A Canadian speaks out on their socialist, healthcare system

Please take the time to read it so you can do whatever you wish....research, verify, etc., but please read it.

I saw on the news up here in Canada where Hillary Clinton introduced her new health care plan. Something similar to what we have in Canada. I also heard that Michael Moore was raving about the health care up here in Canada in his latest movie. As your friend and someone who lives with the Canada health care plan, I thought I would give you some facts about this great medical plan that we have in Canada.

First of all: 1) The health care plan in Canada is not free. We pay a premium every month of $96 for Shirley and me to be covered. Sounds great! What they don't tell you is how much we pay in taxes to keep the health care system afloat. I am personally in the 55% tax bracket. Yes 55% of my earnings go to taxes. A large portion of that (I am not sure of the exact amount) goes directly to health care our #1 expense.

2) I would not classify what we have as health care plan, it is more like a health diagnosis system. You can get into to see a doctor quick enough so he can tell you "yes indeed you are sick or you need an operation" but now the challenge becomes getting treated or operated on. We have waiting lists out the ying yang, some as much as 2 years down the road.

3) Rather than fix what is wrong with you the usual tactic in Canada is to prescribe drugs. Have a pain- here is a drug to take- not what is causing the pain and why. No time for checking you out because it is more important to move as many patients thru as possible each hour for Government re-imbursement.

5) Don't require emergency treatment as you may wait for hours in the emergency room waiting for treatment.

6) Shirley's dad cut his hand on a power saw a few weeks back and it required that his hand be put in a splint - to our surprise we had to pay $125 for a splint because it is not covered under health care plus we have to pay $60 for each visit for the dr. to check it out each week.

7) Shirley's cousin was diagnosed with a heart blockage. Put on a waiting list Died before he could get treatment.

8) Government allots so many operations per year. When that is done no more operations, unless you go to your local newspaper and plead your case and embarrass the government then money suddenly appears.

9)The Government takes great pride in telling us how much more they are increasing the funding for health care but waiting lists never get shorter. Government just keeps throwing money at the problem but it never goes away. They are good at finding new ways to tax us, but they don't call it a tax anymore it is now a user fee.

10) A friend needs an operation for a blockage in her leg but because she is a smoker they will not do it despite paying into the health care system all these years. My friend is 65 years old. Now there is talk that maybe we should not treat fat and obese people either because they are a drain on the health care system. Let me see now, what we want in Canada is a health care system for healthy people only. That should reduce our health care costs.

12) I can spend what money I have left after taxes on booze, cigarettes, junk food and anything else that could kill me but I am not allowed by law to spend my money on getting an operation I need because that would be jumping the queue. I must wait my turn except if I am a hockey player or athlete then I can get looked at right away. Go figure. Where else in the world can you spend money to kill yourself but are not allowed to spend money to get healthy.

13) Oh did I mention that immigrants are covered automatically at tax payer expense having never contributed a dollar to the system and pay no premiums.

14) We now give free needles to drug users to try and keep them healthy. Wouldn't want a sickly druggie breaking into your house and stealing your things. But people with diabetes who pay into the health care system have to pay for their needles because it is not covered by the health care system.

I send this out not looking for sympathy but as the election looms in the states you will be hearing more and more about universal health care down there and the advocates will be pointing to Canada. I just want to make sure that you hear the truth about health care up here and have some food for thought and informed questions to ask when broached with this subject.

CANADA HEALTH CARE TEIRED

The supporters of our supposed single-tier health-care system are aghast that Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling could threaten Canadians’ equal access to treatment.
It is a long-held myth, of course, that there is no queue-jumping in this country. Most Canadians have no special privileges when it comes to receiving care, but some do. Military personnel, the RCMP, prisoners and workers’ compensation claimants don’t fall under the medicare umbrella.
So while the typical Canadian waits and waits for a diagnostic test or surgery, the members of these groups are entitled to speedy access. All of them are exempt from the Canada Health Act.
I’m not suggesting that certain groups shouldn’t be entitled to faster treatment. If our soldiers and cops had to wait as long as ordinary folks for care, Canada would fall short in both the peacekeeping and policing arenas.
It irks me that a prisoner can get quicker specialist consultations or surgery than law-abiding Canadians, but that’s the law. Go bark to your MP about it.
Just last week, you may recall, a New Brunswick man who told police in Toronto he was planning a shooting rampage was jailed for three years. He wasn’t actually going to kill anyone. The 44-year-old man, who had no prior criminal record, just wanted heart surgery. And he got it quickly while in custody.
Yes, he resorted to drastic measures to jump the queue, but people desperate for treatment will do extraordinary things. Some spend $50,000 to get surgery abroad.
Injured workers don’t have to wait, though. Last year, a Workers’ Compensation Board claimant in Alberta wrote us about his experience. “The average person waits, what, months or years for an MRI? I waited two days,” he wrote in a letter to the editor.
He only waited 12 days for back surgery, he added. “Only a fool would believe we all get the same treatment.”
The myth lives on, however. “We’re not going to have a two-tier health-care system in this country,” Prime Minister Paul Martin declared Thursday.
We’ve probably got a four-tier system, quips Nadeem Esmail, senior health policy analyst with the Fraser Institute. The first tier comprises those who are wealthy enough to go abroad for timely care, he says.
The second is made up of the aforementioned special population groups - military, RCMP, prisoners and WCB claimants. I suppose you could include professional athletes in that tier. They have private insurance and don’t have to wait in line.
People in the third tier have pull or influence - they know a doctor or have a friend on the hospital board, says Esmail.
In the fourth tier are average Canadians who need care but have no way of expediting the process.
Esmail argues that instead of suspending the privileges that have been bestowed on certain groups, all Canadians should have the option of buying private insurance.
Dr. Joel Lexchin, an emergency physician and York University health policy professor, says there will always be some manipulation of the system.
But he doesn’t think people should be given special consideration and permitted to jump the queue.
A stay-at-home mom with small children who breaks her leg needs to get back to her duties as urgently as an employee who’s injured on the job, he says.
“I don’t think there should be any distinction,” he adds.
Predictably, the difference is about money, says Esmail. If you’re injured at work, the WCB has an incentive to patch you up quickly because you’re getting income support while you wait for care.
It’s in their interest to get you into a private clinic fast. The rest of us? Take a number.
- mjacobs@edmsun.com

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