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Do I think a Canadian healthcare system would work in the US. Yes.
Do I think it ever will happen? Not a chance, for various reasons. The lobby by the insurance companies would be intense, and the FUD factor enormous.
Secondly, because of the structure of the US constitution, I don't see a universal system could be legislated. I may be wrong, but someone way more schooled than I am would have to lay that out.
The Canadian system is administered provincially, with each province having slightly different rules, and what they cover. As example, a mole removal may be covered in one province, but not in another, as it is not defined as essential. Funding is both federal and provincial. The federal funding comes with strings as defined by the 5 pillars of the Canadian Health Act. They are:
Addressing the portability issue, I am a snowbird who spends about 6 months a year at my Florida condo. My provincial healthcare stays intact, and I purchase critical care, meaning if I need to be have medical care, I get stabilized in Florida, and then they medivac me by charter back to Canada. It costs me about $900 CDN for that coverage. I'd be crazy not to have it given the costs of hospital care in the US.
Hope that provides some insight.
*sigh.*
Perhaps you should spend ALL of your time in Canada, cupper. I would think you would want to support your country and its healthcare system by keeping your money IN Canada. Instead, of, like, you know, spending 6 months per year in a country you obviously consider inferior.
Obamacare is not socialized medicine. Socialized medicine is the situation in which the government outright owns the hospitals and the medical staffs. Military and VA hospitals are examples of socialized medicine. Absolutely nobody except maybe the card-carrying Communist Party is advocating socialized medicine.
Obamacare is capitalism, what the Big Health and Big Insurance industries can profit heartily on. Don't forget that it is essentially the same plan invented by Republicans.
The other concept is "single payer"--with Medicare and Medicaid being the examples. Sanders is advocating expanding Medicare/Medicaid to include everyone for basic care. In that case, specialized, elective, and high-end private facilities would still exist, and as well, insurance for catastrophic coverage would exist (and be a lot more affordable).
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
10,202 posts, read 7,935,402 times
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Originally Posted by newdixiegirl
Though I'm in favor of UH, and I believe that the US could have an EXCELLENT universal healthcare system, Yeledaf is correct. Compared to the US, Canada, with the exception of the 3 largest cities, is a FAR more homogeneous population (I'm originally from Southern Ontario, btw).
Location influences perception. Things have changed significantly in the past 20 years. I was on the C-train (LRT) in Calgary last year travelling from the NE station to downtown, and literally, with out exaggeration, I was the ONLY white person on that train. The languages I recognized were primarily Arab, some Punjabi and either Mandarin or Cantonese as I can't tell the difference between the two.
This was Calgary, home of the Stampede, oil central, the one with the red-neck brand in the rest of Canada.
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
10,202 posts, read 7,935,402 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newdixiegirl
*sigh.*
Perhaps you should spend ALL of your time in Canada, cupper. I would think you would want to support your country and its healthcare system by keeping your money IN Canada. Instead, of, like, you know, spending 6 months per year in a country you obviously consider inferior.
I pay taxes in the States, and I pay taxes on my condo. I get no benefit from that other than I don't have to shovel snow anymore, I have great neighbors, and it's pretty hard to sail in Alberta.
I pay taxes in Canada as well, as I have most of my life. I consider the health system in the US inferior, not that it doesn't have the capabilities, but it is restricted.
A good example is a friend of mine, a teacher. Now, my daughter and my sister are teachers in Alberta, and not only do they make a six figure income with their benefits included, those benefits are gold plated. I had thought the same would apply in the States.
Nope. Now I knew most teachers made less, but until the past two years, my friend in Florida made exactly 1/2 of what my daughter makes. She now makes 60% of that. Mind you, that goes further in Florida than it would in Alberta, to be fair.
However, when it comes to benefits, there is no comparison.
Pension? No defined pension. Health insurance, which in Alberta is free for everyone, she pays a significant premium, is restricted which doctors she sees, has a deductible plus co-pays, and needs to budget some checkups to ensure she does not bump into limits on primary care.
Contrast that to myself who moved from the Edmonton area, to a very small village in central Alberta of 350 people, 35 miles from the nearest grocery store. I got on the phone, had a family doctor in 20 minutes, and was in his office the next week for my annual. No fuss, no muss, no wait. And no money I had to pay. No money for him, the optometrist, the lab work, the x-rays or anything else.
Location influences perception. Things have changed significantly in the past 20 years. I was on the C-train (LRT) in Calgary last year travelling from the NE station to downtown, and literally, with out exaggeration, I was the ONLY white person on that train. The languages I recognized were primarily Arab, some Punjabi and either Mandarin or Cantonese as I can't tell the difference between the two.
This was Calgary, home of the Stampede, oil central, the one with the red-neck brand in the rest of Canada.
It hasn't changed that much. Canada, for the most part, is still an overwhelmingly white country of European extraction. End of story. There are pockets with great diversity, but it does NOT have the diversity of the US. Not even close. Perhaps if you had the experience of living in other parts of the US AND Canada, you would know that.
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
10,202 posts, read 7,935,402 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newdixiegirl
It hasn't changed that much. Canada, for the most part, is still an overwhelmingly white country of European extraction. End of story. There are pockets with great diversity, but it does NOT have the diversity of the US. Not even close. Perhaps if you had the experience of living in other parts of the US AND Canada, you would know that.
Been in 39 of the States, and all provinces and territories except the Maritimes. I'm pretty attuned to the social make up in various parts of North America, and it's not just the same everywhere. As example, Canada has about 4.5% First Nations (native, indian, aboriginal) peoples in their population, whereas the US has only .8%; a huge difference, and noticeable in many areas I am familiar with. On the other hand, the US, blacks are at 12% versus 3% in Canada.
Location affects perception. When in Miami or New Mexico, you'd swear Spanish is the most common language. Not so in Seattle or Boise.
The point is that Canada is far more diverse then you think. The US is largely perceived to be White, Black and Hispanic... it's not. But still not as diverse as Canada is.
Been in 39 of the States, and all provinces and territories except the Maritimes. I'm pretty attuned to the social make up in various parts of North America, and it's not just the same everywhere. As example, Canada has about 4.5% First Nations (native, indian, aboriginal) peoples in their population, whereas the US has only .8%; a huge difference, and noticeable in many areas I am familiar with. On the other hand, the US, blacks are at 12% versus 3% in Canada.
Location affects perception. When in Miami or New Mexico, you'd swear Spanish is the most common language. Not so in Seattle or Boise.
The point is that Canada is far more diverse then you think. The US is largely perceived to be White, Black and Hispanic... it's not. But still not as diverse as Canada is.
I have LIVED and worked in 3 provinces and 2 states (traveled in many more). Yes, location DOES affect perception. We will have to agree to disagree.
Yes, and Americans are always egotistical about theirs despite all the problems.
Not this American. There is nothing egotistical about stating the obvious, which the immense size and diversity of the US vs Canada. I love Canada, and living as close to the border as I do, I visit as often as I can. Frankly, the mildness, slow pace, and large numbers of people who look like me, keep their voices down, and respect other peoples' sensibilities, remind me of the America I grew up in many years ago.
And I have the feeling that Canada likes America, too. Otherwise, why would 75% of your population live within 161 kilometers of our border?
Behind these stats is the fact, which I have pointed out repeatedly, that America deals with a huge poverty-stricken third-world population which crosses our borders with impunity seeking, among other things, medical attention -- often on an emergency basis, and in the absence of preventive care in their home country.
Were Canada required to service such a huge and needy population (equal to 33% of Canada's TOTAL population), the WHO figures would be dramatically different.
Very true.
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