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Thanks man! Yeah the Carlo Fidani Cancer treatment centre is on par with the best in the world - i talked to my fathers Oncologist about it and he was beaming with pride and probably would like to have some words with some of our American friends! However, congrats to you on both fronts!!!
As for parking - you can park Free at the Zellers across the street at the Erin mills town centre
Mall security scares me man!! You can do that!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ovcatto
Posted without further comment.
"Canadians are not rushing across the border to purchase medical care in the United States, a new study based largely on American data has concluded. In fact, the use of American medical facilities by Canadians is "so small as to be barely detectable."
The authors of "Phantoms in the snow: Canadians' use of health care services in the United States" — the article appeared in the May/June issue of Health Affairs, the most influential US health policy journal (www.healthaffairs .org/freecontent/v21n3/s6.htm) — conclude that debate over the issue has been driven by politics, not facts. They drew this conclusion from a telephone survey of ambulatory care facilities in heavily populated US urban areas bordering Canada (Buffalo, Detroit and Seattle) and from statewide hospital discharge data from Michigan, New York State and Washington State. Author Steven Katz of the University of Michigan and his colleagues created a catchy label for the "phantom hordes of Canadian medical refugees" by tagging the notion a "policy zombie" — an idea that is intellectually dead because there is no evidence to substantiate it but somehow manages to live on because it is useful to certain powerful interest groups."
Thanks Ovcatto. Nuff said about that.
As for all the other "studies" and anecdotal evidence - what do you expect from the same people who brought you the Iraq war on the pretense of WMD.
"Not long ago, I would have applauded this type of government expansion. Born and raised in Canada, I once believed that government health care is compassionate and equitable. It is neither.
[Mod edit: Copyright]
Last edited by TnHilltopper; 06-13-2009 at 03:13 PM..
Reason: copyright
I was thinking the same thing. And the insurance companies are going to fight tooth and nail against all health care legislation - especially if it involves more Americans receiving more health care for less money.
Yes, but it's not just about age or even health care. Your black population is 2.5%; ours is 12.8%. That makes a big difference right there. I don't know the exact numbers, but I would guess that we also have a much larger percentage of Latin Americans. The socio-economic differences in America, I believe, are a lot more responsible for differences in longevity than our health care systems.
Problem with that statement is that the socio-economic differences in America are inextricably linked with access to health care itself. Differences in longevity are as well.
Speculation and guesses never proves anything. Show us the facts and figures so we can study them.
I'm neither speculating or guessing. Just trying to clarify people's arguments. And while I think facts and figures are useful, I don't discount anecdotal evidence out-of-hand. Statistics can paint the broad picture, but the stories people tell often fill in the details.
The debate about healthcare isn't a simple one. The various health systems, and health plans each have advantages and disadvantages, and the citizens of the United States deserve an opportunity to evaluate those advantages and disadvantages in detail.
The choices we make now about our healthcare system will have long-reaching ramifications. While there are always going to be people trying to cast this debate in terms of politics, this debate goes way beyond politics. It reaches into every single person's life. Our personal health is an intimate matter, of importance to each one of us.
If we are talking about expanding access to healthcare, it's worthwhile to discuss what "expanding access" is going to mean. What aspects of healthcare will become mandatory, what will not? Will our records be incorporated into a national database? How secure will that database be? Will potential employers have access to our medical records the way they have access now to our financial records? Will waiting times be extended, and if so, how much? Is this going to work just like one big HMO, or will patients have the opportunity to sit down with doctors and make choices that best serve the individual patient's needs?
This is not a simple issue, and whatever issues that any American citizen has deserves to be considered as important as any other American's issues. We need to treat one another with respect if we're going to talk about medical treatment for us all.
The debate about healthcare isn't a simple one. The various health systems, and health plans each have advantages and disadvantages, and the citizens of the United States deserve an opportunity to evaluate those advantages and disadvantages in detail.
No, it is not a simple debate. Some HC models may work in Scandinavia, but that does not mean they would work here. The US system is responsive with short wait times, but the quality is not always up to par. Even then, I think the quality is sufficient as most diseases can be avoided or at least delayed by life style desicions. Even if we had the best quality care in every possible way, the propblem is the cost. It got our of control, and now it is hurting the economy as whole. Businesses are paying way too much and private people are paying too much. Something has to change, and that is the bottom line.
No, it is not a simple debate. Some HC models may work in Scandinavia, but that does not mean they would work here. The US system is responsive with short wait times, but the quality is not always up to par. Even then, I think the quality is sufficient as most diseases can be avoided or at least delayed by life style desicions. Even if we had the best quality care in every possible way, the propblem is the cost. It got our of control, and now it is hurting the economy as whole. Businesses are paying way too much and private people are paying too much. Something has to change, and that is the bottom line.
I agree with you that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. How we address it is the issue. Even if Scandinavia or Portugal or South Africa are not fair comparisons, it still serves us to look at their systems and to evaluate what the advantages are and what the costs are. Even if some of our evaluation is based on anecdotal evidence. I'm not saying that we should depend on anecdotes to make our decisions, nor that they should drive our decisions. But they have a valid place in the evaluation of various healthcare systems.
"Not long ago, I would have applauded this type of government expansion. Born and raised in Canada, I once believed that government health care is compassionate and equitable. It is neither.
[Mod edit: Copyright]
Yep, everything is peachy keen with the Canadian diagnosis system. This couldn't possibly happen here in the good 'ol U.S of A. Our gubmint is too smart, too efficient, too ethical...why, it shows in everything they do.
I guess $1 billion a year spent on sending patients to another country is not significant. Gee and their population is what, 1/10th of the U.S? I wonder how much we will be borrowing (we don't have it to spend) to send our citizens to India for treatment.
But we are getting it here and there should be no wondering why, it's certainly isn't because our gubmint wants to be compassionate and cover the few million Americans that find themselves without affordable coverage. If that were the reason we could just buy it for them and it would cost the tax payers a whole lot less than $1.5 trillion. We are doing it because our gubmint wants to control that part of our lives and economy too. And we have to rush before Barry is out of political gas.
Last edited by TnHilltopper; 06-13-2009 at 03:14 PM..
Yep, everything is peachy keen with the Canadian diagnosis system. This couldn't possibly happen here in the good 'ol U.S of A. Our gubmint is too smart, too efficient, too ethical...why, it shows in everything they do.
I guess $1 billion a year spent on sending patients to another country is not significant. Gee and their population is what, 1/10th of the U.S? I wonder how much we will be borrowing (we don't have it to spend) to send our citizens to India for treatment.
But we are getting it here and there should be no wondering why, it's certainly isn't because our gubmint wants to be compassionate and cover the few million Americans that find themselves without affordable coverage. If that were the reason we could just buy it for them and it would cost the tax payers a whole lot less than $1.5 trillion. We are doing it because our gubmint wants to control that part of our lives and economy too. And we have to rush before Barry is out of political gas.
There are horror stories about the United States healthcare system, too. Can you just ignore patients sitting for hours in emergency rooms waiting for a doctor when they are deathly ill? Can you just ignore patients dying in emergency rooms, and no one noticing for hours?
We have wonderful doctors and facilities in this country. But the expense of utilizing the healthcare system has exploded exponentially. Maybe univeral healthcare is not the right fix. And studying other countries' systems to see what's gone wrong as well as what's gone right is worthwhile. But there are problems in the US healthcare system that need to be addressed. And constructive discussion about how to fix them, rather than criticizing the systems that other countries have tried, would be the more productive strategy, don't you think?
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