Healthcare is not free in canada.
 

I always hear people talk about the "free" healthcare system in canada.

Let me just explain very simply.

Healthcare is not free. Everyone does have insurance by the government, but we also get a bill we have to pay just like your health insurance.

Our car insurance is much the same way, there is 1 car insurance company , the government.

You may buy EXTRA insurance just like in any country from many different companies. But your basic insurance is covered thru the government.

i don't pay shit. what province you in?

b.c.

i just looked it up , you get free if you make under 22k/year

you get 20% cut on premium rate for every 10k over base you make, premium rate is like 60$ a month

In general, costs are paid through funding from income taxes though three provinces also impose a fixed monthly premium (e.g.,$54/month in British Columbia)

Ontario you don't pay any bill but the tax rate is slightly higher than BC as a result. One way or another you pay.

where i am never known of anyone to pay any fees. no idea how it is in bc. and no not low income.

Nothing about that says Free

that is correct sir

didn't know that .. i thought everyone paid and your province just fixed the rate.. learn something new everyday :)

free is a stupid way of putting it. tax supported health care is better. even then, you still don't get a lot of stuff like semi private rooms are extra, all medications you have to pay for yourself, etc.

it's free if you are bankrupt

well to be fair if its part of your taxes its kinda "free" . Obviously it can't be FREE with no costs that doesnt make sense.

I would say driving on the road is "free" even though we do pay taxes for it.

I have healthcare in several different countries and i pay a monthly bill for each of them was more the point i was trying to make.

My canadian bill looks exactly the same as my american bill ( just lower ). My honduran medical insurance is cheaper than both :)

grabbed from wikipedia. but yeah each province deals with costs in a different manner, as they do with auto insurance etc.

what are you talking about? neither healthcare nor auto insurance are run by the federal government, every province is different.

smokey, you need to move around the country a little.. ;)
each province has its own method of collecting money for health care..
some provinces add a point or two onto the provincial sales tax. others, like BC
have a monthly payment system, like 108.00 for a family of 3 or more, or 54.00 for a single person...

car insurance also is different in each province...some have govt insurance, most dont..

I have had a couple serious surgeries and I paid Ziltch. No monthly fee, nada. Im not in a low tax bracket either. Do you know why you have to pay exactly? What is the bill called. Im interested to look into it.

Exactly right.

Here in Manitoba I pay no "bill" at all. Never have. I could have the dreaded inverted flying spleen attack tomorrow, go to the ER, get admitted, have surgery to remove offending spleen, get flown to Edmonton for an emergency spleen transplant, stay in hospital there for a fortnight (yes, I said fortnight), get flown home for several months of follow-up visits, and ALL of it would be covered, as in no bill. Repeat: I would receive no bill of any kind. Even all meds given while in hospital are covered, as in "free". (yes, we all pay out of our taxes, but my taxes aren't in general higher than anyone else's. We pay very similar %'s as compared to other places in the US and Canada)

For the record my spleen is okay and doing fine, no cause for alarm.


PS

Auto insurance is run by MPCI here in Manitoba, thus *gasp* --- goverment run.

well, for $200 month in the US you can only get to see a doctor and then you co-pay but as i understand for $60 month in Canada you can even have your biggest problem cured.

Don't you guys pay 50% tax on income ,or am I misinformed?
If so you are all paying indirectly

seriously? why is that?

Govt Auto Insurance rocked when I was living in Saskatchewan, my $1500 yearly turned into $385.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:In...By_Country.svg

pretty damn close between USA and Canada...

There's no "bill" because its already paid for.

Me, my parents, and everyone who pays taxes in this country, would pay in part for your "free" health needs.

Its not "FREE" .. its free at the time of delivery. Even the person needing the surgery has paid for part of it, if they pay taxes.


... and No, the tax rate here isn't 50%. Its a scaling system where money say over $100k is taxed at the highest rate. I'm not sure what the exact level is, though.

Our tax rates are comparable to the USA, aren't they? I have no idea.

The difference is, though, the US Government spends the tax dollars very differently. The USA could do wonderful things for the people if they considered the people a priority.

Canada doesn't have 2 Wars going on. They aren't rebuilding someone else's country. They don't have an over-leveraged banking system.

I think the Navy does pay to patch the canoe when it gets a hole, though... but that's just a couple bucks :)

Don't discount the fact we can spend so little on defense is because of the size of our neighbor to the south, and how much they spend on theirs. We feel secure knowing we got backup to the south if ever needed.

Also in Canada we hit the higher tax bracket a lot faster than in the US, and then factor in those that live in states that have no state income tax and the disparity can be quite great.

Canada has a large middle class because of the tax system in place. I know many people that skip working overtime since its not worth it to put in the hours when so much of the income goes straight to taxes.