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The Healthcare law passed and signed into law 2010, it is now. I would bet many of peoples concerns have been solved by this bill or will be solved come January 2014, but many major provisions are already in practice. No one is saying you or anyone else should feel comfortable moving to the US, but if you are going to speak on a topic at the very least have some sort of knowledge base to pull from.
Why is a single payer system the only way to achieve Universal Healthcare? You do know that only 4 industrialized countries operate under a fully single payer system right? What about all those others in the EU and Asia that have a private/public multi payer system and achieve the same results, arguably even better?
When the US reformed their system, Single Payer was not a strong option. How on earth could you completely dismantle the Primary private insurance industry and there be no repercussions? What they did was model it after Massachusetts, which modeled itself after a mixture of the Swiss, Germans and Japanese and came up with something uniquely suited for the US. Using Massachusetts as an example, law was passed in 2006 and currently 98.7% of the population is covered. Similar to many European Nations. The cost containment measures were just passed in 2011 and Insurance premiums rose at the lowest level in history last fiscal year in Mass. Do we truly know what will happen on a National scale? no, but you asked for an example and there it is.
I hardly want to get into a Healthcare debate, so take what I said to heart or not, no sweat off my back.
Again, we are talking Seattle in Washington state, not Boston, not other states or other countries. Seattle.The discussion turned to healthcare in Canada and the U.S.,one single - payer one not.
For some is part of the "feel good" propaganda...Thank God we are not like the US....don't go there, you get shot on site, they leave you dying on the street.....
When I was living in Vancouver I met a couple that would not go int he US not even for a day visit, scared of potential medical expenses....
What a load. A lot of Canadians visit the U.S. often, have second homes in the U.S. have family and friends in the U.S. It's not some sort of propaganda or guess.
That proverbial couple in Vancouver would be a rare couple indeed, considering the amount of traffic between the lower mainland and the U.S. Also, people do buy extra insurance when they go to the states, they'd be crazy not to.
...and if you are a billionaire you can choose to live anywhere. The whole point of the OP's question was what " YOU " would choose, not what is better for the rich versus the poor.
My answer in regards to healthcare still stands. I prefer to live in a country that currently seems to see universal, affordable and accesable healthcare as a good thing. The debate lingers on in the U.S.
For ME the U.S. system now and in the future does is not a good fit for me.
This defensive reaction some people in the U.S. have when discussing even the SLIGHTEST possibility that someone DARE defend Canada's healthcare is strange.
Canada this and Canada that. Well it's been said a hundred times on these forums, but Canada must be doing something right since it rates higher in most areas that matter to the average citizen than the U.S. We must be doing something right, and that is why I prefer to live here.
I do not defend nor attack the Canadian system...I just do not think is that better....from reading about it and from personal observation (yes waiting list do exists).
I suspect nobody on this forum is billionaire...if you are you can pretty much live anywhere and you probably have several houses in different places...
One of my wife lucky clients has a beautiful house in West Van and a cottage in Whistler....and a house in Montecito, one in Seattle, etc.....
If I were a billionaire or even just a multimillionaire I would not live (meaning as the primary place of residence) in either city.....but the rest of us has choices to make withiont the realm of possibilities...
Ok give me a billion and few things i want first, sure a nice house in Horseshoe Bay could be part of my estate where to spend couple of weeks a year or so...
Last edited by saturno_v; 05-15-2013 at 03:42 PM..
The worst part is the ideologies Canadians hold about the US healthcare system prevents us from innovating the Canadian system. Championing any sort of private delivery model is pretty much political suicide on this country, meanwhile we're missing a huge opportunity to implement ideas from the most efficient systems in the world, namely France, Japan, Australia etc, which all favour public funding/private delivery models.
That said, healthcare issues certainly would not deter me from moving to to the US. The only thing keeping me in Canada are family ties and the comfort level of living in my own country, instead of being a foreign citizen.
One person innovation is another's destruction. It's political suicide because the majority of Canadians do not want a 2 tiered system. We want the political will to improve and maintain the system we have. Innovation does not just mean privatization, we have that. I'm surrounded by private clinics, doctors run their own offices, the labs in B.C. are all private etc.
Hey guys, please, who wants another US versus Canada healthcare system thread?
This discussion went completely off-topic.
I personally think that majority of Vancouverites are pretty happy to live in Vancouver and would stay in Vancouver even if given the choice to move to Seattle. IMO, Vancouver is more livable than Seattle, has better recreation opportunities, is compact, offers excellent public transportation and amazing waterfront development accessible to all residents, great urban planning and overall is a perfect combination and perfect mix of natural and urban living. In addition, IMO, the vibe in Seattle is very different than in Vancouver. Just 2 hours drive south but you feel like on a different planet. I visited and stayed in Seattle many times and it doesn't feel to me like a potential magnet for dissapointed with their lives Vancouverites who are "stuck" in Van just waiting for the oppotunity to move to Seattle.
I understand that money and career are important factors and that Seattle may offer better career opportunities for some professionals as wll as lower property costs but still, I believe, considering all factors I listed above, Vancouver is a much more livable place than Seattle, especially if one is not fixed on owning a property in the middle of downtown. I mean, there are really cheap places to live in the US in the middle of nowhere, but would you really move your family there because you can buy a huge house there and because the life is cheap there? Is this really all the quality of life is all about?
I also think that if Seattleites were given the choice, many of them would move to Vancouver.
Last edited by movingwiththewind; 05-15-2013 at 03:31 PM..
What a load. A lot of Canadians visit the U.S. often, have second homes in the U.S. have family and friends in the U.S. It's not some sort of propaganda or guess.
Obviously the vast majority of Canadians travel to the US.....but still there is part of propaganda "how much better we have it here all things considered".
Quote:
That proverbial couple in Vancouver would be a rare couple indeed, considering the amount of traffic between the lower mainland and the U.S. Also, people do buy extra insurance when they go to the states, they'd be crazy not to.
Infact they could have just bought emergency insurance as I told them rather than just freaking out....
Last edited by saturno_v; 05-15-2013 at 03:46 PM..
No, I wouldn't actually leave Vancouver for Seattle if I could. I like Seattle alot and visit often, but frankly it's a foreign country and when I spend time there I enjoy it but am always happy to get back to Canada, where I feel more comfortable and at home.
What things do you like about Seattle? Would you move to Seattle from Vancouver if Seattle were a Canadian city?
Hey guys, please, who wants another US versus Canada healthcare system thread?
This discussion went completely off-topic.
I personally think that majority of Vancouverites are pretty happy to live in Vancouver and would stay in Vancouver even if given the choice to move to Seattle. IMO, Vancouver is more livable than Seattle, has better recreation opportunities, is compact, offers excellent public transportation and amazing waterfront development accessible to all residents, great urban planning and overall is a perfect combination and perfect mix of natural and urban living. In addition, IMO, the vibe in Seattle is very different than in Vancouver. Just 2 hours drive south but you feel like on a different planet. I visited and stayed in Seattle many times and it doesn't feel to me like a potential magnet for dissapointed with their lives Vancouverites who are "stuck" in Van just waiting for the oppotunity to move to Seattle.
I understand that money and career are important factors and that Seattle may offer better career opportunities for some professionals as wll as lower property costs but still, I believe, considering all factors I listed above, Vancouver is a much more livable place than Seattle, especially if one is not fixed on owning a property in the middle of downtown. I mean, there are really cheap places to live in the US in the middle of nowhere, but would you really move your family there because you can buy a huge house there and because the life is cheap there? Is this really all the quality of life is all about?
I also think that if Seattleites were given the choice, many of them would move to Vancouver.
For quality life alone, my friends in Seattle pine for Vancouver. None of my friends in Vancouver, pine for Seattle.
What things do you like about Seattle? Would you move to Seattle from Vancouver if Seattle were a Canadian city?
Maybe, although it wouldn't exactly be Seattle if it were one. What I like about Seattle is the greater number of big city attractions to go visit, like the huge art museum, the million things to go do at the Seattle Centre, the beautiful stock of grand old architecture with such fine detailing, the affordability of things, and the greater number of cheap neighbourhoods where bohemian culture can flourish, as artists and young people seem to be getting squeezed out of Vancouver or at least the institutions they'd create are, which is leading to a no fun city. Higher salaries to. If real estate prices were equal, though, and nothing else, I'd definitely still choose Vancouver over Seattle.
Obviously the vast majority of Canadians travel to the US.....but still there is part of propaganda "how much better we have it here all things considered".
Just a few people are like that, i know Canadians who are actually concerned for their safety to go to any American city. even Minneapolis.
Most people don't seem to put much thought into the United States to think if its any better or worse. and of course the people who don't even see much differences between the two countries.
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