Curious "Canadian or U.K." question on health care?

[Jstpssng]

I am glad to hear some of our Canadian neighbors tuning in. I am lucky enough to have pretty good coverage through my employer; I also am fortunate enough so far, to not have any serious health problems.
.
Yet I have a cousin who could be a poster child for single payer system; he worked hard all of his life; first as a welder then as an oil burner repairman, while building his house at night and on weekends. When he was 40 he went out on his own as a welder, until his kidneys failed and he ended up on dialysis until he got a new kidney. He then went back to school and studied computers; graduating the month that the bottom fell out of that market. He has been on disability for 18 years because if he went out and got a job he would lose his medicare (?); and his meds would cost all that he could earn. Therefore his choices are stay on disability; or die because he couldn't afford the medication he needs to keep his body from rejecting his kidney.

 

[fried1765]

I am glad to hear some of our Canadian neighbors tuning in. I am lucky enough to have pretty good coverage through my employer; I also am fortunate enough so far, to not have any serious health problems.
.
Yet I have a cousin who could be a poster child for single payer system; he worked hard all of his life; first as a welder then as an oil burner repairman, while building his house at night and on weekends. When he was 40 he went out on his own as a welder, until his kidneys failed and he ended up on dialysis until he got a new kidney. He then went back to school and studied computers; graduating the month that the bottom fell out of that market. He has been on disability for 18 years because if he went out and got a job he would lose his medicare (?); and his meds would cost all that he could earn. Therefore his choices are stay on disability; or die because he couldn't afford the medication he needs to keep his body from rejecting his kidney.

Unless your cousin is over 65 he does not have "medicare".
He is likely covered by "medicaid", which is something Canadians do not understand.
Medicaid covers people who cannot otherwise afford their medical/hospital expenses.

 

[Trillium Farm]

Well .....I HAVE ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED Canadian health care.
YOU are expounding on RUMORS
You know not of what you speak!
You LACK FACTS!!!

"No one is refused coverage".....but what is the quality, and availability of that coverage?

Here is just one example: Can you get PROTON RADIATION in Canada (the gold standard treatment, for Prostate & head and neck tumors)?
Most, if not all in Canada, have never even heard of it.

There are exactly 30 Proton Radiation treatment sites in the US, and absolutely NONE in Canada.

Your very own Canadian MP Jack Layton died of prostate cancer.
As a Canadian, Proton Radiation was not available to him.
Perhaps, if Mr. Layton could choose again, he might opt to pay for treatment in the US, to remain alive.

I had a GOOD insurance program (through my employer), and the treatment cost $50,000 USD in 1996. I paid $1800 of that, and I am alive and well today...22 years later.

A question: Why did Newfoundland & Labrador Premier Danny Williams choose Miami for heart surgery?

I would place my bet on alive and well in the USA, over betting against a burial plot in Canada!

Specifically, for the two of us though (you at 80, and me at 77), at this point in our lives, it may be somewhat of a moot point.
WE are both rapidly approaching that burial plot.

I wonder what care & for what did you have in Canada. There are some procedures which are not available in both countries, some are available here and not in the US & viceversa. As I stated before it's NOT the system it's how it is managed. I can tell you that our Doctors are as good as yours. There are people who go to the US solely because of waiting time which is the bane of any system not properly administered.

 

[mikester]

Well .....I HAVE ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED Canadian health care.
YOU are expounding on RUMORS
You know not of what you speak!
You LACK FACTS!!!

"No one is refused coverage".....but what is the quality, and availability of that coverage?

Here is just one example: Can you get PROTON RADIATION in Canada (the gold standard treatment, for Prostate & head and neck tumors)?
Most, if not all in Canada, have never even heard of it.

There are exactly 30 Proton Radiation treatment sites in the US, and absolutely NONE in Canada.

Your very own Canadian MP Jack Layton died of prostate cancer.
As a Canadian, Proton Radiation was not available to him.
Perhaps, if Mr. Layton could choose again, he might opt to pay for treatment in the US, to remain alive.

I had a GOOD insurance program (through my employer), and the treatment cost $50,000 USD in 1996. I paid $1800 of that, and I am alive and well today...22 years later.

A question: Why did Newfoundland & Labrador Premier Danny Williams choose Miami for heart surgery?

I would place my bet on alive and well in the USA, over betting against a burial plot in Canada!

Specifically, for the two of us though (you at 80, and me at 77), at this point in our lives, it may be somewhat of a moot point.
WE are both rapidly approaching that burial plot.

It's easy to get into a pissing match and bring up anecdotal evidence about why your system is better because you get to jump the queue BECAUSE you have money blah blah blah

IMHO health care is just infrastructure. Just like roads, schools, access to clean water, sewage disposal and electricity.

Should all roads be toll roads? Maybe.

If you can afford an expensive car should you be exempt from drunk driving, speed limits, and parking violations? Nope.

Bottom line is if you have good infrastructure EVERYONE benefits. With a single payer system there are inefficiencies and waste. Are you saying there is no inefficiencies in private multi-payer systems? Of course there is. The benefit of single payer is that it levels the playing field and cuts out all the middlemen who want their cut and to make profit each step of your journey to trying to get/stay healthy.

BTW I'm willing to speculate that Danny Williams has a winter home on Florida and is living quite comfortably on his gold plated tax free Canadian government indexed pension in a gated community. He probably stays there as a snow bird until he has to go back to Canada X number of days a year to maintain his "free" health care coverage. He's the one in that expensive car...

 

[Jstpssng]

Unless your cousin is over 65 he does not have "medicare".
He is likely covered by "medicaid", which is something Canadians do not understand.
Medicaid covers people who cannot otherwise afford their medical/hospital expenses.

"A rose by any other name..." Whatever it's called, he's been collecting disability for all of these years because to go back to work means giving up the meds he needs to live. I can see both sides of the argument; why should I pay more because somebody chooses to smoke three packs a day, drink a fifth of whiskey every night, or impregnate several women with no intentions of being responsible about it? Yet compare that to somebody like my cousin who WOULD prefer to work but can't afford to give up his insurance; and nobody will touch him with his health issues.

 

[fried1765]

I wonder what care & for what did you have in Canada. There are some procedures which are not available in both countries, some are available here and not in the US & viceversa. As I stated before it's NOT the system it's how it is managed. I can tell you that our Doctors are as good as yours. There are people who go to the US solely because of waiting time which is the bane of any system not properly administered.

My experience: 7 days total, 2 different Nova Scotia hospitals.
Mild stroke - misdiagnosed.
Actual: Polymyalgia Rheumatica
I made no comment about doctor quality.

 

[fried1765]

It's easy to get into a pissing match and bring up anecdotal evidence about why your system is better because you get to jump the queue BECAUSE you have money blah blah blah

IMHO health care is just infrastructure. Just like roads, schools, access to clean water, sewage disposal and electricity.

Should all roads be toll roads? Maybe.

If you can afford an expensive car should you be exempt from drunk driving, speed limits, and parking violations? Nope.

Bottom line is if you have good infrastructure EVERYONE benefits. With a single payer system there are inefficiencies and waste. Are you saying there is no inefficiencies in private multi-payer systems? Of course there is. The benefit of single payer is that it levels the playing field and cuts out all the middlemen who want their cut and to make profit each step of your journey to trying to get/stay healthy.

BTW I'm willing to speculate that Danny Williams has a winter home on Florida and is living quite comfortably on his gold plated tax free Canadian government indexed pension in a gated community. He probably stays there as a snow bird until he has to go back to Canada X number of days a year to maintain his "free" health care coverage. He's the one in that expensive car...

Assumptions...Assumptions...Assumptions !!

"You get to jump the queue BECAUSE you have money blah blah blah"?

So...how did YOU arrive at THAT false conclusion?

I have NO PRIVATE MEDICAL INSURANCE!

I am on medicare!
THERE IS NO MEDICARE QUEUE !!
The US government required that I pay into the medicare system since it was implemented in 1965, and until I retired. With a simple phone call, I now get prompt, and excellent care, from most any doctor.
There are no Loo...ooong wait times!

Oh.... and I am also a US Navy veteran, and am eligible for Veteran's Administration health care benefits as well.
In spite of what you may have heard, or think you know about the VA, they have been excellent.

I EARNED, and paid in advance, for my medical benefits,..... contrary to your misguided opinions.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Assumptions...Assumptions...Assumptions !!

"You get to jump the queue BECAUSE you have money blah blah blah"?

So...how did YOU arrive at THAT false conclusion?

I have NO PRIVATE MEDICAL INSURANCE!

I am on medicare!
THERE IS NO MEDICARE QUEUE !!
The US government required that I pay into the medicare system since it was implemented in 1965, and until I retired. With a simple phone call, I now get prompt, and excellent care, from most any doctor.
There are no Loo...ooong wait times!

Oh.... and I am also a US Navy veteran, and am eligible for Veteran's Administration health care benefits as well.
In spite of what you may have heard, or think you know about the VA, they have been excellent.

I EARNED, and paid in advance, for my medical benefits,..... contrary to your misguided opinions.

So here's the thing: In the US, we have Medicare, Medicaid and the VA. We have 22 million employees of state, local and the federal government -- on fifth of the workforce -- who get insurance for themselves and their families through the government. We have two million active-duty and reserve members of the military. We have state insurance regulators who set insurance rates in every state. We have mandates and subsidies. In short, we have a government-run health care system, where most Americans get their health care coverage directly from the government, and those who don't get it under terms set by the government. What we don't have is single payer or universal coverage. As has been noted several times, countries that have single payer and universal coverage tend to spend about half of what we spend and have better outcomes -- longer life expectancies, lower infant mortality, better public health.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Canadian healthcare? What Canadian Healthcare? Unless you are a politician or a new immigrant, there is NO HEALTHCARE! My cats get better healthcare than I do and have seriously asked my Vet to attend to my healthcare, but she won't.

 

[PILOON]

I am one Canadian who can't complain.
About 8 years ago I awoke in great pain unable to defecate or heave,
Called 911 and was admitted and they operated next AM.
I had a knotted small intestine and they removed 36 inches of dead intestine and 7 days later I was back home.
My total costs were parking fees.

Now just this last year they decided that I might have a lung cancer from a scan the my GP called for to verify the results of the previous surgery as well as a kidney stone.
OK, while serious it was not an emergency so they did an insertion with a camera (almost drowned me) and that was not conclusive.
Next came a catscan, again not conclusive, that was a month later. Again not conclusive.
Then another month later a petscan (a procedure that involved radioactive injection but more precise that Catscan) inconclusive.
Then they bored a hole and took a lung sample which was inconclusive so they did it again.

On the downside I withstood about 8 months of hospital visits but the good news is that I have NO CANCER but am COPD.
Inhalers are doing a good job of controlling that situation and other than being slowed down considerably I am very comfortable.

After all those tests and procedures all I have had to pay is parking fees which vary from hospital to hospital.*
On the up side my GP issued me a handicapped sticker so going to Cosco is now a pleasure.

OH, I should add that in the middle of all last years 'inconveniences' I had my prostate removed.
That was about my worst procedure as I had to wait a fairly long time and I had to wear a bag for longer than I liked but considering that it was not life threatening I could not complain.
Post and pre surgical follow up was exemplary with even a nurse making a house call late at night due to a minor problem.

Now all that is about a year behind me and I feel great (and not bankrupt)

*and my tax guy claimed them as a medical expense

Do I like our Canadian medical 'healthcare' ?
I suspect you know the answer.

LOL, and just today I received a refund check from my income tax filing.