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!
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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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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