A lot of people don't like the Canadian system,except the Canadians.

[Swede]

Just saw this on another thread. I will have to agree.

[Truthiness Inspector]

1. I won't agree, despite flames

I had a Canadian friend whose face was destroyed in a car wreck. He waited for what seemed like 2 years to get surgery on his eyes, etc.

It wasn't cosmetic, it was because he lost almost all vision in one eye.

BUT he waited in line, and it was FREE (as in nobody paid for it, not even the taxpayer himself...it was just free, cool, eh?)

[noshenanigans]

6. Is it better to wait in line..

which admittedly is awful, or to be denied whole hog?

[Lex]

16. And here he might've never gotten the surgery. Period.

nt

[etherealtruth]

19. Did your friend live in a rural/remote area?

The people living in remote areas of Canada are the only ones I've heard that have consistent complaints. I accept that there will always be complaints of some nature: People both complain and mess up.

I think there are equal complaints (even among the insured) in the more remote areas of the US. I have never heard these complaints (waits, lack of access) in the urban/populated areas.

On the other hand, I haven't had health insurance since I was divorced ~7 years ago ... I wouldn't have to wait 2 years for anything ... I would know from the beginning that I simply wasn't going to get the care.

[Mind_your_head]

2. So Canadians are 'satisfied'...overall? Is what you (or the thread) are saying?

n/t

Yeesch, must READ carefully....to not be mislead :think:

[Mind_your_head]

3. So, yes. You are correct (but you know that) n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

4. You won't find a perfect health care plan out there.

I'm sure there are a lot of Canadians that aren't happy with their current system. However you're never going to find a system that is 100% received, accepted and supported. The question is, which system is the best, even with its flaws? I can tell you right now, not the American system.

You know what? I would even support the idea of having free health care being optional. If people want to continue with their insurance plan, fine, but for those that want to be covered but can't afford it, allow the government to do it. That's at least better than what we have right now. And I know it from growing up. I grew up with NO insurance and couldn't go to the dentist because my parents could never afford the costs. I first went to the dentist when I was 20 years old and have had 4 root canals, three of which were because of abscessed teeth. If we were living in Canada France, or any most industrialized nations for that matter, that would have never been an issue.

[TrogL]

5. Canada does not have free dental

Unless you're on a health care plan like Blue Cross (which many employers offer).

No, this is the country where you get free heart transplants.

[Drunken Irishman]

7. Ok, well another country with free dental.

I think France offers free dental.

I wonder why Canada doesn't?

From what I can gather, we should be discussing France's health care more than Canada's, since that seems like the best in the world.

[sandnsea]

8. It is

It's rated #1 repeatedly. I wish people would look at all the different plans that are available and not get so stuck on the Canadian system alone.

[Toots]

18. You are right it is not free but it is substantially cheaper

I have a close friend that lives in Alaska and he tells me people often go to Canada to get their teeth worked on because it is so much cheaper and such, believe it or not, good service. No waiting periods and appointments met promptly..

[crappyjazz]

9. I hear some of these stories

of people having to wait too long ... the only thing is, I've never actually met anyone that has a horror story. The only complaint I hear is about taxes ... but we all complain about that right?

I'm not a medical professional but I work in the education part of the healthcare system. The part that involves money for training doctors. The money from the government (and our taxes) pays their salaries, pays for their training and much more. When the docs are ready to practice, no one is telling them where to work, or what kind of practice they must run, etc. (only exception is for doctors trained outside of Canada who get into our system who in some provinces must complete a return of service in an underserviced area for a few years) They are free to practice, where, when and how they want.

My partner is from the U.S. and moved up here to live with me. The process of becoming a permanent resident was long, but she made it. During that process, the medical review, a spot was noticed on one of her lung x-rays. They wanted an MRI and referral to a respirologist to make sure it was okay. My heart sunk because I figured this is where we were going to be one of those stories I hear about ... the totally not necessary test or doc appointment, for a foreigner no less ... we could wait years! 2 weeks actually, MRI and respirologist saw her a week later. A small city too ... not Toronto or Ottawa (you know Ottawa, our country's capital? only one "chemotherapy machine"?)

I hear the complaints from the other side, from the doctors that get frustrated with "no-shows" or patients coming in with the sniffles, etc.

Is our system perfect? I'm sure it's not, I don't know of any system that is or can be. Would I trade it for the American's system? Hell no. You see, we'll get sick just like you do. We'll have the stresses and worries about being sick, just like you do. But, we won't worry about going bankrupt or losing our house or wondering how to afford the bill. To add those worries to people facing sickness is immoral to me and I don't understand how any country would put up with it, or how any government would impose it.

Oh and a quick note about the poor Canadian physicians who struggle on their "government" pay... my boss, a GP, owns four houses (three of them by the lake, one on it's own private island), 5 vehicles, 3 daughters in university ... goes to Switzerland every Christmas to ski ... yep, that government pay, what a drag.

[WinkyDink]

10. As a tourist, my husband was TWICE treated (for some kind of poison ivy/sumac, and for heart-attack

symptoms) immediately, and with little to no charge.
Both in Quebec Province.

And FWIW: I once had a free emergency eye exam in a hospital in Amsterdam; we both had free emergency-ward treatment, including the ambulance, for food poisoning in Oporto, Portugal; for a broken tooth, my husband was seen the very next day by a dentist in Strasbourg, France; and an exam at the British Hospital in Lisbon was free.

I have nothing but praise for the European and Canadian health systems.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. I just returned from the UK yesterday

My B&B landlady in Exeter told me about her own bout with cancer. She told me that the whole process from her doctor's first suspicions through the diagnostic tests to the initial surgery took about a week.

I've read a lot about the problems with the NHS, how Margaret Thatcher harmed it and Tony Blair hasn't done much to undo Thatcher's damage, but from everything I've heard, you do get taken care of if you have an urgent need, and you don't have to end up in bankruptcy court, either.

[kath]

15. Thanks for this - a while back, my sister was spouting some BS about how in the UK, after someone

finds a breast lump, they have to wait a long time for a mammogram, or if they have a spot found on mammogram they have to wait a very long time for biopsy or surgery. Sounded like total BS to me.
I'd love to find some stats somewhere on wait times.

[Vinca]

12. The bottom line is this -

you don't hear Canadians, Brits, the French, Germans, etc. clamouring for an American-style system, do you? As an uninsured American, I'd be grateful to get in line for a nonemergency procedure. Why doesn't anyone ever mention the not uncommon multi-month wait for a routine mammogram in this country?

[Drunken Irishman]

13. Some in Canada want to privatize their healthcare.

Of course not the entire thing, just allow Canadians to have the option of their current system or a more American system. Which means that there still won't be 50 million uninsured in Canada like there is here in the United States.

[Vinca]

14. Isn't it the conservatives pushing for that? The liberals in Canada

are smart enough to look south of the border and realize what a freaking mess they'd be in if they adopted anything even remotely similar to our system. Look for a liberal Prime Minister next time around.

[Drunken Irishman]

17. Yes, it is the conservatives.

And not many Canadians support an American style healthcare system (only 15% in a June 2006 poll http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1092652674413_3/?hub=TopStories).