Any Canadians think their healthcare system is better than the current US system?

Question

My uncle lives in Canada and here's what he has to say:

"The Republicans have really got quite a spin going in your country over the health care issue. The truth is this - if I have the big one up to and including needing a heart transplant, I don't pay a dime. I can put up with waiting a few hours in emergency to have that kind of coverage. The other side of the issue "which of course they ignore", is the fact that I don't have to feel "guilty" about having coverage while my brothers & sisters are dying, thousands every day, because they can't afford coverage. Could our system be better? Sure it could but it's a hell of a lot better that the US system that forces 80 year olds to return to work because they have lost everything to medical bills. I have seen these poor folk bagging groceries in Florida barely able to carry the them. Shameful!!

Answer 1

Every Canadian I know likes the Canadian system better. ∠°)

Answer 2

The Canadians I know DON'T like the system. One of them had a 2 part surgery on her knee; had to wait 6 months, while in pain, for the 1st surgery in Canada; her job came to the US, and for the second surgery, it was scheduled in a matter of days.



Why are there so many varying opinions of the same system?



Why does he say he doesn't pay a dime? How about taxes? I work for a company that has both US & Canadian customers. In the US, if you are a retail business with a tax ID #, you don't pay taxe on your order.. In Canada, every invoice has taxes added to it, and I'm sure those costs are passed to their retail customers. And that's just for business, not personal taxes.



But here's the big deal in both countries - if you don't have enough people willing to be donors (because everyone sure needs those organs in the grave) - NO ONE will be getting a transplant.

Answer 3

I think that there are just as many detractors of the UK health care system as other health care systems in other countries. Your question has an obvious answer. Many prison systems grow some of their food. |It gives the inmates something to do with their time and they learn skills like farming, etc. Patients are fed through the hospital system and again there are managed costs of running institutions. In short they contract out for the cheapest food provider.

Answer 4

Thank you for posting this. There is a lot of lying going on Right now by a certain segment of our society that is bought and paid for by the Insurance Lobby.

The Canadians I knew said about the same thing, and they even thought it was funny that Americans had to go up there (or to Mexico) to get prescriptions. Hoo aboot that, eh?

Answer 5

What is the waiting list for that heart transplant your uncle mentioned... and what is the age limit to receive one...?



Could you get one at 60, 70 or 80 years old...? I can.

Answer 6

Canadian healthcare is one of the best in the world. It has its flaws, but I'd take it over the US system any day. Your uncle's views are shared by many others, including myself.

Answer 7

What is a wait for a few months for coverage compared to not having a chance for coverage at all.

Answer 8

Because a system based on profit is so much better.



Insurers cut back cover for cancer as treatment costs soar



Private Medical insurers in Britain are cutting cancer cover, with many refusing to help those who need palliative care.



The changes come as increasing numbers of patients seek help paying for drugs that could prolong their lives.



As the costs of cancer treatments soar, insurers are looking at ways of containing costs. Only three - Bupa, PruHealth and Exeter Friendly Society - offer full cover for cancer, including palliative care, that is treatment designed to ease, not cure, symptoms.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1199689/Insurers-cut-cover-cancer-treatment-costs-soar.html#ixzz0NRwHqJVS



God Bless the Private Profit Making Insurance Industry and all who sail in her.



Quote:



"People who undergo genetic tests to discover their risk of developing diseases such as breast cancer could be denied life insurance in the future, an influential panel of peers has warned.



It said that insurance companies could use the results to hike up premiums, even if the tests had been carried out years previously.



They offer customers an assessment of their likelihood of developing certain diseases, ranging from obesity to cancer, based on a sample of their DNA. "



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1197963/Could-patients-gene-tests-deadly-diseases-lose-life-insurance.html#ixzz0M5qIxHWh



Quote:



"The rise of genomics - the branch of genetics that studies organisms in terms of their full DNA sequences or genomes - will in the not too distant future kill off most private health insurance.



That's probably a good thing. First, because of asymmetric information, when there is risk and uncertainty about a person's future health, health insurance markets are badly affected by adverse selection and moral hazard.



Second, because the private health insurance industry is a monument to inefficiency everywhere and, especially in the US, a rent-seeking Leviathan whose ruthless lobbying efforts corrupt all it touches."



Above Quote courtesy of: Maverecon: Willem Buiter - Professor of European Political Economy, London School of Economics and Political Science; former chief economist of the EBRD, former external member of the MPC; adviser to international organisations, governments, central banks and private financial institutions.



Read more - http://blogs.ft.com/maverecon/2009/07/the-inevitable-socialisation-of-health-care-financing/



http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7ae803c8-6c20-11de-9320-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F7ae803c8-6c20-11de-9320-00144feabdc0.html%3Fnclick_check%3D1&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fanswers.yahoo.com%2Fquestion%2Findex%3B_ylt%3DAu9zRI5AM2.RmhxUkaoF83Lty6IX%3B_ylv%3D3%3Fqid%3D20090723064649AAkgGHy&nclick_check=1

Answer 9

hell, we already have to wait 3+ hours at the emergency room.



and all we have to show for it, most times, are a RX, and a $300 bill for their services.



but the flip side is, if you don't want to pay it, apparently you don't have to?



yeah... that's efficient... and it makes perfect sense, eh?



you think the conservatives would want this method to end RIGHT NOW since it's not very conservative to piss money down the toilet.

Answer 10

I saw Seth Rogan talking about how good Canadian health care was the other night on a talk show... I forget which one. Either Conan or the Daily Show.

Answer 11

So that would make your uncle a monkeys uncle right?Hmmmm.

Answer 12

I don't believe for a second you have an uncle in Canada, but if you did he doesn't seem to understand the US system.

Do you really think your propaganda on YA is helping?