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I am always amazed at how many Canadians want to desperately hold onto the past when it comes to the US Healthcare system.
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....
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....
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....
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.
My understanding is creditors in the US are basically powerless when collecting foreign debts. They cannot access your Canadian credit file, sue you, garnish your wages etc. Also many creditors will settle old debts for pennies on the dollar. Also this would be a civil matter so there is absolutely no reason for them to be "afraid" to enter the US. They are not criminals and they are free to cross at will.
Just because somebody is ignorant on their rights is not indicative of failures within the insurance/healthcare system.
And this thread is pretty much proof that Canadians are incapable of objectively evaluating what living in the United States is actually like. All the benefits are immediately dismissed and the conversation always shifts back to healthcare.
I am always amazed at how many Canadians want to desperately hold onto the past when it comes to the US Healthcare system. It could be as a result of having an agenda, not being well read on the topic or just plain ignorance, but alot has happened in the past few years when it comes to the Healthcare system in the US.
The PPACA was passed in 2010, amended in 2011 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012. Most major provisions begin on January 1, 2014. If you have an opinion on the American Healthcare System, then it should be based on this piece of 600+ page legislation and nothing else. The articles you posted were from 2009 for example. Was that reality in 2009? Yes; but should we harp on the past or deal with what is reality as we stand here today or not?
If you have a beef with "Obamacare" then by all means it has its flaws and people would be more than happy to deal with them, but if you are not familiar with the contents of the law then why on earth would you offer an opinion? Just a quick question, how many years did it take for Canadian Single Payer System to be fully phased in and cover 100% of the population? If you look at the trials involved then you will see this is not something that happened overnight. Approaching the US version of healthcare reform deserves at the very least the same amount of time to really make an impact.
If you are interested, a study of Massachusetts Healthcare reform is a preview into how the PPACA will work on a National scale. Also if you read about Healthcare reform in the Netherlands, it is also very similar, considering the Harvard Public Health Architect for the Massachusetts system, was hired to spearhead reform in the Netherlands. Of course once again if you have an issue with the Mass and Netherlands reform then I'm sure most would be interested in hearing you're thoughts.
The question is regarding moving to Seattle now, not when and if healthcare reform ever reaches the universality and affordability that exists in Canada and The Netherlands, which it has not.
Show me how Obamacare is going to be a single-payer universal system. Please.
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.
I can totally understand that, in my case I was born in Italy and I moved to Canada in my 30's so I was as foreign in Canada as I am in the US (even if I hold both citizenship and I retain my Italian one).
So I did not have any particular cultural or patriotic attachment.
And I have to tell you that in my personalk experience the Americans did put a little more effort to help me "blend in"
In my observation, the vaunted Canadian multiculturalism model is becomng some sort of ethnic "ghettization", at least in Vancouver.
The question is regarding moving to Seattle now, not when and if healthcare reform ever reaches the universality and affordability that exists in Canada and The Netherlands, which it has not.
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.
Quote:
Show me how Obamacare is going to be a single-payer universal system. Please.
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.
Last edited by edwardsyzzurphands; 05-15-2013 at 02:16 PM..
The question is regarding moving to Seattle now, not when and if healthcare reform ever reaches the universality and affordability that exists in Canada and The Netherlands, which it has not.
Show me how Obamacare is going to be a single-payer universal system. Please.
It is not a single payer system, I already said that....but is much better than what we had....
Healthcare is not everything and if you are a really skilled professional, healthcare in the US should be the last of your concern anyway....
So back to the thread....if you are minimum wage material or your regular rank and file admin employee in a bank or at ICBC you may have a second thought about coming here....if you are a biochemist, a software engineer (or any engineer), a patent lawyer, etc..... you should jump at the opportunity without looking back, it's really a no brainer.
It is not a single payer system, I already said that....but is much better than what we had....
Healthcare is not everything and if you are a really skilled professional, healthcare in the US should be the last of your concern anyway....
So back to the thread....if you are minimum wage material or your regular rank and file admin employee in a bank or at ICBC you may have a second thought about coming here....if you are a biochemist, a software engineer (or any engineer), a patent lawyer, etc..... you should jump at the opportunity without looking back, it's really a no brainer.
...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.
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