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

[DieselnHooters]

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

With premium insurance or a thick wallet your system is also likely much better than ours at treating gunshot wounds

 

[300UGUY]

I have never experienced anything other than healthcare from my employer. I however saw my brother, a US navy vet, go bankrupt, lose his house, and his marriage. He lost his job, found out his employer had gone bankrupt, and had not been paying the insurance. He got a new job a week later, but his 18 month old son ended up in the hospital, spent 3 weeks in the ICU. The new insurance hadn’t started, and would not cover the kid. My brother has never been the same, either. The COBRA program, wouldn’t help, as insurance companies are not going to cover something in progress.

 

[300UGUY]

With premium insurance or a thick wallet your system is also likely much better than ours at treating gunshot wounds

Some of the best in the world. ��

 

[aczlan]

Some of the best in the world. ��

Even if you don't have any money to pay for treatment...

Aaron Z

 

[mikester]

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.

Congrats on your benefits coverage and you deserve to be proud for your service. I'm not trying to down that any way.

You went on about how PROTON RADIATION was the be-all and end-all measure of how superior US healthcare is over Canadian/British single payer health care

"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.

My point is that as a Canadian I believe that health care should be a right and benefit to all citizens not just the ones who can afford it.

Canada's health care may be universal but by no means is it perfect. There are regional problems - if you live in a better serviced area then you have access to more services. Rural Canadians are definitely under serviced and a lot of that has to do with geography and sparse population making it difficult to provide the same level of care to all regions.

I think it's a tragedy that in the US there are middle class families going bankrupt to pay for medical procedures or 23 year old kids dying because their parent's work health insurance stops covering the kids at 21 and they can't find jobs with insurance or they can't get insurance because of pre-existing conditions.

Geriatric bunion surgery isn't a life threatening condition and waiting longer to get an elective procedure isn't the end of the world. Yes it is inconvenient.

And going on about Danny Williams getting a procedure done in the US says more about Danny Williams than the state of our health care quality being sub par. Wealthy entitled narcissists are in every population but that doesn't make them more deserving of anything. I don't see anything wrong with every citizen having an opportunity to get quality health care. I have more of a problem with politicians spending money like drunken sailors on stupid stuff like million dollar gazebos or cancelling gas power plants at a cost of a billion dollars in penalties in order to win an election. If they spent that money on stuff that benefitted all of us in some way I'd be more willing to overlook it than being forced to pay for someone's ego problems or effectively stealing from the public purse.

 

[gsganzer]

Something needs to happen to correct the healthcare costs in the US, they're simply out of control and unsustainable. The last time I checked, health insurance for a family of 4 would cost approximately $1200/mo. That's more than my mortgage, property tax and homeowners insurance COMBINED. Although I'll be the first to agree I made a conscious decision to not be "House poor" and kept my house budget modest with my house purchase 20 years ago. Here's a good article on why the costs in the US are so high.

 

[Industrial Toys]

My Mom is elderly and has issues. I have my own with terrible delays in seeing a specialist. What I have witnessed with my Moms healthcare is ridiculous. The staffing levels in hospitals IS ridiculous, lots of people who from what I can see having spend VERY long waits there, do VERY little to earn their pay. You ask for something and it's always someone elses dept. and that person is on lunch but they will let them know. And that's it for that! No one ever gets back to you.

I agree with my Mom. They just want you to die already! I can't believe the amount of resources given to Pregnancy, extra people we don't even need on the planet and probably have no (bright) future anyway, but the Elderly who built this country can just suffer and die.

 

[txdon]

I just had a heart attack March 9th of this year. In the ER (Truro) moved around different rooms for 1-1/2 days as they had no room in ICU. Moved to ICU for 3 days, went to central hospital (Halifax) 'bout 80KMS one way that does dye/angioplasty and had two stents put in. Stayed there overnight and shipped back to Truro the next day where I was released.
Waited four weeks for a stress test, had that and now gong for a MRI I think it is next week.

I have nothing but good to say about the people, the nurses, doctors...everyone was nothing but the best. It's the 'system' that sucks..........Mike

During your recovery did they send you to Cardiac Rehab. How many weeks is it and did they stress a plant based diet to stop your heart disease progression?

 

[Dadnatron]

Where do Rights come from?

Are Rights something inherent or are they Granted?

If healthcare is a 'Right'... how much healthcare and who makes that decision?

 

[mrmikey]

During your recovery did they send you to Cardiac Rehab. How many weeks is it and did they stress a plant based diet to stop your heart disease progression?

Nope and nope..............Mike