I'm From Canada. Here's What It's Like to Live with Universal Health Care

Paste Magazine ^ | 07/21/2017 | By Rob Rousseau

[robroys woman]

This is a core difference between Canada and the US, and why I prefer the US: “Canadians across the political spectrum recognize that we’re not a series of individuals, but a society.”

And this demonstrates the flaw in socialistic thinking: “We recognize our shared obligation to look out for each other, and we know that when we do, everyone prospers.”

There is a difference between prospering and being happy and feel like you are in control of your own destiny. Helping others is always a good thing. Forcing other people to help others is always a bad thing, even if the “others” are helped.

[Buckeye McFrog]

and found out that I was one of the unlucky 2% of Canadians who suffer from gout. It’s embarrassing to admit this, as it’s a disease that’s typically associated with gluttonous, inbred monarchs

I know a number of people who suffer with gout. This guy is a pompous ass.

[Pearls Before Swine]

Re the article:

It (universal healthcare) is great when it works, you get the referrals you need, and timely care. But, we often hear horror stories about people coming to the US for care because it isn’t available in Canada. A couple of happy outcomes are just data points, not a real survey. How do we balance them out.

A second question: In the US, we have a major party (Dems, of course) that is hell-bent on importing as many non-white locked-in future voters as possible, and giving them all sorts of preferences and benefits. Of these, full medical care will be one of the more expensive. How does Canada deal with immigration in the face of expensive and universal benefits such as healthcare?

[Bayan]

You can post all the BS fairy tale propaganda you want but it won’t make any difference to people that actually know the truth. Tens of thousands of Canadians cross the border to get medical care in the US every year because they can’t get what they need in Canada. Canadians sometimes have to wait so long to see the specialist they need to see that the damage is irreversible or they die. Some treatments or drugs are simply not available. You have NO CHOICES under national health care systems, you are just a piece of meat and you do what you’re told. Some hospitals are awful but if they send you there you are stuck. You may wait for hours for an ambulance. There are thousands of horror stories about Canadian health care so stick your Socialist nonsense in your ear.

[workerbee]

And even if you’re in perfect health, Canadians across the political spectrum recognize that we’re not a series of individuals, but a society. We recognize our shared obligation to look out for each other, and we know that when we do, everyone prospers.

*SMH*

[scottinoc]

It’s important to remember that Obama’s ACA was itself an effort to put forward a sensible, bipartisan compromise that could unify both left and right

I don't even know where to start, but this quote is laughable on it's face. Absolutely nothing bi-partisan about it, other than the John Kasich's of the world heeling like a dog when it came to the Medicaid expansion. Yeah it works out terrific for Canadians who can get emergency care without a hitch but are wealthy enough to go to the US to get anything else without waiting forever.

[Former Proud Canadian]

That said Canadian health care would not work in the US. Americans will not wait for service, demand the absolute newest and best technology whether it is needed or not, and will sue somebody with deep pockets at the slightest opportunity.

Additionally US health care providers are oriented to providing "customer care" to their patients. Their patients seem to believe that they can participate in any lifestyle they desire and if something goes wrong, like type 2 diabetes or heart disease, they expect the health care system to cure them, hopefully with a few pills. Canadian doctors are far more inclined to tell their patients to lose weight, get more exercise, avoid certain foods, and pay more attention to their own health.

[piytar]

Yeah, and I had a girlfriend whose aunt in Canada had stage 3 breast cancer and she couldn’t get to see a doctor until it had progressed to stage 4, which they declared untreatable. She died. Badly. But because she wasn’t treated before it was stage 4, she doesn’t show up in the fake stats they keep.

Socialized medicine = death.

[zaxtres]

Now tell us the story where you are 85 in need of heart surgery. Let’s see how your Canadian system works out for you?

Or you are a disabled vet and in the United States VA system, have pneumonia and in need of a bed and due to the reduction of available beds since 1972 cannot find one. What will you do then?

Neither the VA system nor Canada’s health care system is the way to go. Period. Competition in an open and free market system will be the only way to drive costs down as it has countless times with every other product on the market. When regulators instill a myriad of obstacles and roadblocks costs skyrocket with the inclusion of regulations. A few regulations are needed for safety, granted, but not 15 layers deep covering the same thing. These needed regulations should by no way be cost prohibited. With open competition comes the buyers voice, the buyer who likes a given service or product will exclaim proudly and openly about such. This travels and more come to buy. Bad service or product, bye-bye birdie. Healthcare is a monopoly at this time and removes the voice of the buyer.

[TheCipher]

Yeah it works out terrific for Canadians who can get emergency care without a hitch but are wealthy enough to go to the US to get anything else without waiting forever.

Yeah, close off that pressure relief valve the US is to Canadian healthcare and it will be a short time before it explodes.

[workerbee]

She was very lucky, as for women approaching 70, routine mammograms aren’t always given a major emphasis as far as medical care goes.

I like how he throws this in, almost as an unimportant detail, then goes on to rave about socialized medicine's preventive care. One asks what else isn't a "major emphasis", and for whom, and with what results.

[zaxtres]

prohibitive = prohibited

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Tens of thousands of Canadians cross the border to get medical care in the US every year because they can’t get what they need in Canada.

I am not going to dispute the fact that Canadians are coming to the USA for their procedures because they don’t want to wait.

But where are you getting the “tens of thousands” figure from? I just want a reliable source for this.

[Impala64ssa]

FTA: "I ingested such an absurd amount of Tex Mex, BBQ and beer.."
So he got free health care from what was essentially a self inflicted illness?

[sanjuanbob]

A few years back I had surgery in Bellingham, WA. It seemed like one out of every 4 people in the hospital was a Canadian. The stories I heard were that a heart bypass surgery in Canada could be scheduled over a year out, or that there was a six month wait for a simple MRI. I was told that your generic GP was expected to see 47 patients in one day, or in other words, a 10 minute visit, non stop, and you have to look damned hard just to find any doctor who will accept you as a patient. You might find a veterinarian. Canadian medical is what “free” gets you...plus a 50% tax rate; you can’t afford it when you need it.

[V K Lee]

Rob Rousseau, at one with cartoon characters. Noticed them referenced several times in the piece. Try living in the reality world and join the masses.

[sparklite2]

My experience was a little different. Remember going to the post office, standing in long lines while most of the service windows were closed, finally getting to the front only to be ‘served’ by a surly prick, and seeing behind him postal workers sitting on their asses in aimless conversation?

Welcome to the medical clinic.

[beergarden]

I have family in British Columbia. They HATE IT. Going to the hospital and emergency ward is a gamble.

THEY WILL NOT SEE YOU UNLESS YOU HAVE A MEDICAL CARD. Now what if you don’t have a medical card? It’s screw you. At least here in America you can sue the hospital. over there because it s a socialist haven, you cant.

[Gay State Conservative]

I could go on for days on this subject but I'll just say...having worked for a world famous American hospital for decades,having had two hip replacements,open heart surgery and other treatments here and having once gone to a large Canadian hospital after a car accident I can say that our system,as imperfect as it surely is (imperfect like every other aspect of the country),is far superior to theirs.

And yes,I know that my one personal experience with Canadian medicine (a very unpleasant one) doesn't prove that theirs is a bad system but I know far more about their system than what I learned from that lone visit.