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Post by moomama18 on Jan 22, 2007 17:41:39 GMT -5
It sucks that I can't claim my junkie, drug addict dog as a dependent!!! Talk about medical care....perhaps I should petition the Government about that???   Yeah, I wish we could claim Miss Ellie this year!!! That made me laugh, thanks Sanman! |
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Post by xrayspex on Jan 22, 2007 19:16:44 GMT -5
OK, I have trained and worked in both the Canadian and US health care systems and have read a lot of very interesting and insightful comments in the above posts. Neither the Canadian nor the US health care system has got it totally right - like anything of this magnitude, there are incredibly complex issues and there are a lot of grey areas.
Canada does very well in taking care of acute life-threatening emergency problems. At my hospital, within a week of a cancer diagnosis, patients get any needed tests and start treatment within two weeks. Where the Canucks drop the ball a bit is for the non-emergency stuff. So yes, you will wait 6-12 months for an MRI of your knee to see if you have an ACL tear. Then you will wait 6 months to see an orthopedic surgeon. Then you will wait 6-12 months to have surgery on your knee. But you won't pay a red cent for any of it.
We pay a lot in taxes. Health care is one of, if not the biggest expenditures for tax money (other than lining politician's pockets). When universal health care was created about 30 years ago, medicine was a very different beast than it is now. There are drugs and technologies out there that people couldn't even have imagined. And they ain't cheap. Add in the increased life expectancy, aging population, etc and the costs for health care are going to spiral out of control.
Which is where a parallel private system comes in... there are 2 other countries in the world other than Canada that do not have a legitimate second option to the public health care system - Cuba and North Korea. So private medicine is a necessary evil I think to take some of the burden off a public system that is stressed beyond the breaking point. If someone with private insurance or too much cash on their hands wants to go private to get their MRI, well that opens a spot in the public sector for another patient.
I will level one very strong criticism of the American system and that is the litigious atmosphere that is omnipresent. Malpractice fees in the US are more than some Canadian docs salaries. And the prevailing attitude there is often not "what is best for my patient?" but "what will not get my ass sued?"
I could go on ad nauseum about all this... but no one would read my incredibly long-winded post. Anyway, just my two cents... well it would just be one cent since half my income goes to taxes...
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Post by iami on Jan 22, 2007 20:08:47 GMT -5
Thanks, xrayspec, that about sums it up as clearly as I've ever read about the issue.
iami
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Post by palomino-72 on Jan 22, 2007 20:08:51 GMT -5
*grooves out to xrayspex* I think you've revealed an auto-edit in your second-last paragraph. I suspect you meant to say "what will not get my a ss sued." |
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sanman
NOTORIOUS
He'll flip ya. Flip ya for real.
Posts: 799
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Post by sanman on Jan 22, 2007 20:46:04 GMT -5
*grooves out to xrayspex* I think you've revealed an auto-edit in your second-last paragraph. I suspect you meant to say "what will not get my a ss sued." that's right. i'd discovered that in a PM i sent to someone about an hour and a half ago, posted about it in the auto-edit thread and then came in here to find it posted again. TOO FUNNY. |
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Mediavixen
BIG THING
Vinyl rocks my high heeled world!
Posts: 551
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Post by Mediavixen on Jan 22, 2007 22:35:49 GMT -5
I have to say that I have never, ever known anyone to wait anywhere near the amount of time that Specs described. Not even close.
I am a personal trainer and I see injuries alot and I can honestly say that I have never seen anyone wait like that for treatment.
Yes, we do have wait times and Renee is correct. It depends on the area. But wait times like that? Never heard of that ever.
lol, I hear you with the pet thing. I have an expensive kitty.
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Post by xrayspex on Jan 22, 2007 22:41:51 GMT -5
What province are you in mediavixen?
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Mediavixen
BIG THING
Vinyl rocks my high heeled world!
Posts: 551
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Post by Mediavixen on Jan 22, 2007 22:47:45 GMT -5
Ontario...formally from Quebec.
and yes, we have wait times, but you describe a near 3 year wait and I can honestly say that I have never known anyone to wait even remotely close to that and I see injuries all the time in my line of work. Nor have I ever waited anything close to that time either. Anyway, that's my experience and the ones of the clients I have dealt with.
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vsb
LIBERTY
New Yorker Down Under
Posts: 180
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Post by vsb on Jan 23, 2007 7:50:47 GMT -5
I will level one very strong criticism of the American system and that is the litigious atmosphere that is omnipresent. Malpractice fees in the US are more than some Canadian docs salaries. And the prevailing attitude there is often not "what is best for my patient?" but "what will not get I disagree sued?" Yes, but that is not the fault of the US health care system, but of MY old profession -- the legal profession!  |
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sanman
NOTORIOUS
He'll flip ya. Flip ya for real.
Posts: 799
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Post by sanman on Jan 23, 2007 9:02:33 GMT -5
I will level one very strong criticism of the American system and that is the litigious atmosphere that is omnipresent. Malpractice fees in the US are more than some Canadian docs salaries. And the prevailing attitude there is often not "what is best for my patient?" but "what will not get I disagree sued?" Yes, but that is not the fault of the US health care system, but of MY old profession -- the legal profession! exactly, vsb. i was just too tired to respond to that comment last night. |
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