Liberal Canadian MP Goes To US for Treatment

[#juan]

A fine "principal"... but not reality. There are private doctors in Canada too... that you can pay for.
http://www.specialistclinic.ca/ The Specialist Referral Clinic's first line on their page states it all. "Now you don't have to leave Canada to experience premium healthcare".

Do you want to wait 2 years to see a cardiologist about a heart problem, or would you like to spend a few hundred dollars to get a treatment plan that will get your life back on track within a few weeks? That's the choice a friend of mine made... 2 YEARS wait to see a cardiologist! Anyone who waits that long is an idiot when there are clinics in Canada that can provide a Dr. within weeks.

Workers Comp cases get treated in private facilities in Canada... as do insurance claims.

Horse feathers!!
I know for a fact that a 2 year wait is not normal or anything close to it. I'm at an age now where I and a lot of my friends have had cardiac surgery and none of us have waited long at all. I was referred to a cardiac specialist by my GP and within a week it was decided that surgery was the way to go and I didn't go to any special clinic, nor did I pay an extra fee. Seems to me that our Colpy had cardiac surgery without any long waits. A two year wait to see a cardiologist would be ridiculous.

 

[Dreadful Nonsense]

WHATS THE DEAL WITH TWO TIER!!!!!
If ya got the dough...GO to the states

leave our health care like it is....SCREAM for better care...
the poor do not need to live in a two tier health system in canada

the option for the rich is already available

 

[lone wolf]

WHATS THE DEAL WITH TWO TIER!!!!!
If ya got the dough...GO to the states

leave our health care like it is....SCREAM for better care...
the poor do not need to live in a two tier health system in canada

the option for the rich is already available

Sorry doc.... I want it like it was when there were still some doctors here. Government types should have to exist in the same system they gave us. Two tier is here to stay. As long as health Care covers it, who cares? The UNIONS!

Wolf

 

[Niflmir]

The problem is just a shortage of qualified doctors. There are plenty of people who have the qualifications to enter medical school but are turned away simply because of limited entry, in fact with the inherent variance in a human (error prone) selection process, some better candidates are probably being turned away. Our health care system is easily sustainable.

Also, horse feathers! I forgot about that saying. Fantastic.

As I stated earlier, the occurrence of genuine waiting time faults is small statistically but overblown anecdotally. This report states that 90% of people had to wait less than 3 months for specialised services, yet 30% of people thought they were waiting too long. For non-emergency surgery, only 17% of people found the wait times acceptable, yet 80% of them waited less than 3 months for something which was not an emergency.

This is all self reported access. They really need some sort of more objective metric, it seems to me if they have to wait a day over what their schedule allows, people will scream: too long!

 

[triedit]

We were referred by both our pediatrician and our GP to a child psychologist last spring. We still don't even have an APPOINTMENT...there's a waiting list.

Since he's healthy and able to go to regular school, they don't see it as an emergency. I beg to differ.

 

[#juan]

The problem is just a shortage of qualified doctors. There are plenty of people who have the qualifications to enter medical school but are turned away simply because of limited entry, in fact with the inherent variance in a human (error prone) selection process, some better candidates are probably being turned away. Our health care system is easily sustainable.

Also, horse feathers! I forgot about that saying. Fantastic.

As I stated earlier, the occurrence of genuine waiting time faults is small statistically but overblown anecdotally. This report states that 90% of people had to wait less than 3 months for specialised services, yet 30% of people thought they were waiting too long. For non-emergency surgery, only 17% of people found the wait times acceptable, yet 80% of them waited less than 3 months for something which was not an emergency.

This is all self reported access. They really need some sort of more objective metric, it seems to me if they have to wait a day over what their schedule allows, people will scream: too long!

I may be barking at cars when there are none to bark at. I've just heard too many stories about our failing medical system when in my experience, the system is pretty damn good.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

A two year wait to see a cardiologist would be ridiculous.

Up to 2 years... probably a year at least. Believe me or not... that's what it was. A visit to the USA got things rolling MANY months faster than in B.C. for a (relatively) small cost.

 

[gerryh]

Up to 2 years... probably a year at least. Believe me or not... that's what it was. A visit to the USA got things rolling MANY months faster than in B.C. for a (relatively) small cost.

2 years eh........ haven't seen it.

I'm with Juan.... We haven't seen any unreasonable wait times to see anyone, nor to get nesasary treatments, both in BC and Alberta.

 

[lone wolf]

2 years eh........ haven't seen it.

I'm with Juan.... We haven't seen any unreasonable wait times to see anyone, nor to get nesasary treatments, both in BC and Alberta.

Ontario's health care, like everything else here, was plundered by hatchett Mike - with no system for replacement. Docs left here in droves. McGuinty han't found a lot he can do to fix things, and until they lift the cap on doctor incomes, medical school entries and relax the regs on foreign doctors, it's going to be a long time before Harris' damage can be repaired.

It took about three months for me to get to see a cardiologist, but once I was in it moved fast! Still, it was slow enough that I went into full cardiac arrest while they were mining for a vein to do an angiogram. That bumped me to the head of the line REAL FAST!

Wolf

 

[Colpy]

Horse feathers!!
I know for a fact that a 2 year wait is not normal or anything close to it. I'm at an age now where I and a lot of my friends have had cardiac surgery and none of us have waited long at all. I was referred to a cardiac specialist by my GP and within a week it was decided that surgery was the way to go and I didn't go to any special clinic, nor did I pay an extra fee. Seems to me that our Colpy had cardiac surgery without any long waits. A two year wait to see a cardiologist would be ridiculous.

Yeah, Juan is right.

My wait for heart surgery was less than 2 weeks...........and at that it was cancelled twice because of more serious cases that jumped the line.

Mind you, I was told they kept me in hospital because if they sent me home my name would go off the "urgent" list, and God knows when they would have called me.

I got into a cardiologist within 6 weeks...........

Now, I have some problems with medicare......try getting a family doctor in NB, and some wait a loooong time for correction of painful or debilitating (non-life threatening) conditions......

But I was treated very well, had excellent work done, feel like a new man, and it was FREE. How can I complain?

Curio, I am sorry to hear about your sister......my brother died on Nov.11 last year, I know how hard it is.........

 

[YoungJoonKim]

Our (family) family doctor refused us at first even though there were a family moving out of his list. I suppose accepting or refusing depends on doctor...talk about freedom.
Luckily, we got on his list and we go see him time to time.
Oh yes, I just found this list of "cost" if paitents are not covered by Universal Health Care Insurance Plan (UHIP) or OHIP (We know what that is hehe).
Just contacting and making appointment cost $60...
Or measuring blood pressure..$100..
and eye sight test...$60..
Funny thing, we did it all for nothing (and more..such as being hospitalized in mental aid hospital...it would have spent my family a FORTUNE to go there)

But recently, I heard that Mr. Harper's government is making budget cut, which includes some parts of our health plan. One of woman complained that she had to pay $400 because of the cut. What is this?
(oh yeah..I forgot..Afghanistan)

 

[YoungJoonKim]

And I am sorry to hear you're loss lone wolf and Curiosity.
Our bureaucracy just doesn't have feelings anymore do they ? (a bit of sarcasm..really)

 

[Walter]

Ontario's health care, like everything else here, was plundered by hatchett Mike - with no system for replacement. Docs left here in droves. McGuinty han't found a lot he can do to fix things, and until they lift the cap on doctor incomes, medical school entries and relax the regs on foreign doctors, it's going to be a long time before Harris' damage can be repaired.

What a pile of dung. My brother left when Peterson said, "No extra billing." I guess he was the only one, all the other thousands waited for Mike to be in charge.

 

[Curiosity]

And I am sorry to hear you're loss lone wolf and Curiosity.
Our bureaucracy just doesn't have feelings anymore do they ? (a bit of sarcasm..really)

YoungJoonKim

I hope you haven't misinterpreted what I wrote about my sister's treatment - she was given the best of care - no waiting time whatsoever and spent much of her last days in hospital at Vancouver General.

The point I made about the U.S. treatment was there are research groups doing different things down here than Canadian research groups and her doctors scoured a place for her in either nation to see if she could beat the disease by getting into a new type of protocal trial. She didn't have enough time but what she did have was made comfortable and she was very well cared for.

Thanks to those messages of sympathy also.... I was moved by the staff who became very close to her during her long seige - these people left no doubt there are angels on earth.

 

[lone wolf]

What a pile of dung. My brother left when Peterson said, "No extra billing." I guess he was the only one, all the other thousands waited for Mike to be in charge.

Rip? Rip? Mr Van Winkle... It's time to take your sleeping pill....

Wolf

 

[lone wolf]

On a curious little sidenote ... isn't it ironic that Liberal, Belinda, was Hatchett Mikey's annointed angel for the new Reformatory party when she left the Ontario PC's behind?

Piles of dung and Tories. The two just seem to travel in packs....

Wolf

 

[TenPenny]

Workers Comp cases get treated in private facilities in Canada... as do insurance claims.

Workers Comp medical cases get treated by the same doctors, except that they are not allowed to bill medicare,they bill workers comp. That's the way it works in NB. Insurance claims are treated no differently.

If, however, you are referring to physio or occupational therapy, that's a different kettle of fish.

 

[TenPenny]

Our (family) family doctor refused us at first even though there were a family moving out of his list. I suppose accepting or refusing depends on doctor...talk about freedom.

You put an interesting twist on that, but let me give you some background:

I know quite a few doctors here in NB who would like to slow down and work fewer hours....but what can they do, when they are fully booked up a month in advance, and people call every day looking to be taken on? They leave for work early in the morning, rarely get home before early evening, and some have young children. What kind of lifestyle is that?

The solution is for the doctors to not care about the patients, that way, the docs won't feel guilty when they go home to spend time with their families.

 

[ottawabill]

This topic is so full of black and white it's cazy!!

If there is (and I agree there is) a problem witrh our Canadian system then why does that alway automatically mean the only option is U.S. private care. Same in the States..when anyone brings up the flaws in private health care it seems the only talk is the commie National heath care system..

Both systems have their good points and bad one.

We fund hospitals with lump sums..it's in their interest NOT to have patients so they can keep more of the money. An American hospital is funded by the number of patients they see therefore they will build bigger hospitals to receive more money.

The problem is that a large section of the population doesn't have insurance..not if the hospital and MRI is public or private....every Doctor's office in Canada is private while being funded by a public insurance... We already do it!!!

Furthermore why mot let rich people buy whatever insurance they want privately..even for U.S. care and make sure everyone under a certain ecomonic threshold is insured by the government..If you retain a payment formula private or public /a doctor or hospital /or clinic would get paid the same no matter who walks in.

If I have to wait 3 months for a test that I can get in upstate new york in two days..you bet I'm going to New York..It will be my 500 bucks why should anyone have a problem with that!!!

 

[Toro]

2 years eh........ haven't seen it.

I'm with Juan.... We haven't seen any unreasonable wait times to see anyone, nor to get nesasary treatments, both in BC and Alberta.

The question regards "necessary."

My father has degenerate disks in his back. He first went to see his GP at the beginning of last year. He was supposed to see a neurologist. It took him 20 months to do so (though, in fairness, a few months of the delay was his doing). Fortunately, a minor surgery will at least postpone major surgery, but he is in constant pain and has had trouble just gripping things. But 20 months is far too long. Is it not "necessary" because its not life threatening? Is that the standard?

Regarding N's concept of an egalitarian society, there is nothing in the constitution about the process of health care delivery, nor is there any reference to money as a corrupting influence. The Supreme Court, as we all know, in fact gave a damning indictment of the Medicare delivery process.

Both America and Canada use fear tactics regarding each other in this debate. Entrenched interests in both countries dramatically exaggerate the failings of the other. I find it tiresome, and it often is a barrier to constructive solutions.