Quote:
Originally Posted by BruSan
You mean the kind of "thought dust" that prompted an American to title and start this thread for the express purpose of excoriating the Canadian healthcare system. Is that the kind of "butting in" you wish we'd stop.
These threads have their genesis in a very common denominator.... Americans attempting to spread falsehoods about single payer or universal healthcare as other countries have enjoyed for decades while you languish behind claiming superiority of system.
Here's a better way to express your suggestion: Tell your legislators and others to shut up about ours and you'll never hear a word from anyone from another country talking about yours. We just do not shive-a-git if you wish to remain behind. We know it's essentially a genetic predisposition you have no control over. 
MAGA!  |
Exactly. Many of these threads seem to be started by Americans looking to disparage the Canadian way of doing things in terms of healthcare.
Here's a thought, which was expressed upthread somewhere: if Canadians didn't like their system, don't you think they'd vote for politicians that would end it? Canada is a democracy, after all, not a dictatorship; Canadians vote in politicians that will do what Canadians want. Canada had an American-style health insurance system once, years ago, and within my memory. But ask Canadians if they want to return to it, and I'd suggest that the vast majority would say no. Any Canadian politician who ran on a platform that abolished single-payer government insurance would lose--bigly.
It is important to note that Canada's healthcare is not socialist, as many Americans think. Socialism implies that the government owns the means of production. But the vast majority of health care providers in Canada do not work for the government--they are private business people. All they do is provide services and then bill the single-payer insurance provider (that's the government), which never denies a claim filed by a physician, much less questions it. A Canadian's health care decisions are between that Canadian and his or her physician, not an insurance company functionary, whose job (and let's be real here, since they do the same for auto and home insurance) is to deny claims. A Canadian physician's decision and treatment will always be paid for by the provincial insurance plan, no questions asked.
I'm not saying that the Canadian system is the best in the world--it obviously is not. Wait times for various problems continue to be an issue, and remote communities are badly-served, because no physician wants to go someplace that is 1000 miles from civilization. (The government, not being their employer, cannot make them move.) There is room for improvement in the Canadian health care system, but the fact remains: no Canadian ever pays for medically-necessary care. No co-pays, no deductibles, no denial of claims. Yes, dentistry and optometry and audiology are outside the government-run insurance system, but supplementary employer-provided insurance looks after those. But if I have a heart attack tonight, EMTs will attend (at no cost to me), transport me to the hospital, and I will get prompt and professional care (at no cost to me), ahead of those with broken bones and kids with peas stuck in their nose in the ER. It's called "triage."
To bring it back to BruSan's assertion, Americans, tell your legislators to shut up about Canada's health care. They're never experienced it, so they are speaking from ignorance. Really, if they, and consequently you, insist on bringing it up, then we Canadians are morally obligated to fight your ignorance. And the falsehoods that you spread about our system.
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