So, maybe you think healthcare is better in Canada because it’s free but this video demonstrates that you get what you pay for:“Don’t get sick on Sunday.” Pretty scary stuff. And having to wait two to three years to get a family doctor is pretty bad (just so you can get a blood test for a cholesterol check). It reminded me of the reports from the Soviet Union of people standing in line waiting to purchase food from stores that don’t have anything on the shelves. And it was pretty funny that everyone kept recommending the private clinics because that was where you could actually see a doctor. Rationed care unless you have the money to pay.This is the system that Obama said he wanted to emulate, not interested! (via)Update: BTW, this is how the Democrats plan to pay for their healthcare “reform:”
To help pay for the estimated $1 trillion bill, lawmakers have decided to tax the wealthy. A married couple making more than $350,000 and less than $500,000 would be hit with a 1 percent tax, those making between $500,000 and $1 million would be assessed a 1.5 percent tax and those making more than $1 million would see a 5.4 percent surtax added to their tax bill. Some of the rates could climb if anticipated savings from elsewhere in the bill did not materialize.
Since we don’t make enough to be considered wealthy, you’d think I would be happy not to be taxed but I know this isn’t going to be enough and we’ll be taxed as well. Once the systems in place, we’ll all wind up paying for it.(via)
posted July 14, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I couldn’t access the video because I live in Canada but if it does say what Michelle has implied with her description it does not describe my experiences with health care here at all. We recently moved to a new town and had a new family doctor within a month. My husband recently required six stitches in his foot and we were in and out of the hospital within an hour. Anyone who does not have a family doctor can at least access care through a walk-in clinic or the hospital if they require it and they will get the same care that anyone else in the country has access to regardless of their income level. I believe this is different from the US system where if you don’t have insurance your are out of luck. My husband and I earn about $200,000 per year and pay close to 50% of our income in taxes. I don’t begrudge the amount we pay at all and I thank God that we live in a country where a person’s access to life-saving and life-enhancing treatments are not dependent on the amount of money that they earn.
posted July 14, 2009 at 11:27 pm
the problem i see with this thought process is Canada and Europe have its own health systems. They’re not all alike. You’ll find good points and not so great points to each system, much like ours, here in the U.S.
I do think it’s time to provide health care for all U.S. citizens. The U.S. likes to talk about how great our system is about everything, well, it’s time to put the money where the mouth is always flapping instead of always saying we don’t have the money, it’s government control, etc. If we were truly a “Christian” nation, there would be no homeless or people without health care but that doesn’t fit into some sects of Christianity, let the poor take care of themselves.
Sorry, it’s time to suck up and do the right thing instead of playing politics, playing with peoples lives and playing god all the time!
posted July 14, 2009 at 11:39 pm
When people are in pain, they turn to Satan. It’s as simple as that. Michelle and people of mind like to her are some of the greatest supporters we Luciferians and Satanists have. Praise Lucifer for Michelle!
posted July 15, 2009 at 12:21 am
Ha, ha, ha – Michele !!! It is so funny that you try to set up a scenario to outrage people but instead your readers set you straight.
Get some facts straight Michele before you BLAB.
Canada is a single payer system – the US doesn’t have the guts to go single payer.
Canada has a mandate for universal HC but each providence pays for it in their own way. That is why there are so many differences.
Obama’s plan is to include an insurance exchange that everyone will have many plans to choose from including a public option.
posted July 15, 2009 at 9:18 am
THIS IS IT!
The healthcare reform bill released by the House Of Representatives is an excellent bill as I understand it. It is carefully written, and thoughtfully constructed, informed, prudent and wise.
This is the type of bill that all Americans can feel good about. And this is the type of bill that has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of healthcare for all Americans. Rich, middle class and poor a like. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and all other party affiliations. This bill has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of life of every American.
The house healthcare bill should be viewed as the minimum GOLD STANDARD by which all other proposed healthcare legislation should be judged. All supporters of true high quality healthcare reform should now place all your support behind this healthcare reform bill released by the United States House Of Representatives, as the minimum Gold standard for healthcare reform in America.
You should all now support this bill with all your might, and all of your unrelenting tenacity. This healthcare bill is a VERY, VERY GOOD! bill for all of the American people. Fight tooth, and nail for every bit of this bill if you have too. Be aggressive, creative, and relentless for this bill.
AND FIGHT!! like your life and the lives of your loved ones depends on it. BECAUSE IT DOES!
SPREAD THE WORD
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSM8t_cLZgk&feature=player_embedded)
God Bless You
Jack Smith — Working Class
posted July 15, 2009 at 12:18 pm
each providence pays for it in their own way.
And so, Quebec has it the worst?
Have you said, michele, that your objection to single-payer is because you don’t want tax dollars to cover abortions? If you did, I missed it.
posted July 15, 2009 at 1:00 pm
We live in Ontario and were in Quebec on a ski trip this past January. While there my husband starting to experience severe vertigo and had to see a doctor. He booked an appointment at a nearby clinic the same day and waited less than an hour to see a doctor there who provided him with a couple of prescriptions.
You can’t judge the quality of a health care system by anecdotal evidence, either positive like mine, or negative, like the people interviewed in the above clip.
posted July 15, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Getting sick here in the US on a Sunday is actually much more scary. As a parent of two young children, I can tell you that a child’s trip to the emergency room for a simple but acute illness will set you back $1,000-$2,000 when your pediatrician isn’t available.
posted July 15, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Getting sick here in the US on a Sunday is actually much more scary. As a parent of two young children, I can tell you that a child’s trip to the emergency room for a simple but acute illness will set you back $1,000-$2,000 when your pediatrician isn’t available.
posted July 15, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Getting sick here in the US on a Sunday is actually much more scary.
Yeah, everyone knows that 7-3, M-F boasts the top hospital crews and it’s all downhill from there.
After a Friday delivery for my first child, I prayed for (and got!) Monday deliveries for the rest. The only trouble with the third one was I got there a little before 7 and the night crew was still kinda around, wreaking havoc!
And I imagine Quebec still observes blue laws. You know, it’s like going to Bergen County, NJ on Sunday.
posted July 15, 2009 at 5:00 pm
According to a study done 2 years ago, Affluent Americans living in Canada, who have experienced the best of US health health care, actually preferred the Canadian health care system.
http://www.openmedicine.ca/article/viewFile/39/42
5If you are looking for an “informative” view on Canada health care, watch “SICKO” it almost won an Oscar.
posted July 15, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Affluent Americans living in Canada … actually preferred the Canadian health care system.
Probably because the care was equitable enough to reduce or eliminate their guilt from privilege.
posted July 15, 2009 at 10:08 pm
I have a number of Canadian friends, including a friend who’s also had experience with American healthcare, and they all tell me they are very pleased with their healthcare system, as wall as mystified why Americans are so retrogressive in their healthcare policies. It’s a good question.
posted July 16, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Healthcare in Canada is not “free”. Rather, it is a single payer system, the goal of which is to ensure accessible health care to all Canadians. While it does have its flaws, including wait times in some areas and no equivalent system for prescription drugs, it by and large succeeds. If you contrast this to the U.S. systems with large numbers of people without healthcare it comes out as a superior system of healthcare for the population.
Most of the arguments that I’ve seen against it are based on anecdotal or scare tactics based on individual stories. The assertion that the U.S. has the best healthcare in the world may be true IF you have the money for private care. It is not true if you measure the health outcomes for all citizens.
BTW, why is the debate about health insurance instead of health care?