Canada's amazing health care system is not so amazing after all.

Yet another thinly disguised attack upon the concept of Universal Health Care by the 'I'm not going to pay to save some lazy bum's life!' brigade. My estimation of US society sinks with every such topic I encounter. But then it is bouyed by the number of Americans who tell these selfish bastards the truth. God bless America!

 

sounds like RomneyCare, at state level... why we need it at a federal level

 

you come from a small center like Boise and think that represents how wait times are everywhere how naive....let's see what someone who knows what they're talking about has to say on the issue of US wait times....Speaking to the Aetna Investor's Conference 2007, Troy Brennan let these nuggets drop:

The U.S. "healthcare system is not timely."
Recent statistics from the Institution of Healthcare Improvement document "that people are waiting an average of about 70 days to see a provider."
"In many circumstances people initially diagnosed with cancer are waiting over a month, which is intolerable."
In his former stint as an administrator and head of a physicians' organization he spent much of his time trying "to find appointments for people with doctors."



Business Week, no great fan of a national healthcare system, reported in late June that "as several surveys and numerous anecdotes show, waiting times in the U.S. are often as bad or worse as those in other industrialized nations -- despite the fact that the U.S. spends considerably more per capita on health care than any other country."

Statistics Canada's latest figures show that median wait times for elective surgery in Canada is now three weeks -- that's less time than Aetna's chief medical officer says Americans typically wait after being diagnosed with cancer.in my brothers case it was one day after he saw an oncologist...but he lives in a small center like Boise..

no one in critical pain or injury is denied access to a specialist if required so quit with the anecdotal evidence/lies from people who know nothing...my recent encounters with specialists for immediate treatment were, Neurologist, next day...Orthopedics, next day...Podiatrist, same day...and none of those instances were life threatening but rated higher than "I'm not feeling well"...and I live in a city 5 times the size of Boise

here's an article from Businessweek and what it had to say about US wait times..."The doctor will see you in three months"
http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2007-07-08/the-doctor-will-see-you-n-three-months

more lies or just plain naive on how things work...Medical administration costs are more than 3 times higher in the US than Canada, administration/paperwork charges are hidden in the premiums you pay...who do think pays those charges, do actually believe they do it for free?...

a link to the New England Journal of Medicine on comparative administration costs in the USA and Canada...
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa022033

 

How many people in Canada go bankrupt over medical debt? How many if they are in an accident cannot get into an ER? What about the fact they don't want a system like the US either they might complain but do they want to give up their medical system for ours?

 

it bankruptcy can't happen because of surgical or hospital costs...it could happen if the patient needs drugs that are not covered by health plans...but there is nothing to prevent people from getting private insurance to cover/lower drug costs...there are ongoing discussions about bringing drugs into a national plan...

bankruptcy could also happen because the person is no longer able to work but that isn't heath cares fault and there are insurances plans for that...

potential political suicide for anyone who wants to explore/suggest that...there are options in Canada for private care but it's a struggling industry catering to the rich and needy(pampered) but even among the wealthy who can afford private care 75% prefer to keep the public plan...

 

I guess I was wrong about wanting Universal Health Care!

 

The only people who have it good in america, medically wise, are upper middle class who can afford to pay most medical bills without insurance.

 

I disagree. For many years I made poverty level wages and still had great health insurance, low deductibles, and $5 to 10$ prescriptions. Also those on SSD get good coverage.

 

Nobody goes bankrupt over medical debt in Canada.

If a patient cannot afford the prescription drugs required, there are programs in every province to provide them for a nominal processing fee. The program is called Trillium in Ontario and the fee is $2.00 per script.

Nobody is turned away from an ER. We have a really good triage system for hospital ER's in Ontario. I had a heart attack last year, went to a very crowded ER and was admitted after waiting 1 minute - literally. Had a stent put in, spent three days in hospital, got my first scripts (6) free, met with two cardiologists, a nutritionist, a pharmacist, a physical therapist before release AND had 6 months of a coronary rehab program without paying a cent.

Our system ain't perfect, but it does a decent job particularly for the per capita expenditures.

 

double post.

 

yup I've had similar experiences, when I or a family member was critically injured, ill or just bleeding medical assistance was immediate, straight to the front of the line no waiting...I nearly amputated the end of my thumb, it got me past a full waiting room and being prepped in the OR within 5 minutes where a plastic surgeon on call arrived 30minutes later to reattach it...same again in a walk-in clinic when my big toe suffered a similar injury...suspected stroke, same again they had me in a bed hooked up to an assortment of monitors with in minutes, the on call neurologist was going over my test results as they came in ...my wife breaks her ankle, immediate admittance where her ankle was stabilized by a Orthopedic surgeon for next day surgery...and none of this cost anymore than a few dollars for prescriptions... I could go on and on with similar examples from direct family members...the complaining we hear come from those who whiny snivelers who think their tummy ache or sniffles are worse than everyone else in the ER waiting room and those who have never really been injured or seriously ill and have no clue as to how our healthcare works...

 

Welfare isn't for the disabled. It's to ensure children don't starve. It doesn't help single adults capable of holding down jobs. Most people on welfare HAVE jobs. They just don't pay enough to support their families. You do understand how welfare works, right? You also realize welfare doesn't help in any way with medical aid. That's Medicaid, which I know gets lumped in as welfare but is actually an older and different system that doesn't cover many Americans at all. You pretty much have to be a poor, single mother or father to qualify and even then, it doesn't cover nearly as much as private insurance.

It goes to your incorrect view of how this country's health care policies work.

I would rather have lots of money. What sort of dumb question is that? More importantly, what makes you think a guy in a wheel chair CAN'T make large sums of money? Seems you think people in wheelchairs are less useful than those out of them. Why is that?

Yeah, actually, I mean helping out people who need it when I say provide for the poor. You can think whatever you want, I suppose, no matter how wrong, but you don't get to tell me what I think or what my words mean, so...

The BEST way, according to you, is to have less taxation, fewer envrionmental regulations, more oil drilling, and to stop the EPA. OH and to have less government. You realize there are PLENTY of countries that fit your description. YOu know what we call them? Third world countries. Some of them have lots of oil drilling. And guess what? They are FULL of poor people.

No, I submit your opinion is fataly flawed and stupid. The reality is government IS the answer. That's what our founding fathers did, you see. THey took a country that was a Confederation and built a STRONGER National and Federal system. Government has been the answer since day one. Your mythological theory of small government has never been proven correct in the history of the world. Please cite on successful, wealthy nation that protects its people's liberties that has small, out of the way government. Name one. You can't, because they don't exist. Somalia has small government. So did Libya given it's central government couldn't control more than 2/3s of the land within its borders. Your argument is false. Government will always be part of the solution, that's why this country exists, a group of like minded people came together to create a GOVERNMENT that would BETTER their lives, not make it worse. Your opinion that somehow our lives are worse than they were 100 years ago is just as flawed and just as stupid. Our lives today are infinitely better, and its because as a society, we have decided to pool our resources and raise the lowest of our citizens up to a higher level. That's the measure of a successful nation and that's how you provide for the poor, by lifting them out of poverty so they have the hope and drive to go out and do something to lift another and another. It's socialism, absolutely, but we are all socialists. That's what a society is. That's what our nation is, a UNION for the COMMON WELFARE. That was written our founding socialists...I mean fathers!!! Sorry, I hope I didn't shatter your fairy tale version of our history.