How many Canadians are happy with their health - Page 2 - GoFuckYourself.com

Pleasurepays · 07-20-2009, 04:04 PM

the Canadian system might be FAR better than the US system. But its an irrelevant comparison when the USA is broke, in a recession, has quadrupled the national debt which was already absurd, is printing trillions of dollars like their is no consequence.. then wants to make the multi-trillion dollar transition to a new and MASSIVE government bureaucracy when there is no money to pay for the shit we've spent money on in the last year... much less the coming years.

That transition with be a long and painful one assuming we had the money to do it to begin with.

The problems with medical care in the USA isn't a simple question of "socialized" or "privatized" and won't be solved that easily.

As mentioned above by Doug, the cost of great medical insurance in the US is GROSSLY over stated.

CDSmith · 07-20-2009, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Shemp

i was diagnosed with blood cancer at 3pm on a thursday, in a small medical clinic, 60 miles from Vancouver...3 hours later i was in a private room at the Vancouver General Hospital, Leukemia center...i had a meeting with a hemotologist and an oncologist within an hour, outlining the procedures ahead...friday moring they operated on me and inserted a three tap catheter into my chest....Later that day the final results came in from my bloodwork tests and the type of my Leukemia was identified... next morning chemotherapy started...and i was in the private isolation room for 6 weeks...after that i was a day patient getting treatment daily, but able to go home each nite..

i was going to need a bone marrow transplant and fortunately for me, 7 months later a suitable bone marrow donor was found in Germany... a member of the transplant team from Vancouver flew there to get the stem cells that i would need to survive...

i was given the transplant and again i was in the bone marrow transplant unit for almost 7 weeks...of course my body tried to reject the bone marrow many times over the next two years and i was really a basket case with a ton of side effects, some of which i still have today...but with new anti rejection drugs and hands on attention from a team of dedicated professionals, i was able to keep alive...

the cost for treatment like this in Seattle is over 300K...my cost in Canada, was the parking meter and a new pair of glasses and i still have full medical insurance...they dont kick you out if you have previous medical problems...its a good system, not perfect of course, but i never had to fight with an insurance company or worry about losing my house to pay for the transplant...in fact, i didnt even have to start a begging thread on GFY

Quoted in case anyone with ADD is skimming this thread and might otherwise miss it.

From my years of working in the Canadian health system myself I can recall 100's of similar cases, similar in that the system came through for them as it did for you Shemp.

I see no "low expectations" at all in your example.

_Richard_ · 07-20-2009, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12clicks

I'd say the Canadian government did a fantastic job lowering the expectations of it's citizens.
When you start excusing wait times because it's "non-life threatening" you're getting something significantly less than US medical care.

speaking OF sheep and rabble.. you guys, per capita, pay more to help less.

sounds real american.

dready · 07-20-2009, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theking

...care system? More and more anecdotal stories are appearing on the news about how bad Canada and Britain's socialized medical care system is.

Those who oppose public health care will use all kinds of propaganda to prevent it.

In my experience, when you really need it, Canadian health care is exceptional.

CDSmith · 07-20-2009, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12clicks

I'd say the Canadian government did a fantastic job lowering the expectations of it's citizens.
When you start excusing wait times because it's "non-life threatening" you're getting something significantly less than US medical care.

Every medical facility does triage and prioritizes patients, even in the good ol USA. Worst cases get seen first no matter how much cash you have in hand.

Here if it's serious you get seen, in my experience. If it's not that serious and you can wait, you *may* have to wait a while before being seen. In the ER it could be a few hours (some ER's are worse than others of course). If it's your family doctor referring you to a specialist you get an appointment booked for you and when that appointment day arrives you go see that specialist. If things worsen for you in the meantime then your priority changes.

The difference here is that everyone gets treated, the level of quality in health care is just as high here or higher as it is anywhere else including the US and everyone gets that level of care regardless of how much they can afford to pay.

AND we always have the option to head south and pay for treatment when needed.

Did you know Canadians under our system have a higher life expectancy and lower infant mortality rate than the US? Among G8 nations as I said earlier we are second only to Australia, the US being last in the 8th spot. Among all nations the US is a pretty dismal 37th place, not that great for a nation that currently already spends the most money on health care than any other.

I'm not saying the US needs the same system as we have, as that would be extremely naive, but to deny that your system doesn't need some retooling is to be in denial. Where I do become a bit naive is in my hoping against hope that that retooling doesn't come at the price of negatively affecting people like yourself who ARE happy with the quality of care they and their families now have.

The US is a great country and has certainly made the biggest impression on the globe in modern history. It really should have a truly great health care system that looks after ALL of it's citizens. It should certainly be in the top 5 of all health care systems in the world, but it isn't.

07-20-2009, 04:04 PM	#51
Pleasurepays BANNED - SUPPORTING TUBES Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I live in a pile of boogers Posts: 11,913	the Canadian system might be FAR better than the US system. But its an irrelevant comparison when the USA is broke, in a recession, has quadrupled the national debt which was already absurd, is printing trillions of dollars like their is no consequence.. then wants to make the multi-trillion dollar transition to a new and MASSIVE government bureaucracy when there is no money to pay for the shit we've spent money on in the last year... much less the coming years. That transition with be a long and painful one assuming we had the money to do it to begin with. The problems with medical care in the USA isn't a simple question of "socialized" or "privatized" and won't be solved that easily. As mentioned above by Doug, the cost of great medical insurance in the US is GROSSLY over stated.