Canada Ping!
And as we all know, they have a certain degree of rationing in their health care system. In Canada, if your doctor says you need knee replacement surgery, getting an MRI to confirm his diagnosis will take no less than six weeks. Here in the United States, the doctor orders the MRI today and you’re getting the MRI tomorrow.
Once you get the MRI, in Canada the knee replacement surgery gets approved, but then you land on another waiting list and this one’s a year long, or even longer. America, this is your future.
Two questions: Can you “keep your own doctor” and are there death panels?
I saw an interesting movie a while back called “The Barbarian Invasions” about a guy whose father has terminal cancer in Canada, and how he deals with it.
I have heard in the last five years (IIRC) Canada has been loosening the restrictions on opening private imaging centers because they simply couldn’t function because medical imaging had been cut so deeply.
Ok..so I have a question...
Retiree’s get health insurance.
Working people get health insurance.
Poor get insurance.
So who has no insurance? people under retirement age who have no job but enough assets? That is only a small percentage of population?
So if all these people have health insurance, they won’t have to pay all those resort price hospital rooms, right?
I am confused.
Your Canadian friend is misleading you. There is no fee for hospital rooms unless you opt for private or semi-private, there is no charge for a cast, and a pair of crutches is $30. I was injured in a motorcycle spill outside the city and my only out-of-pocket expenses were $30 for crutches and $45 for a 40-mile ambulance ride.
Canada Ping!
Canada Ping!
Reading all posts in this thread, I have to conclude that MOST people in Canada have health insurance. Unless you want a semi-private room or better, hospitals costs little to most people. Ambulance charges are very low. My daughter was billed $800 for a ambulance ride 2 months ago in Seattle area. Medicines are much cheaper in Canada.
The main problem I see is long waits for non-life-threatening issues such as hip joint or knee replacements, and long waits for expensive diagnostic procedures such as MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).
Not sure why but Government seems to focus on insurance. Does that really get you better care or just spread the cost among others?
All of this discussion about health care and insurance is a bit mute. Health care has nothing to doe (directly) with actual health care. That will be abundantly clear shortly.
When the government gets involved, the prices go up, the Doctors demand more, and so do he Hospitals.
Not really sure why our government is so focused on insurance instead of health care - they are not the same! I assume that it is because the insurance industry supports the government so there you go... It has little to do with reducing costs - actually it will always increase costs when government is involved.
So why the exodus of Governors and States to support the current laws - Money! The States get 100% backing of the Federal Government for 3 years (Medicaid) - the following years are questionable but what the heck, they will probably not be in office or running. That is just another of our problems - Politicians always advance ideas until their next political election.
See any problem with this?
You've confirmed what a lot of us thought all along.
Enjoy that sunshine... it ain't a whole lot better in regards to weather here in the Midwest. (Wish I were in AZ, but duty calls!)
This is why you see different policies and costs, even on this thread...different provinces have different mandates.
But it was the central Gov't which dictates that the provinces must provide socialized medicine. Yet none of the programs as far as I know offer dental, optical so even though taxes are high because of the socialized programs people still pay out of pocket for other insurances.