I'd Say that the Canadian Approach to Healthcare isn't all Bad

[wajobu]

Listen-up: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=111721651

...and listen carefully to the very last sentence of the story (about not going bankrupt paying for coverage or catastrophic medical bills). The system isn't perfect and I'd probably change it for folks to supplement base coverage with private add-ons, but those distorting the facts about the success of the Canadian plan should start telling the Truth.

[merrylander]

Having family back there (Geez do I have family back there, there are some 45 families with the same surname and they are either direct family or cousins at some remove) I can only go by their experience. All I know for sure is that their first hand experiences do not match the horror stories I read. Most of which I attribute to the fact that Pharma spends approx $30 billion a year on TV and print advertising, so I would expect that the media will not bite the hand that feeds them.

I gather that there is squabbling between the provincial governments and the central government regarding who is to raise taxes to cover rising costs but it was ever that way. As my next door neighbor when I lived there described a politician. He is a person who watches a group of people moving along and just as the get tired and are about to stop and rest, he runs to the front of the line and says "See the nice place to which I have led you."

Some years back a group of doctors in Alberta asked the government to buy them an MRI machine. The government responded, "We are simply the insurer if you feel that you can make such a machine pay for itself go ahead and buy one." You see despite what people believe it is not socialized medicine, they are the insurer so when was the last time Aetna or US Healthcare bought an MRI machine for anyone.

But as I am fond of saying most Americans would not recognize a socialist if one bit them on the arse.

It has faults as it is slow to approve new forms of treatment for coverage, but then our own FDA is not exactly known for its speed. The drugs there are the same drugs, from the same companies as here, just more fairly priced. I find it somewhat insulting when the FDA said we could not trust drugs from Canada, then turns around and allowed that compound from China used in a drug here that killed some people. When a people will poison their own babies for profit how could the FDA have possibly trusted any ingredients from there.

[Charles]

I really can't comment on the Canadian system as I have not studied it.

And I really can't comment on Obammacare, as all I know about it is propaganda, coming from both sides.

But I've yet to speak with anyone who wouldn't sign on to a system that covered everyone equally, from the President down to Otis. But I don't believe that either party will stand for this.

I would go so far as to call our political leaders the "Nuvo Aristocrats" other than there's nothing "Nuvo" about it.

They've always looked after No. 1 first. And I fear what we will finally get will be just another vote buying scheme.

Chas

[Bigerik]

I have lived both systems, and as much as I love America (and I was totally ready to become a citizen and fight for the country), the reason I moved back to Canada was because of the health care system in the US.
My wife got sick when we were living down there, and I could not believe how cumbersome and convoluted the system is. The amount of waste was just staggering.
After 5 years down there, tens of thousands of dollars spent on medical care (and I had "good" insurance for the most of it), she was on 10 different medications and was effectively sent home to die. Got her up here and in the space of a little more than a year, she was off of 9 of the 10 and living a pretty darn good life.
I have never had a situation in my life (nor have my parents or the rest of my family) where we could not get the medical care that we needed when we needed it. I have never had a situation where I could not get in to see my doctor the same day. And I mean my doctor - we don't have PA's or whatever the heck they are called, doing the doctors work. As a funny aside, when living in PA, I had the same doctor for 3 years, but I never met the man. Seriously, a PA would come out and see me, go to some mysterious, hidden room somewhere to consult with the doctor and then come back and advise me. When I go to see my doctor here, I see the doctor. No one else.
My mom recently had a stroke, and through it all, what kept coming back to me over and over and over was how happy I was that I wouldn't have to deal with some bloody insurance company and see the bills from the hospital, the various doctors, etc. coming through. Nor did I have to worry about my folks losing their home or all that they have worked for to pay the bills.
I do, however, have a constant concern about my 62 year old mother in law. They are on a fixed income, and when the medical care just for her (my father in law is a veteran) increased to over $800 a month, they just couldn't afford it anymore. And that was for very minimal care. They save that money themselves now, but the savings won't go far should their be a serious issue.
Nope, Canadian medical care ain't all bad....

[Sandy G]

Nobody has give me a good answer-indeed, ANY answer at all-as to WHY can't we have BOTH systems ? If you wanna pay for insurance, you can do that & things'll stay the way they are...If you can't, or don't want to, then you could go to the Gummint doctors....WHY does it have to be mutually exclusive ?!? An' yeah, if Obeauzeau care is gonna be so gawdam good & all, why will the Lords 'n' Ladies Who Rule Us Lowly Peons likely opt out, & keep their gold-plated plan ?!?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Nobody has give me a good answer-indeed, ANY answer at all-as to WHY can't we have BOTH systems ? If you wanna pay for insurance, you can do that & things'll stay the way they are...If you can't, or don't want to, then you could go to the Gummint doctors....WHY does it have to be mutually exclusive ?!? An' yeah, if Obeauzeau care is gonna be so gawdam good & all, why will the Lords 'n' Ladies Who Rule Us Lowly Peons likely opt out, & keep their gold-plated plan ?!?

Far be it form me to know the answers. But I can think on no one in the US who has ever been turned away from medical care.

And, IMHO, the best thing you can do when you go to the doctor is to tell them that you have no insurance. They'll fix your ass and get you out the door.

Tell 'em you've got insurance, and good insurance, and they will look up your asshole to see it your tonsils are inflamed.

And this is not from personal experience, but from observation. I've seen them work on my wife, and left to me, I'd be leaving with their scalps tied to the grill of my old Dodge. And I mean every word of it.

Goddamn blood suckers.

But I'm a hardhead,

Chas

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by Charles

But I can think on no one in the US who has ever been turned away from medical care.

i know this not to be the case, just sayin'

[Charles]

Originally Posted by noonereal

i know this not to be the case, just sayin'

My experiences, and yours, may not be the same.

There are no absolutes.

Chas

[Bigerik]

Originally Posted by Charles

My experiences, and yours, may not be the same.

There are no absolutes.

Chas

But thats like saying just because I don't know any millionaires doesn't mean that there aren't any.
Doctors in the US don't HAVE to take anyone who can't pay. Emergency rooms have to, but then those people who can't afford to pay for health care anyway will end up with a many thousand dollar emergency room tab, that they also can't afford to pay.

[Bigerik]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Nobody has give me a good answer-indeed, ANY answer at all-as to WHY can't we have BOTH systems ? If you wanna pay for insurance, you can do that & things'll stay the way they are...If you can't, or don't want to, then you could go to the Gummint doctors....WHY does it have to be mutually exclusive ?!? An' yeah, if Obeauzeau care is gonna be so gawdam good & all, why will the Lords 'n' Ladies Who Rule Us Lowly Peons likely opt out, & keep their gold-plated plan ?!?

Sandy, would you like two different police serving your community? Two different levels of response based on whether you take the government plan or a private one? Two different fire departments? Two different militarys (would you rather send your little girl to war in the Wal-Mart run military or the current one?).
You guys are already paying 60% more for your health care than we do in Canada, yet you live years less. You pay MUCH more than any of the "socialized" systems. Your system is so inefficient because you have layers upon layers of people duplicating the same type and level of service between the public and for-profit sectors. One system is the only one that makes any sense, and it is basically what is used in the entire western world, other than the US.

If Eisenhower were still around, I could truly see him saying the following:

This conjunction of an immense health care establishment and a health care industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the health care complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted.