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I read this quote from the Health Outcome section of the Comparsion of the health care systems in Canada and the United States. The quote reads:
"In the World Health Organization's rankings of health care system performance among 191 member nations published in 2000, Canada ranked 30th and the U.S. 37th, while the overall health of Canadians was ranked 35th and Americans 72nd."
I always heard that the Canadian health care system is terrible because it puts too many patients on a long waiting list for surgery or even a simple check up.
Can someone please provide a link that gives unbiased facts on how both health care systems work, or can you please in your own words break it down for me. I really want to understand this topic a lot more. And also give me your opinion on the matter, who do you think has the best health care system? U.S? Canada? And if its another country tell me which one and why?
The wait argument applies to many countries, including the US, unless you're filthy rich. I had to make an appointment to see a specialist in the US recently. I live in a big city, have health insurance, called all around, and the best I could find was an appointment nearly 3 months from when I called. The facts speak for themselves. In the US, you're more likely to pay a lot more for your health even if you have insurance, unless you miraculously live without any health problems your whole life. Many people do not have health insurance at all, and with the very high cost of all things in the health industry, it's why many go without seeing a doctor for a very long time, skip the treatment and prescriptions they need, etc, leading to shorter life spans.
I've never used the Canadian system, but I prefer the British NHS to the "for profit" healthcare here in the US. Yes, there are waiting lists for certain procedures, but we spend much less per capita on healthcare than Americans and we are universally covered. The NHS has never let me down, yet millions of people in the US cannot see a doctor, many end up in the Emergency Room when untreated minor health issues become major health issues. I do not agree with health insurance being tied to a job.
I read this quote from the Health Outcome section of the Comparsion of the health care systems in Canada and the United States. The quote reads:
"In the World Health Organization's rankings of health care system performance among 191 member nations published in 2000, Canada ranked 30th and the U.S. 37th, while the overall health of Canadians was ranked 35th and Americans 72nd."
I always heard that the Canadian health care system is terrible because it puts too many patients on a long waiting list for surgery or even a simple check up.
Can someone please provide a link that gives unbiased facts on how both health care systems work, or can you please in your own words break it down for me. I really want to understand this topic a lot more. And also give me your opinion on the matter, who do you think has the best health care system? U.S? Canada? And if its another country tell me which one and why?
Thanks
The US, with its highly mixed and complex payer system, spends about twice the percentage of GDP on health care as single-payer Canadian/UK/European systems with the outcome in the US that basic health care is mediocre while high-end specialist health care can be excellent, similar to the education system.
In short, in the US, the poor subsidize the high-end health care (and education) of the rich, and of course insurance executive salaries.
On the other hand, insurance premiums and health care expenses on certain conditions are tax deductible for the self-employed.
I would gladly pay around 3% of my gross income for a single-payer system, but I am not so sure that the high-end quality would be that good over the long run.
I read this quote from the Health Outcome section of the Comparsion of the health care systems in Canada and the United States. The quote reads:
"In the World Health Organization's rankings of health care system performance among 191 member nations published in 2000, Canada ranked 30th and the U.S. 37th, while the overall health of Canadians was ranked 35th and Americans 72nd."
I always heard that the Canadian health care system is terrible because it puts too many patients on a long waiting list for surgery or even a simple check up.
Can someone please provide a link that gives unbiased facts on how both health care systems work, or can you please in your own words break it down for me. I really want to understand this topic a lot more. And also give me your opinion on the matter, who do you think has the best health care system? U.S? Canada? And if its another country tell me which one and why?
Thanks
I believe that Canada has a universal health care system. Based on that I would assume that most Canadians have access to reasonable priced health care whereas in the USA there are many people who have no health insurance and therefore only go to the doctor or ER when an emergency arises.
I read this quote from the Health Outcome section of the Comparsion of the health care systems in Canada and the United States. The quote reads:
"In the World Health Organization's rankings of health care system performance among 191 member nations published in 2000, Canada ranked 30th and the U.S. 37th, while the overall health of Canadians was ranked 35th and Americans 72nd."
I always heard that the Canadian health care system is terrible because it puts too many patients on a long waiting list for surgery or even a simple check up.
Can someone please provide a link that gives unbiased facts on how both health care systems work, or can you please in your own words break it down for me. I really want to understand this topic a lot more. And also give me your opinion on the matter, who do you think has the best health care system? U.S? Canada? And if its another country tell me which one and why?
Thanks
There are so many different aspects to health care, that it's not easy to make a comparison. The US has waiting lists. I'm waiting 6 months to see an endocrinologist as a first-time patient. That's ridiculous. Waits of a month are common even for established patients. The US does a terrible job with chronic health issues. Most doctors simply refuse patients with chronic health issues, with the exception of a very few types of illnesses, like diabetes. US doctors aren't trained to get to the root cause of chronic health issues, they're only trained to mask symptoms with Pharma.
Furthermore, insurance companies in the US control what doctors can and can't do. They won't allow doctors to order expensive tests unless there are extenuating circumstances. Many types of advanced tests insurance refuses to pay for, and the patient ends up paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket PER TEST for the tests they need. Insurance now is waging a publicity campaign to convince the public that annual check-ups aren't necessary, and that annual mammograms aren't necessary. Health care in the US is insurance and Pharma-driven, not patient-driven.
Where the US excels is in catastrophic and emergency care. But some emergency rooms get terribly backed up, to the point where even urgent cases with insurance have to wait overnight to be admitted. Doctors are similarly burdened with case overloads. In WA state doctors routinely schedule 4 or more patients for the same 1/2 hour appointment, because insurance doesn't pay them enough for their time. Conditions vary tremendously from state to state. Doctors this overloaded can't possibly know their patients well, and so oversights and medical errors are more prone to occur.
The last WHO ranking I saw put the US at 26th. The fact that it's fallen to 72nd is alarming. This may have partly to do with the growing shortage of physicians in the US.
I don't know about Canada. I don't know if it's similarly corporate-driven as in the US, or not. Hopefully our Canadian members can enlighten us.
The Canadian care must be good, because we don't hear about Canadians flocking to the United States to get medical care. Maybe some well off people seeking highly specialized care, but for their vast majority the system is adequate.
And you don't see doctors run away from Canada to practice in the US, which make me think that they are pretty happy with the system too. Actually, I read somewhere that more doctors were moving into Canada than were moving out.
I read this quote from the Health Outcome section of the Comparsion of the health care systems in Canada and the United States. The quote reads:
"In the World Health Organization's rankings of health care system performance among 191 member nations published in 2000, Canada ranked 30th and the U.S. 37th, while the overall health of Canadians was ranked 35th and Americans 72nd."
I always heard that the Canadian health care system is terrible because it puts too many patients on a long waiting list for surgery or even a simple check up.
Well, you could argue that this dosen't happen here because nobody has to money to even go to the doctor. No patents, no lines. I'm sure that this has something to do with this. That also, in turn, explains the lower life expectancy.
Of course there are probably more people going to the doctor in Canada. And I'm sure you will not have to wait if it's urgent.
Can someone please provide a link that gives unbiased facts on how both health care systems work, or can you please in your own words break it down for me. I really want to understand this topic a lot more. And also give me your opinion on the matter, who do you think has the best health care system? U.S? Canada? And if its another country tell me which one and why?
Thanks
I think the U.S. has the better health care. Health care is outrageously expensive, so they make much more money off of you. Of course they, then ,can invest more money into technology, medications or research.
As somebody else has already mentioned, you wait FOREVER at the emergency room. I read that the national average is about 7 hours. Of course, it's actually called emergency room and people will go there when they have a cold. That, of course, explains why you have to wait so long. Nobody has really told the public what the word "emergency" means and everybody thinks he has an emergency, so they will go there. And yes, even plenty of people with insurance do this.
A lot of people say you have easy access to health care in the U.S. and claim our system is working. Well, there's in-network, out-of-network and so on. You have to find out who is in your network. And propel do wait for appointments and so on. Somebody I knew had cancer a couple of years back, and the surgeries were always a couple of weeks away.
Both the US and Canada should adopt the Australian system and be done with it. It's a far superior, user-friendly and accessible system than either of them - a hybrid public and private system. No system is perfect but restricting the discussion to only Canadian or American health systems, as if no other option exists, doesn't help anyone.
The Canadian care must be good, because we don't hear about Canadians flocking to the United States to get medical care. Maybe some well off people seeking highly specialized care, but for their vast majority the system is adequate.
And you don't see doctors run away from Canada to practice in the US, which make me think that they are pretty happy with the system too. Actually, I read somewhere that more doctors were moving into Canada than were moving out.
Actually, people who can afford to pay for procedures do flock to the US, if they can't wait the 6 months for an important procedure, but there aren't that many cases, especially involving people who can pay rather than wait. Doctors have been abandoning Canada for the US in significant numbers, because the US pays more, especially for those who offer specialized care. And there's some kind of issue regarding regulation of Canadian health care that is burdensome to doctors, though it's hard to imagine it's worse than the control insurance companies have over doctors' practices in the US.
I'm hoping someone can find some articles to post, especially one that gives the doctors' view. On the whole I haven't heard many complaints from Canadian friends about the system, but most of my friends are healthy and don't need doctors. i don't think the Canadian system has been studied thoroughly enough in the US.
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I'm sure that this has something to do with this. That also, in turn, explains the lower life expectancy. 
