Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Born in Canada, living in the USA now ... techincaly dual citizen.
I have had plenty of experiences in hospitals and even worked in one in Canada briefly. I have also "been under the knife" in both countries.
Long story short. If you have coverage in the US the care is superior compared to Canada, I also find the hospitals more efficient but some are better than others and quality abounds depending on where you are.
Canada has a blanket system though that doesn't put the pressure on the sufferer in wondering what they have to do. In America it's up to you to suddenly educate, and do all this "shopping" for insurance and fighting for your rights. However, though in Canada you don't have to worry about much of this but you can end up in assembly line procedures and stuck in bureaucratic compassionate care.
I go back with the pros and cons often, but I would still prefer Canada's system to the US.
You skipped over something as well: you say you aren't Canadian and yet you are responding to a "CANADIANS: Tell us how you feel" post.
You can't trust anything Cart says... first he claims to be a Canadian... then he says he's not.
First he says it's all about personal experience, criticizes those who use Internet sources (even with credible references), now he's looking up and using questionable Internet sources to back his opinion.
It's always about trying to pull down Canada or Canadians because he has a grudge.
born & raised in Canada; now living in the US for 8 years...
my take is that the Canadian healthcare system is FAR superior to the US system. I could go on and on but it looks like these points have already been made on this very lengthy thread.
Long story short: i live in constant fear of illness or accident here in the US because it would wipe me out financially. And I never had that anxiety in Canada - I always felt taken care of there in every way. In the US, i feel like only the rich are taken care of. The rest of us... well... we can only pray to not get sick. Or to win the lottery.
and, as for the complaint of long wait times in Canada...
puh-lease!!! here in the Colorado I wait for 6-9 hours at the ER and some services I have to travel to another state to get because they do not have the treatment here. (i have small children, so yes, i spend my fair share of time in the ER) For one medical test we were wait-listed for 9 months!
I can only speak for my region here, but the healthcare service is horrible - And I pay for private insurance. It is like throwing money down the toilet.
I have lived in 3 provinces in Canada and the healthcare I received during my 25 years there was exceptional compared to what I have experienced in the US.
The sad thing is, i took it for granted when I lived in Canada. Now I know how lucky i was!
Life in the US is great - as long as you are rich and healthy.
I like the health care here in Canada,
I never have to worry about being covered,
never have to worry about pre existing conditions,
never have to worry about losing all my money due to catastrophic illnes and the insurance company not paying.
Have always had my needs met within a reasonable time.
Taxes to pay for the system are deducted at source and i would estimate to be under $100 per pay check.
As we've had this system since the mid 60"s its just a non issue,we dont talk much about it as its no big deal its just there when we need it.
We also dont get why America has so much trouble with the idea of universal health care when the rest of the world got it figured out a long time ago.
Grew up in Canada, living in Ohio for the past two years. One of the big things that I notice here is that people always have to make sure that they have insurance, and if they lose their job, it's the first thing on their minds. With good reason, of course. Some will take jobs they don't want just to get insurance. I never really thought about it that much in Canada, and I could afford to leave jobs throughout my 20s without worrying about what would happen if I were to get sick.
In Alberta here.
It's too expensive for what we get. However, I also think the US style is horrendous.
I feel a joint public-private partnership is the key. The problem with having health care our way is people think of the "free" angle, so they make way too many useless trips to the doctor, increasing costs.
I would like to see it go somewhat in the direction of the US, just to decrease my taxes. I do not want your exact system however .....
I don't believe the Canadian health care system is perfect. Nothing is.
But I have had occasion to observe it up close in the last few years. Within a handful of months, my Aunt, Sister, and Daughter were diagnosed with various forms of cancer. Last year two of my employees had heart attacks.
All of them received prompt and highly effective care. I am grateful to report that all of them are alive and apparently doing well. There is nothing I could point to and say that the care would have been better anywhere else in the world.
Because of our particular system, none of them were overly financially impacted.
The downside of our system is for the non-urgent issues. Hip replacements, cataract surgery, and other problems of this type. The waiting time on these can be far too long. If there were some type of two tier system, you could pay to go to the front of the line.
If I had to rate our system, I'd give it a high grade, but I see nothing wrong with looking for ways to improve it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
.....
