HEALTH CARE - User fees

[taxslave]

Maybe doctors need to take a page out of the book of the old days (prior to '59) when patient care was primary and remuneration was secondary. In days of yore the typical family doctor would travel around his community at all hours of the day and night making house calls to treat desperately ill patients and quite often there was no money for him, but the grateful patient wouldn't send him away empty handed, be it a dozen eggs or a venison roast. I'm not sure how that worked on the income tax but at least the spirit was right.

My wife being a naturopath has on occasion been paid in chickens. But she doesn't get to bill the medical system for what she does anyway. Comes out of sick peoples pockets. If you don't sell for Big Pharma you don't get to bill the taxpayer.
I guess that means we do have two tier medical coverage in Canada.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

You are making assumptions. He is of german decent and quite white. He loved Africa but said it had become too dangerous to live there. We have a lot of S. African doctors here and only a few of them are not white. The doctor we have now is also from S. Africa and he too is white and is of Dutch decent. Things must not be too bad. Our current doctor just recently went home for a visit to see his Dad and so his Dad could meet his wife and son. I think if things were too bad there he would have brought his Dad here to live.
Why should anyone forgive his arrogance? He is as stated, one amongst many and the others are not like that.

I made no assumption, I was responding your post #471. In that, you mentioned that he is South African.

And that's why they group together in large offices and pay only a couple of people. Patients are booked approx. every 10 min. so 6 per hour is the minimum they see plus those they see in the hospital and those they see in the after hours clinics so they earn in excess of $1000.00 per day. Must be really hard to take. We have a very arrogant South African doctor here. He spoke about his home overlooking the ocean and how he likes to sit out on his deck and watch the sun go down. He said "It just doesn't get any better". Tough life that's for sure.

 

[JLM]

Just be damn careful VanIsle when you try to save a couple of bucks on dispensing fees. A good pharmacist and one who is familiar with your condition and all your medications is invaluable. Doctors make mistakes, sometimes wrongs doses are prescribed, sometimes meds that are in conflict with other medication you are taking is prescribed. A good pharmacist in constantly being vigilant and will check back with the doc when in doubt before filling the prescription. It's just not worth a couple of bucks to go to Superstore. They are good for buying rubber boots, but I'd be careful about depending on them to be in charge of your health. Off topic I do all my business with Nolan's here- they seem to be both reasonable and professional.

 

[VanIsle]

My wife being a naturopath has on occasion been paid in chickens. But she doesn't get to bill the medical system for what she does anyway. Comes out of sick peoples pockets. If you don't sell for Big Pharma you don't get to bill the taxpayer.
I guess that means we do have two tier medical coverage in Canada.

Same as the Chiropractor I worked for. Some people couldn't pay so - he got things done like - loose carpeting fixed, noisy fans repaired and so on. He was also good enough to let people order their orthotics and then give them a receipt to bill their health care provider right away so they could get the money back to pay for the product. Lots of people did not have the cash up front. He did not hand over the product until he was paid but he gave them time to get the bill in as he ordered the orthotics. He always made sure he was covered but he needed to. Orthotics are expensive.

 

[VanIsle]

Just be damn careful VanIsle when you try to save a couple of bucks on dispensing fees. A good pharmacist and one who is familiar with your condition and all your medications is invaluable. Doctors make mistakes, sometimes wrongs doses are prescribed, sometimes meds that are in conflict with other medication you are taking is prescribed. A good pharmacist in constantly being vigilant and will check back with the doc when in doubt before filling the prescription. It's just not worth a couple of bucks to go to Superstore. They are good for buying rubber boots, but I'd be careful about depending on them to be in charge of your health. Off topic I do all my business with Nolan's here- they seem to be both reasonable and professional.

Where you live, I dealt with London Drugs. At that time, their dispensing fees were the best. Nolan's has been there for a very very long time. Very reliable. You are right about watching SS. I always check my prescriptions and it's good that I do. One day I picked one up and being in a hurry I just paid for it and whipped home. When I opened it, I knew at a glance that the meds. were wrong. I may not have noticed if I had not had the prescription over and over. The last name on the bottle was the same as mine but not the first. I took it back. They then gave me my prescription for free. That surprized me because I did not think such a thing would be allowed.

 

[lone wolf]

Exercise ... but not to excess. I used to pump iron ... a LOT of iron. Right up until the day a firehose kicked my arse I weighed in heavy - like iron.

I ate like crap. That's the life of a long-hauler. Funny how many truck stops have weight rooms - but no salad bar - and you don't squeeze 53 foot windcatchers into those prissy little places that did.

I ate a lot of Percodon too. Really, it was the stubborn in me - and kind of a lousy marriage too - that made the road home. Mortgage needed to be paid ... and the bills. Kids have to be clothed and fed. Truck'n paid better than school. But I kept in shape....

I digress....

All of a sudden, enter Mister Firehose. I stopped ... hard. More pain. More doctor stuff. More painkillers. More stress. Could I ask for anything more? There was no more iron ... and more pain when I did; Lots of time for my guitar and pencil ... but more pain when I did. I didn't give up on me. I went to school - even though the doctors told me don't.

Then there's Honours in college but pain came from that ... then a slip on the skate rink, then flat on my ass. That brought in more doctors ... and that got more crap like ulcers and heart pills ... and the day I got zapped

Man, do ya ever jelly fast when ya hit the brakes!

 

[SirJosephPorter]

My wife being a naturopath has on occasion been paid in chickens. But she doesn't get to bill the medical system for what she does anyway. Comes out of sick peoples pockets. If you don't sell for Big Pharma you don't get to bill the taxpayer.
I guess that means we do have two tier medical coverage in Canada.

Neuropathy is not a specialty recognized by Western medicine and so is not covered by Canada Health Act. I think there are many alternative healing techniques (Homeopathy, Chinese medicine, Ayurveda etc.) which are not covered by Canada Health Act, and a person is on his own if he wishes to use them.

 

[TenPenny]

Some people couldn't pay so - he got things done like - loose carpeting fixed, noisy fans repaired and so on.

One would hope that he accounted for this, and declared it as income, because otherwise he would be guilty of tax evasion.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

One would hope that he accounted for this, and declared it as income, because otherwise he would be guilty of tax evasion.

I assume there is some of that kind of bartering going on. And as long as there are no records, no receipts, who is any the wiser?

I am not advocating that people do these things, but they do happen.

 

[JLM]

One would hope that he accounted for this, and declared it as income, because otherwise he would be guilty of tax evasion.

I'm of two minds about that sort of thing. I know everyone should pay his fair share, but I occasionally get jobs done for me cheap because I pay cash and don't require a receipt and I wouldn't want to change that. Of course for the past couple of years income tax hasn't been quite the burden it once was, but it's still bad enough. Anyway you don't want to be doing anything that will add to the cost of bureaucracy and sure as sh*t if people start declaring stuff like carpet cleaning and fans being repaired, Rev Can will be hiring more evaluators to check this stuff out. We want less Gov't. not more.

 

[AnnaG]

It's probably closer to $25, but that's about it, for a general visit with no procedures and no psych. councilling (ie, an hour discussing your depression).

And you're right, that's why it's hard to get doctors, because out of that money, they have to pay rent, office expenses, receptionist, etc.

That's hardly worth spending 10 years and racking up dozens of thousands of dollars of student debt. Lemme see, I'll spend 10 years and assume a $140,000 debt so I can start making a dollar a minute and 90% of that goes to expenses. Sounds fantastic.

http://www.cma.ca/index.cfm?ci_id=10026669&la_id=1

 

[AnnaG]

My wife being a naturopath has on occasion been paid in chickens. But she doesn't get to bill the medical system for what she does anyway. Comes out of sick peoples pockets. If you don't sell for Big Pharma you don't get to bill the taxpayer.
I guess that means we do have two tier medical coverage in Canada.

... in a variety of ways.

 

[AnnaG]

Neuropathy is not a specialty recognized by Western medicine and so is not covered by Canada Health Act. I think there are many alternative healing techniques (Homeopathy, Chinese medicine, Ayurveda etc.) which are not covered by Canada Health Act, and a person is on his own if he wishes to use them.

Cool. A parrot. Would you like a cracker?
BTW, don't you mean naturopathy? Neuropathy is the pathology of the peripheral nervous system. Perhaps your wife can explain the difference to you sometime.

 

[AnnaG]

I'm of two minds about that sort of thing. I know everyone should pay his fair share, but I occasionally get jobs done for me cheap because I pay cash and don't require a receipt and I wouldn't want to change that. Of course for the past couple of years income tax hasn't been quite the burden it once was, but it's still bad enough. Anyway you don't want to be doing anything that will add to the cost of bureaucracy and sure as sh*t if people start declaring stuff like carpet cleaning and fans being repaired, Rev Can will be hiring more evaluators to check this stuff out. We want less Gov't. not more.

The less efficient people see their gov't being the more likely they are to fudge on their income. Respect is earned and not many people respect the fed gov't (and haven't for a long time).

 

[petros]

The less efficient people see their gov't being the more likely they are to fudge on their income. Respect is earned and not many people respect the fed gov't (and haven't for a long time).

Something I find hillarious.

Government.

The word literally means mind control.

 

[AnnaG]

Something I find hillarious.

Government.

The word literally means mind control.

Close, but not quite accurate:

c.1300, from O.Fr. governer "govern," from L. gubernare "to direct, rule, guide," originally "to steer," from Gk. kybernan "to steer or pilot a ship, direct" (the root of cybernetics). The -k- to -g- sound shift is perhaps via the medium of Etruscan. Related: Governed; governing.

Online Etymology Dictionary

Our gov'ts have not done very well at "guiding".

 

[JLM]

The less efficient people see their gov't being the more likely they are to fudge on their income. Respect is earned and not many people respect the fed gov't (and haven't for a long time).

Governments have never been efficient, be it Federal, Provincial, Municipal, City, Reg. Districts or Unions. Efficient Governments would be a little resourceful so they don't have to always be going to the electorate for money. In a country like Canada with all it's resources why is Government always broke and needing subsidization?

 

[AnnaG]

Governments have never been efficient, be it Federal, Provincial, Municipal, City, Reg. Districts or Unions. Efficient Governments would be a little resourceful so they don't have to always be going to the electorate for money. In a country like Canada with all it's resources why is Government always broke and needing subsidization?

"Efficient" is a relative term. Canada's reason for high levels of inefficiency is due to greed and incompetence.

 

[JLM]

"Efficient" is a relative term. Canada's reason for high levels of inefficiency is due to greed and incompetence.

You're right on the ball this morning, Anna. :smile:

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Governments have never been efficient, be it Federal, Provincial, Municipal, City, Reg. Districts or Unions. Efficient Governments would be a little resourceful so they don't have to always be going to the electorate for money. In a country like Canada with all it's resources why is Government always broke and needing subsidization?

By definition, government always needs subsidization from its citizens, in the form of taxes. Let citizens stop paying taxes, the government will collapse and the nation will be reduced to savagery.

Also, I notice that those who are constantly ranting and raving against taxes usually want somebody else’s services to be cut (get rid of minimum wage, cut social assistance payment, child care subsidy for poor mother etc.). They will be the first to scream at the top of their voice if any services that they take advantage of are cut.

If it is the choice between their services being cut or racking up a huge deficit, they will opt for the latter. That is why conservatives almost invariably end up racking up huge debt and huge deficits.