer]

RE: Americanization of he

Agreed, Five.

And what ITN hasn't mentioned is that in the U.S., if you are unemployed or working part-time (even if you have two or more part-time jobs that add up to over 40 hours a week), it can be difficult or even impossible to obtain affordable health insurance, and yet you may not qualify for any government help with your healthcare in that situation either.

I know, because I've been there.

 

[I think not]

That is not an accurate statement Summer, the work hours or being unemployed have nothing to do with your health coverage, it is entirely based on income.

 

[FiveParadox]

RE: Americanization of he

I think not, one cannot argue that work hours and unemployment are not directly related to income. If you work less hours, your income is less; if you are unemployed, then your income is zero.

 

[Summer]

That is not an accurate statement Summer, the work hours or being unemployed have nothing to do with your health coverage, it is entirely based on income.

No ITN, you are terribly misinformed if you believe that. A person who earns too much to qualify for assistance with healthcare may nevertheless work in a situation where employer-sponsored health coverage is not availalable. Part-time work is one such situation. So is being unemployed - I have been unemployed and still not qualified for any assistance with health coverage, so I know whereof I speak. And since private coverage is MUCH more expensive than group coverage provided through an employer (who also usually picks up part of the tab, dropping the price for the employee even further), it is extremely common for health insurance to be out of reach for people in the sorts of situations I mentioned. Someone who works 20 hours a week for one employer and 25 hours a week for another receives health insurance through neither, yet earns too much to qualify for any government-assisted health coverage, while at the same time making too little to afford private health insurance.

I've been there, I've done that, I know plenty of other people in the same boat, and I know what I'm talking about.