Healthcare battle: Canada vs USA  We hear a lot in Canada about problems in our health care system. What we don't often hear about are the success stories. Here's an article from Yes Magazine, written from the US point of view and comparing their system with Canada's public one:
the United States has been the unwitting control subject in a 30-year, worldwide experiment comparing the merits of private versus public health care funding. For the people living in the United States, the results of this experiment with privately funded health care have been grim. The United States now has the most expensive health care system on earth and, despite remarkable technology, the general health of the U.S. population is lower than in most industrialized countries. Worse, Americans' mortality rates--both general and infant--are shockingly high. Food for thought as the Canadian system continues to come under attack by private interests.
44 comments I would imagine that the Health Care system in the US is better than Canada's for people with money.
For people without money, it's way better in Canada.
It averages out in Canada's favour. | | |
Well, the article seems to argue otherwise. It makes a really weird racial distinction, which according to the article is how the information was gathered in the past, and says that the "presumably richer" white babies still have a higher infant mortality rate in America than even the totaled out average infant mortality rate for all Canadians.
The article is much nicer than the little graph. Read it.
I know Canadians complain about the state of their socialized health care system, but after moving back to America and having shitty health care through my small organization, I'm frankly scared to get sick or hurt. I'm not poor, but I don't have dental insurance or a very well covering general health plan.
| | |
OK, I read the article. Thanks for pointing out that there was one; I missed the link.
I'm such a skeptic that I annoy even myself. I much prefer the Canadian system, by the way, but the article feels like a politically motivated hit piece. It feels like the stats are being twisted in just the way the author wants.
Like, for-profit hospitals may have higher death rates because they treat rarer and more high-risk diseases, not because they're cutting costs.
Still, this sentence is powerful: "But in Canada there is no association between income inequality and mortality rates—none whatsoever." But wait, what does that mean? Why "income inequality" and not just "income"?
Is she saying that income has no effect on mortality, or that places with income inequality (Toronto) have the same mortality rate as places with income equality (um, PEI?) Cause that's WAY different. That just means it averages out to the same. | | |
I've had to deal with the American healthcare system for the past few months...I now have a $600 medical bill for a freakin' blood test.
God forbid I have to go to the hospital (oh wait, I did...still haven't gotten the bill from that yet!)
I'm not poor, but at $300 per month for shitty coverage, I'm quickly becoming poor...I'll trade for the long wait times over these insane costs any day! | | |
| When my health care provider (US) dictates to me, after I have paid into their insuranse for 40 years, what state I have to live in to get their coverage, my freedom is seriously curtailed, it deminishes democracy which is becoming a notion of the past. | | |
| yah! It's true how bad is the healthcare in the USA. I cant belive that i need to pay $450 just for the consultation of my 5 mos old baby, not including vaccination or any lab test. Its really shocking!!!! | | |
I just really think that health care is way out of hand. Routine blood tests should not have to be sent to a hospital lab. And they sould not cost $300 a test. And now some insurance companies like the one me daughter has do not pay for labs.
I say save your money in a private savings and use that for doctor and hospital bills you would actually save money in the long run.
Case in point is my daughter, if she'd have saved the amount that insurance cost her in 3 years she'd have $6,000. She have $4,000 deductalbe and is not due until March 2009. This means she will need to meet the deductable for 2008 and 2009=$8,000. Now if the $6,000 was in savings she would have to make up say $2,000. With what was waisted on insurance this child will cost her at least 15,000 instead of $8,000. Think about it. Insurance is a scam!!!!! | | |
| I have to admit the politicians do not see Canada's Healthcare System for what it is. No Canadian has or ever will lose their home due to a medical bill. You can choose your famiy doctor and no hospital would ever deny you care. We all get care, you get a government health card and all services are given to you free. There are no insurance companies, taxes are a bit higher, but so are the wages. It all works out. Now only if the American politicians get get onto this concept and sell it to the people, all your national heathcare troubles would be solved. | | |
| I am an African-American with no health care coverage. I do not get sick but it is important to have health care. I m yself will be immigrating to Canada in 2009 or 2010 to have my skills be put to good use. America is done as a nation and Barak Obama will have his hands full as president. | | |
I have two data points that illustrate the absurd infamy
1. I needed vaccinations for a trip to South America. I procrastinated on it because my friends in Mexico City that I was traveling with told me they had gotten all of them for $60 while-you-wait. When I phoned around all the medical centers in the CA Bay Area they all had 4 months + waiting lists. There was only one that accepted walk-ins. I queued up at 5am together with hundreds of immigrants that needed vaccinations for their visa applications. It was finally my turn at 9:30pm and I paid $760.
If I had instead gone on the morning flight from San Francisco to Mexico City to get my vaccinations there I would not only have paid $300 less (including flight ticket & taxi) but I would have also managed to get back home in time for dinner with a return flight the same evening flight.
2. I went to the Stanford Hospital ER in Palo Alto, CA with abdominal pain. I was released after about 2h with the diagnosis that I have a gallstone. The total cost for this diagnosis was $12,600.
I then went to the Raffles Hospital in Singapore to have the gallstone removed. The surgery took 3 hours and I was hospitalized for 4 days. This cost around $7,500 (including flight) at that time's exchange rate.
I am lucky to have maintained my European healthcare insurance when I moved to the US. It works similarly to the Canadian and it is the only one I can really rely on. It covers me globally with the exception of the US. Go figure. So I need to maintain one here as well in case I get into an accident and can't go anywhere else to get life-saving treatment. But this is the only use it really has. I go to Europe or Asia for all other treatments, even routine dental work.
I can't confirm the notion of some others here that the US system provides better quality care for higher cost. Not compared to the 5 other countries I lived in. The hospitals may be looking nicer and there are a lot more specialists that can give you cutting edge procedures not available anywhere else. But if you just want a standard treatment for a common issue you get the worst quality deal I have seen. Particularly dental work. I can recognize it from 20 ft away if you had cosmetic dental work done in the US.
| | |
| A great many Canadians go without the care they medical care they need, because they do not have a family doctor. This is not by choice, but because there are not enough doctors. Canadian family doctors act as gatekeepers to specialist. If your GP says no, than you will not see a specialist. There are people in large cities like Toronto without a family doctor. It can take months and even up to a year or longer to see a specialist. Many Canadians die waiting to have serious cardiac and other operations, because the waiting lists are too long. Our government rations healthcare. It can take up to two or three years to get a new hip in some provinces. Imagine the pain and suffering, and the deterioration. Many Americans "think" that everything is covered in Canada. This is simply untrue. Dental care for example is NOT covered ( it maybe for children up to a certain age, but than converge stops and pay out of pocket or through insurance begins, orthodontic care, jaw surgery for TMJ, and bit plates, etc ... none of this is covered), physiotherapy outside the hospital setting is not covered, chiropractors are often not covered (varies by province), naturopaths are not covered, prescription medications are not covered. Medical equipment is often, you guessed it, not covered. My own mother had to pay for a plastic cast, it was like a hockey boot, and supposed to help her broken foot. The ER doctor didn’t put it on her foot. Mom had to physically go to the healthcare store and purchase this device, and it did not run cheap. Oh, well, I’m at it, a visit to the eye doctor is often also not covered. Domestic surgery is also not covered. Contrary to this article people have 1. died in Canada, because they have not been able to receive necessary medical care. 2. Canadians have lost their homes, because they could not afford medica care. Canadians must choose between food, their meds., or paying heat. Oh, Canadian heath care is not free. We pay high taxes, some provinces charge a premium, and it's ideal to have private medical coverage to pay for the growing list of items no longer covered. Coverage by province varies, a great deal, and Canadians healthcare in general acts like a giant HMO, but one based on a monopoly. So, an administer can decide if you are too old for dialysis or too old for an operation, or a family doctor may turn you down due to chronic illness, drug addiction, or say you've reached the grand old age of 50. That's the reality of healthcare in Canada where healthcare is not guaranteed | | |
| We can no longer choose a family doctor in Canada. To be able to choose one's own GP and even a specialist is increasingly a very rare, rare choice. Given the vast shortage of family doctors one is lucky to even have a family doctor. They are like a rare jewel, very difficult to come by. It's obvious that those stating otherwise have never or rarely needed healthcare in Canada, because they are likely quite healthy. If one has a chronic and life threatening illness, they see the system for what it is, a mess, abysmal, and collapsing. | | |
| Dude I'm from the U.S. and I ttravelled to Canada in the summer and it was AMAZING, I LOVE IT THERE. It was paradise. And when I got sick the health care was so convinient and great. I love Canada and I am moving there next month. | | |
"When my health care provider (US) dictates to me, after I have paid into their insuranse for 40 years, what state I have to live in to get their coverage, my freedom is seriously curtailed, it deminishes democracy which is becoming a notion of the past."
@Teri. Perhaps I am missing something, but as a middle aged man who has had U.S. health insurance until moving to Canada, what difference does it make how long you've been paying into "their" system? You are a number in their (any U.S. health ins.) system. You are a member only as long as you pay their premium. Benefits don't accumulate the longer you are with them. Again. perhaps I miss-read or am otherwise missing something but I don't understand your expectations. Do you understand how the U.S. system works? | | |
Only one thing is keeping me from staying in my home country, Canada and that is my fiance. I am scared out of my witts how we will survive there without the medical coverage I have here. I don't know if I will ever acclimate in having to pay monthly for health insurance, pay for every visit to the doctors office, pay for emergencies, pay for birth, pay 40% more on medicine, wait hours and hours at doctors offices. I talked to a lady who waited for 14 hours at the emergency room!!! in Florida!!!. I had brain surgery 14 years ago and did'nt have to pay not 1 cent. I couldn't even fathom having to go through that in the states. Who knows how many thousands and thousand I would have to pay out of my pocket!! I will miss my home country, Canada.
| | |
| The problem is not that we need govt. healthcare vs. private healthcare, as it stands now. Reform in America is needed, but it needs to start w/ getting rid of Medicaid and Medicare, which dictates how the private companies must work, and then we need to reform private insurance into a better, more competitive system. Right now there isn't competition for a host of reasons. Competition would right the wrongs. And as for waiting in the ER's for hours on end, yes, that happens, but look around---most of the people in the ER's are illegal immigrants and/or people without any insurance at all--they go to the ER bc/ they cannot be turned away legally and they go for coughs/colds. I've experienced this myself often. | | |
| here is the bottom line folks, (see the movie sicko) almost every country in the world including canada, recognizes that the mark of a civilized country is one who takes care of its old, its sick, and its young. here in the good old USA its different, its survival of the richest and the fittest. you cant fight it, too many greedy insurance and drug companies, insurance? thats a laugh, try getting health insurance from them if you are over 65 even if you are healthy they will laugh at you. medicare you say! well not everyone can qualify. Im 70 yrs old and never paid enough SS to cover it. the best chance youve got is hope that Barack Obama will fight for you and keep his promise. | | |
| not sure what the answer is for the USA but I don't think it is goverment run/taxpayer funded universal healthcare...our gov has a terrible track record running things...ex DMV, Soc Sec. etc. But something needs to be done, maybe get the gov out of it more...? idk. and who do you believe about other countries with socialized healthcare? some canadians say how terrible it is and talk about long waits for proceedures and others say the opposite. | | |
| I am sick of hearing American politicians saying how bad Canada's health care system is.I needed a CT scan all i waited is 2 days,later I needed an MRI and got in in less than 10 days.My mother is a 101 and lives with me,our doctor comes to the house to see her and none of this cost a penny.I laugh when I hear American Ins. companies saying they have cheap health care,only $400 plus a month for two people.Give me our health care system any day even with it's problems.Somebody said we can't choose our own doctors now,funny I did. | | |
| My sister lived in Canada for 20 plus years, She moved back to the states to retire as she felt the health care was much better in the USA. Canada is wonderful if you don't need too much care, and are willing to wait for critical tests. She was not, so she moved back. | | |
| I work as a paramedic in Toronto so I see some aspects of the health care system that others don't, at least in the Toronto area. I think our system was at its peak about 18 years ago. At that time, my wife and I decided we wanted our first child born at the birthing centre at Scarborough Grace Hospital. This place, at the time was a pilot project and was unbelievable. They had these great private rooms, jacuzzi's the mother's could sit in while they were in labour, and a mid-wife that was assigned to you who worked with the doctors and nurses and would follow up with you at home for months after the birth! So we had to find a doctor that had rights to this hospital. We found a number of them and literally went out and interviewed them so we could find one that we thought was really good, and would respect our wishes. The doctor WE chose was awesome! I was blown away by the whole experience. Okay, so...that was 18 years ago and a lot has changed. They still have a number of birthing centres in Toronto but nothing like the one we experienced then. I guess they killed the program much to my dismay but not really surprising -it seemed just a little too good to last. To get to the core of the changes I see as a paramedic: they have closed down hospital floors due to hospital staff cuts. This followed a number of hospitals being closed in Toronto. The remaining hospitals generally got renovations, and look great, BUT - one place you really see the problem is the backlog in the emergency. This is because the people come into the emergency and, if they don't get discharged, they often stay in the emerg. since there is a lack of staff to receive them on the floors. This results in greater wait times as the flow through the emergency department gets jammed. So far, people are still triaged appropriately, and if you have a higher priority medical condition related to airway, breathing or circulation (just like they teach in CPR courses) , you are seen immediately in all but the most unusual cases. Needless to say, no one who is sick wants to wait and ideally we should be able to solve this problem since it didn't exist 10 years ago. So what happened? Canada has a much better medical system than the U.S. There just is no comparison. I'm speaking overall, cross the board. I have seen both from a number of angles, and Michael Moore's film is not far from the truth. My wife is American and one of the big reasons we decided to stay in Canada is the health care system. But here's the irony- Canada's system is being Americanized if I can call it that. Big corporate interests are looking to crack it open so they can make the same obscene profits they do in the U.S. at the direct expense of you and I. It really borders on criminal when they are allowed to capitalize on you when you are at your most vulnerable and in a practicallly unlimited way. Don't get me wrong: I am not a socialist, but I don't like the way big corporations are taking over and having their way with us. It appears to me they are purposefully breaking the Canadian medicare system so they can then say, "you see, it is broken, public healthcare doesn' t work and it needs to be a public private partnership". This simply means that the government will handle and pay for all the things that the private companies don't consider profitable, and who will jump all over the quick and easy money procedures etc. From what I've seen, we are slowly losing the battle in Canada, and like the birthing centre pilot program, I guess our medicare system was too good to last. One last comment just to make this ridiculously long: my dad had prostate cancer treated at Mt. Sinai hospital in Toronto, the same place that American General Shwartkoff (sorry about the spelling) traveled to have his cancer treated. This proves nothing, but I can say there is a lot of negative propaganda in the U.S. about the state of Canada's health care. For the most part, it's pretty much as good as anywhere in the world, and trust me, few, if any die waiting to be seen in the emergency. All health care practitioners know they are the ones who wear it if that were to happen and want to keep their jobs ( we actually care about people too!) | | |
| he ultimate purpose of a health care system is to keep you alive and well. On that basis, to compare the US system to the Canadian system, is absurd. The Canadian system is so far ahead of the US system any comparison is asinine. A more meaningful comparison would be between the US system and that of Wallis and Fatuna, an overseas French colony in the Pacific. Go here: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wf.html | | |
Canadiano: that's not a very good indicator of healthcare systems. Are you saying that hospital and medical treatment is the ONLY factor determining how long you live?
Two of the three biggest killers in North America are cancer and car accidents. Canada has higher gas and cigarette taxes, which is part of the reason that people smoke and drive less in Canada. This alone could account for why the Canadian lifespan is longer than the American. The healthcare system may contribute as well, but you can't say that just because one country has a longer lifespan they automatically have the better healthcare system. | | |
I lived in Canada for 40 years and then moved to the US and have been here for 11 years - just became a citizen last year. Maybe it is simply a matter of where I lived in Canada vs. where I live in the US, but I find health care miles (not kilometers) ahead in the US. I much prefer the system here. In Canada I remember waiting 8 months to see a specialist; 3 days here, 2 months for an MRI; 1 week here, waiting 4 hours in a doctor's office in Canada for a scheduled appointment; have never waited in the US, 5 hours waiting in ER in Canada with a broken wrist; 5 minutes waiting here with the same severity of problem.
As for the cost of healthcare in either country, even though a lot of blogs say that taxes are comparable in the two countries, I do not believe it. I found that there was a lot less left on the paycheck in Canada after deductions than there is here. Not only that, there are deductions in the US that are a plus and it seems that most things that you purchase here with your net pay cost a lot less. I think that most of my fellow Americans would be appalled at the banking charges in Canada for one example. My wife and I had always planned to move back to Canada after retirement, but over the last couple of years we have reconsidered and will be staying here, and in large part due to the healthcare in the US. | | |
I had knee surgury several years back for 'Osgood Schlatters' diesease. In most cases, this goes away after a couple of years, I had it from 15-21 and finally said enough. It hurt like a bastard anytime contact on my knee was made. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osgood-Schlatter_disease)
They knocked me out for the surgury (which lasted about 25min) and removed the bone fragment in my knee which tissue had woven through. Apparently in the states that would have cost $7500.00, mine was free.. I waited 2 months to get in for it. After having pain in my knee for 7 years, I didnt mind waiting 2 months to save 7k.
Recovery was basically the same as ACL - oh, I did have to pay $25.00 for my crutches :) Yah for Canada!
| | |
Canadian health care combines public and private plans. Private insurance (optional) and depending on the plan, covers things like drug and dental bills, ambulance costs, and upgrading from public (4 beds per ward) to a semiprivate room in hospital. The cost of the insurance is usually shared by the employer and employee and sometimes, but not always, continues after retirement. The cost, even when completely paid by the individual, is negligible compared with what Americans have to pay. The cost of prescriptions, eyeglasses, and dental care for people on welfare is covered by the government.
I have had several medical procedures performed in hospitals in the last two years, ranging from the elective-- like cataract surgery to emergency--a ruptured appendix and peritonitis. The care was first rate; the wait time for the elective surgeries was more than reasonable (I didn't have to pull any strings) and it didn't cost me a cent. I probably pay more income tax than my American counterpart, but I'll never have to declare bankruptcy or lose my house because of medical bills. | | |
One third of my paycheck is gone before I see it. My fathers before he retired half was taken off. Theres another 12% tax on nearly everything I buy. Our gas is heavily taxed. Our businesses are heavily taxes and to make their profit margin the costs are put to the consumer. I have to pay tax on a haircut or if I want to buy a rusted old car off my neighbour. Things are routinely taxed twice. I make 25 dollars an hour and have little savings to talk about. On top of this, I pay $130 extra each month for my 'free' health insurance for my family. Everything here is expensive, and MOST of the tax money taken by those in charge goes to health care. Nothing in life is free. Do you realize our paramedics are on strike right now? No kidding, as all government employees strike routinely.
On a side note, my wife's brother is 34 years old and needs a new knee because of arthritis. Since Canada will only give you one knee, he's not eligible to receive one until he's 55 years old, as they only last 20 years. And because no one without competition needs your business, nobody gives a damn about him or his kids, plus every operation is seen as a liability to the hospitals, because it drains out of the government money they receive. My friends mother spent 3 years in bed as an invalid waiting for a hip. Thats not unusual.
The only government intervention you need down there is to stop all your greedy suing for malpractice that drives the price up insanely. The greed is in the people themselves. You still have the best medical system in the world, with all the innovation and a lifeline for us Canadians to save our lives when our system fails us. | | |
I cannot describe the complete and utter disgust I feel when I see the ignorant comments from Americans stating absurd facts about Canadian Healthcare.
One person wrote that many people simply die waiting for procedures or in the ER? Are you f***ing kidding me? Where did you ever hear this? If you have a serious condition or need immediate care, YOU WILL RECIEVE IT, YOU WONT WAIT FOR IT..
Also, Canada is certainly not lacking in innovation or medical technology as we are one of the world leaders in that field along with the U.S, Britain and Germany.
I just want to leave you with this question before you open your ignorant mouth again...
How many Americans have died because they simply couldn't afford health care? | | |
| I think the healthcare plan is better in canada because of the life expectancy rate and the cost of ours is tremendous! i think we should do the same thing as canada, if you have a problem with me then email me and tell me why you disagree, esplonky@gvtc.com | | |
| I would not trade our Canadian health care system for anything. I have family and friends who live in the US and they cannot believe the privileges that we have with our system. I have been listening to all of the crap on the American media about how the Canadian system is and I am disgusted about all of the misinformation that they are feeding to the public. They should truly be ashamed. Open your eyes people, its all about greed with the American health insurance companies. Do something right...take care of your people. | | |
| i watched barack obama's televised interviews on healthcare and have concluded the big question is how will it (healthcare program) be paid for without a new tax. of course he is reminded of his promise during his election campaign of not to raise taxes. the public purse that pays for education, police, civil protection and defense, etc., needs to carve out a piece of the pie to provide basic healthcare services for the general public, it is the civilized thing to do. | | |
| I use to lived in florida for 5 years and when my wife get diabetes cost me $200 only a simple visit to a specialist,for my son i was waited in ER for 8 hours and i left,than they sent me $600 bill for what? We moved to canada,i had hernia ,the operation was well organized and completly free,we have family doctor,all the visits are free,for MRI i waited 3 weeks in toronto also for free,all are medicines ,drugs are free covered by our jobs benefits.So what else we need? I would never change Canada for USA. | | |
My mother is from Canada; now a naturalized citizen of the United States. She prefers the US medical system. The Canadian system cost her years she could have enjoyed with first with her brother, then her baby sister and now a brother-in-law.
My aunt died of a cancer which is often terminal. It may have been so for her, but we'll never know. Treatment was delayed though out what remained of her life. My uncle died earlier of a liver problem which became terminal during the months he was waiting for a bed.
Now another uncle, my mother's brother-in-law, has been tied to his own bed for over a year waiting for a hospital bed has been told he is now too weak to go through the surgery on his knee. It seems to us that delaying treatment of the seriously ill is a major way of reducing health care costs in Canada. Delayed often enough and long enough treatment becomes unnecessary. People just die.
But our experience with the Canadian medical system does not end with these serious losses. On a recent visit to Alberta, my mother fell as she got out of a car and gashed her forehead. After waiting hours in the ER she was finally seen by an MD. He haphazardly cleaned the wound, stitched around the edges, then pulled; gathering the edges much like gathering the strings to close an old string coin purse.
The result looked very odd. Everywhere she went her forehead was drew attention. Not just the wound, but it's strange repair was commented on. By friends she saw before leaving Canada. By strangers on the plane home. By friends and family who saw her when she returned to Utah...
The gathered skin failed to heal, my father took her to a Dr near their small town, who took one look and said, "Who the %^$*# did this," took out the stitches and cleaned GRAVEL from the wound! How a major infection was avoided we will never know.
Years ago the seven-year-old son of a friend was found to have cancer. Trying to comfort her I commented that the prognosis for that particular form of cancer had just become very good-survival with treatment was now at 90% or higher.
She replied, " Percentals don't mean anything when it's your child."
That sums up how we feel about the Canadian system. We are told about the the better numbers-longer life spans, lower costs and so on. But it hasn't been so for us. The numbers are, for us, untrue, untrustworthy. | | |
Canada: Visit to family Dr. = $ Free
Heart surgery $ Free
MRI / CAT $ Free
Cast on broken $ Free
X-Rays $ Free
Mamogram $ Free
Operations $ Free
Hospital stay $ Free
Vacinations $ Free
Mental Health $ Free
Specialist $ Free
BIRTHING $ Free
The list can go on and on. You do the math.... Let me see the costs for the same things in the USA. I am sure the cost difference will be stagering. | | |
To American Diane:
With regards to your mother slipping in Alberta and getting stitches on her forehead. I very much doubt that the American small town doctor took out gravel from your mother's wound that the Canadian doctor neglected to remove. That seems absurd. Our health care system is not backwards as you make it seem. It makes me wonder about your views all together. Doctors here do not let people die in the waiting room. They treat the people who need it most first. For someone who isn't even Canadian and has had no personal experience with our health care system. You sure have a lot of negative things to say. If you read all of the comments above, it seems the Canadian Health Care system is more favourable by far. | | |
This is the reality right now for a self-employed American: me. I am 46 years old, in good health with only a few past medical concerns -- both ob/gyn things. Nothing major. I may $200 per month for a policy that has a $2500 deductible. It allows for one visit per year with a doctor and a few tests which it covers maybe 50 percent if it's related to the once a year check up. Other than that, it's all my bill up to $2500. Then it pays 80 percent of whatever else after the $2500 out of my pocket. So let's see -- I am paying potentially $4900 per year just in case something big happens, so that I don't go bankrupt by medical bills. Oh, and let's not forget -- the insurance company can exclude anything at any time, at their whim. They really can! If they pore through my medical history and find out that I forgot to include on my sign-up forms, a nose bleed or something I had in 1968, they can deny any healthcare coverage for anything, based on the "fact" that I omitted information on my forms. One more thing -- I just received a notice that the only women's ob/gyn group within 45 minutes of where I live is being terminated by my insurance company's 'allowed" list of providers.
I am afraid to try to get different insurance (accessible to the doctors I have been going to) because a new policy will routinely deny care for any condition I have had in the last 3-7 years. Not kidding.
Oh, and of course this policy does not include dental or vision benefits. Duh.
| | |
| Try adding 11 million plus illegals to your stats and see how Canada fares | | |
Canada:
Visit to family Dr. (if you can get one) = "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
Heart surgery if your still alive when they get around to you = "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
MRI / CAT if you can wait long enough = "free" meaning insane tax rates will cover it. Oh and if you can't wait go to the private clinic to be seen in an acceptable time frame.
Cast on broken = After waiting in the emergency room for 8-16 hours "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
X-Rays = "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
Mamogram = "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
Operations = if your not dead or in need of another operation once they get to you, "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
Hospital stay = if a bed can be found with the shortages and all, "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
Vacinations = you have to pay for a number of them, but the rest are "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
Mental Health = my province of Quebec (most socialist and highest taxed province) had 4 million anti-depressant prescriptions for 8 million people a couple of years ago, sound like doctors medicating patients quickly to get the government fee for patients seen, oh ya and "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
Specialist = HAHAHAH what's a specialist, no seriously though you want to wait for 4 months this year like I did to have a 24 hour window to call, just call the specialist office, if they fill up (which they did) too fast call back in 4 months, oh ya and "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
BIRTHING = "free" if you don't count the punishing tax load.
The list can go on and on. You do the math.... The math is the average Canadian pays more in taxes per year than in food/clothing/ and shelter COMBINED.
P.S. Oh and just in case you Americans didn't know my province receives billions per year from other provinces (who do better with their bookkeeping) that does not have to be paid back (what a scam), that my province then turns around and tries to offer more and more socialist goodies/promises/schemes, and we still have one of the worst levels of healthcare in Canada. | | |
No one enjoys paying taxes, but as with all things, how much we pay in tax is a relative thing. What fascinates me, is that we do not pay much more tax than Americans do, until you earn a 6 figure income. In fact, given that on top of taxes, US citizens have to pay for medical insurance, for school, for roads etc. Canadians get far more bang for their buck.
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/taxes.htm | | |
I wonder many a times why there are too many infant mortality..?? We have gone through so many advances in science and technology but there is nothing we can do to control this?? We have seen many new developments in the field of health and medical, nutritious food and so on. But when it comes to mankind, we lack behind.
BTW, you can go to Rana Tandoori for tasty north Indian food and have a better nutritious food, anytime for your good health. | | |
| Dear americans, please keep your noses out of our country's health care system and go die quietly. | | |
I am younger, I have had a hernia, which was dealt with, back pain that was dealt with, and I just had a full physical in which they found some lymph nodes, went and had a ultrasound which i booked for a month later. all dealt with.
All free of charge.
Canada wins. Plain and simple.
And sure, i pay heaps and heaps of tax. But you know what. One day i may get sick, or better yet, old. And when that day comes, my butts covered by our health care.
| | |
Yes, we need reform in our medical system in the US, but we don't need 2,700 pages of it.
I am a nurse in the US and one of the things that only a few in the above opinions have mentioned is the issue of Illegals in the US. Unfortunately, we are not just talking visits to the ER for sore throats and colds, but major services including everything from Cardiac Stents to extended ICU care to Transplants.
All very expensive procedures in ANY country. Nothing is "free". Someone always has to pay, either directly or by taxation.
In addition, I noted a comment by Ryan in British Columbia which states in regards to the US, "Do something right, take care of your people". Nowhere in our Constitution,, Declaration of Indedpendence or Bill of Rights does it say anything about the government "taking care of (it's) people". It is about the opportunity for us to take care of ourselves with as little government involvement as possible. It is high time we re-educate people in our country about just what that means--taking care of our own on community, state and local levels and keep the Federal Government out of our lives as much as possible. Sure, it will be difficult as too many people have little by little been convinced that the government is the savior, but it is worth it to save the philosophy that created the great nation I live in today.
Other countries can do what they please. It is up to the citizenry of democratic countries to decide how much government they want in their lives. Canadians have that right and have their own sense of naitonal pride and belief system. That is why we have different nations and ideologies.
People are free to live where they want and if they should choose to live in a more government influenced society, then that is their choice.
I am not here to "put down" Canadian health care. I work with several Canadian nurses and I dearly love them; they are awesome people, but we are not Canada. I just do not want the Canadian health care system here.
In regards to the comment made by "anonymous" on Dec. 15, 2009, if I can make six figures someday, I want to keep as much of that six figures as possible for MY risk and reap My reward. As I am a very charitable person as many Americans are, some of that money will go to people and causes I personally know and care about. How much more efficient than sending to a monster of a
Federal Government that wastes money every day.
| | |
|
|
|
|
Vorg — Tag Cloud — Archives
Written by dustin Random PhotoRandom QuoteRecent CommentsFriendly LinksPopular Posts
|
