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Can't rep you any more. Have a family member who is a physician for IHS and would agree with every word you said - it's horrible.
I have no love for the insurance industry in the U.S., believe me, and I've worked for them so I know a bit about the subject myself. But I've also lived in Israel, which has national healthcare, and it's a nightmare. NIGHTMARE. I have known numerous people from Canada and the UK who hate their national healthcare and they all have horror stories to tell about waiting months to see specialists, and then waiting some more months for a necessary surgery, and being stuck with a primary doctor they hate, and being denied care, and on it goes.
Unfortunately, Americans who support national healthcare think that what they will get is top notch medical care for free. It won't work that way. But I agree with them that the current system is not working very well either. Honestly I don't know what the solution is.
What, you think there are no wait times in the US? I have news for you. In the U.S., patients on Medicaid, the low-income government programs, can wait three months or more to see specialists.
In a 2009 survey of physician appointment wait times in the United States, the average wait time for an appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon in country as a whole was 17 days. In Dallas, Texas the wait was 45 days (the longest wait being 365 days). Nationwide across the U.S. the average wait time to see a family doctor was 20 days. The average wait time to see a family practitioner in Los Angeles, California was 59 days and in Boston, Massachusetts it was 63 days.
The longest I have ever had to wait to see my doctor is four days, and if I don't want to wait that long I can go to one of the numerous free clinics where a doctor is on duty at all times...If the problem is serious I can go to the ER at one of the hospitals...
I had a heart attack a few years ago caused by a blocked artery...A stent was installed in less than two hours after the onset of the attack.
There is nothing wrong with the health care here in BC., but one thing most people in the US do not know is that out health care systems are not federal, but are run by the provinces. For that reason they are not all equal.
Can't rep you any more. Have a family member who is a physician for IHS and would agree with every word you said - it's horrible.
I have no love for the insurance industry in the U.S., believe me, and I've worked for them so I know a bit about the subject myself. But I've also lived in Israel, which has national healthcare, and it's a nightmare. NIGHTMARE. I have known numerous people from Canada and the UK who hate their national healthcare and they all have horror stories to tell about waiting months to see specialists, and then waiting some more months for a necessary surgery, and being stuck with a primary doctor they hate, and being denied care, and on it goes.
Unfortunately, Americans who support national healthcare think that what they will get is top notch medical care for free. It won't work that way. But I agree with them that the current system is not working very well either. Honestly I don't know what the solution is.
want a solution?
here it goes.
1. If a doctor messes up then a lawsuit is in order for malpractice.
if you dont take doctors advice and do it anyway, you screwed up and it is your fault and not the doctors.
then the doctors insurance payments would go down, making it cheaper for all.
2. get goverment out of the health insurance business. the old on social security and the disabled get a stipend for health insurance. the people on welfare go through the local county office.
3. people who reside in the USA as citizens, can buy their health insurance in any state they want to, and can buy any type of insurance they want at their cost.
4. people who come to the USA as tourists and legal migrant workers and the like can get emergency care at no cost. criminal illegal aliens get nothing at all. prisoners that are in prison get life saving medicine, not all the extras they get now. ie: sex change operations. they are there to serve prison time, not be a country club.
5.people who want to pay cach can as it is their right to do so, doctors themselves can decide if they want to accept the cash or deal with insurance companies.
6. big pharma: the only regulation the federal goverment should have on big pharma is, your medicines cannot kill people, sicken them or disable them. your medicines cannot be a fake remedy. ie: no sugar pills and the like.
I AM a citizen of Canada, and you have absolutely no freaking idea of what you are talking about, either that or your idea of a discussion is to just make things up and lie about it...
not lying at all, I work with former canadian citizens, plus I have relatives that are citizens of canada that have explained to me the system of canadian health care.
like the woman I work with, who used to be a newfie. her father needed a triple bypass surgery, and was told the candian system that it would be the following year before anything could be done. he died before he could get the needed surgery. in the USA, the patient could have gotten their surgery right away if needed.
not lying at all, I work with former canadian citizens, plus I have relatives that are citizens of canada that have explained to me the system of canadian health care.
But you've never lived with it or experienced it. I can tell you everyone who has b*tched to me about the US system too.
But you've never lived with it or experienced it. I can tell you everyone who has b*tched to me about the US system too.
if only 50% of the people are telling me the truth, then canadian health care is worse than US health care.
I know, the US health care has alot of complaints. but if US health care is so bad, why do other countries always send people here to get their health care?
It is one of the most comprehenisive humiliations of a system by citizens voting with their feet ever seen.
There are three basic reasons for this. First, America has longer waiting lists than nearly any first world country bar Canada. International health care waiting times compared (http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Performance-Snapshots/International-Comparisons/International-Comparison--Access---Timeliness.aspx - broken link).
Second, US prices are simply far beyond competitive. And finally, the quality of care recieved by Americans is poor.
If people like Chattypatty stoped to actually listen to what people complain about when they complain about their national health services, she'd realize that they complain about stuff America would give its eyeteeth for. Its still below what is considered acceptable in other developed countries.
Last edited by Grim Reader; 10-30-2011 at 03:49 AM..
you talk of canadas health care. I do in fact work with former citizens from canada, and they could not stand the health care system there, and it always seemed to run out of money in october or november. if you needed a life saving procedure in november, you were sol until janurary, unless you were willing to fork out the money yourself.
This is so inaccurate it is beyond belief.
First off the Fiscal year for the Government of Canada is April 1 to March 31. If the program were to run low on cash it would do so in Jan - Mar, not Oct or Nov.
Second, if you need life saving surgery in November, or March (or any other month), you get it - period, end of story. There is not, nor ever has been waits for life saving surgery. Some elective surgeries have had waits, not because of funding, but because of a lack of doctors to perform them. Canada has a limited number of vacancies for medical residencies, for a while it didn't keep up with the need (now rectified), so delays occured with elective surgery. Life saving surgery has never been put on hold.
Third you don't have the option of paying cash for surgery in Canada. Unless a doctor or a hospital opts out of the Canada Health Act (extremely rare), your procedure is covered regardless of the time of year.
Finally one thing seems to be missing with the understanding of the Canadian Healthcare System. It is NOT a socialized system as people allude to, it is a single payer or universal healthcare system. Your doctor is the only one who determines what your treatment plan is, the government has no say at all. The government's role is to pay for the procedure, much like a private insurance company in the U.S.
First off the Fiscal year for the Government of Canada is April 1 to March 31. If the program were to run low on cash it would do so in Jan - Mar, not Oct or Nov.
Second, if you need life saving surgery in November, or March (or any other month), you get it - period, end of story. There is not, nor ever has been waits for life saving surgery. Some elective surgeries have had waits, not because of funding, but because of a lack of doctors to perform them. Canada has a limited number of vacancies for medical residencies, for a while it didn't keep up with the need (now rectified), so delays occured with elective surgery. Life saving surgery has never been put on hold.
Third you don't have the option of paying cash for surgery in Canada. Unless a doctor or a hospital opts out of the Canada Health Act (extremely rare), your procedure is covered regardless of the time of year.
Finally one thing seems to be missing with the understanding of the Canadian Healthcare System. It is NOT a socialized system as people allude to, it is a single payer or universal healthcare system. Your doctor is the only one who determines what your treatment plan is, the government has no say at all. The government's role is to pay for the procedure, much like a private insurance company in the U.S.
Unfortunately, this inaccuracy typifies the health care debate on C-D. For some, trashing other country's health system just proves to them that there is nothing wrong with the US system.
Unfortunately, this inaccuracy typifies the health care debate on C-D. For some, trashing other country's health system just proves to them that there is nothing wrong with the US system.
Yes, between the repetition of the same misinformantion about other countries to the blaming gov't for every problem in healthcare, to denying any problems exists at all in the US and then to the pasting in of large right wing blogs its all simply a broken record arguement. Its easy to bury one's head in the sand and blame all problems on the gov't or better yet deny problems exist at in American.
But the facts still remain that America has the most overpriced healthcare in the world while a the same time having poorer outcomes for life expectancy, infant mortality and a whole host of poor health statistics. The rest of the world has found ways to provide universal healthcare and there is no good reason why America can't do the same beyond fear of change.
Insurance companies provide all the propaganda and lawsuits the right wing needs to continue attempting to instill fear in citizens. I just don't these tactics. The problems are real and do not stem from the gov't.
The job of the government is whatever we want it to be. I suspect most Americans would view allowing their fellow citizens to suffer and die due to lack of medical care as unethical.
Wrong. The job of the [Federal] government is set out in the Constitution of The United States. And the Constitution does not give it the authority to provide health care for anybody.
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