Healthcare system in your country (income, taxes, living in)
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The most important thing that Americans need to know and to "WELL UNDERSTAND" is that the USA can not afford the current medical system. It's actually obsene how much healthcare costs the entire economy in the USA. Just the government portion alone cost the taxpayers almost double what the total cost of the ENTIRE healthcare system that covers every single resident of Canada costs our government.
That figure of almost double DOES NOT include the trillions spent in insurance premiums, co -pays and
direct paying paitients.
In Canada because it's not a for profit INDUSTRY but an essential SERVICE, we get about 8 times the bang for every dollar spent.
I think this proves a point I have been trying to make to anybody who will listen. The reason you get such a bang for your buck is precisely because your healthcare system is not limited to seniors (I'm assuming your reference to the "government portion" is Medicare in the US). If Medicare were opened to everybody, the costs will go down rapidly because you bring in a healthy pool into the system.
And of course, the profit incentive is a killer, as you mention. Supposedly Obamacare stipulates that something like 70% or 80% of the premiums paid into the system must be used for actual healthcare, but I'm sure the companies will find a way around it.
I know how vehemently some people here in the US distrust the government, but quite frankly, I distrust the corporate world even more. But, of course, right now, they're both joined at the hip thanks to the way campaigns are financed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lucknow
Another thing that really strikes me as just weird and strange is the whole political schamozle the issue is in the USA. The law that created the Obamacare is something like 1600 pages in length. How could anyone know what the heck is in such a friggin book of leaglese???
The "Canada healthcare act", the law that completely transformed the entire medical system from a USA style, for profit industry into a universal not for profit healthcare service is 23 freakin pages in length. Anyone can read that and understand what their rights are under the law.
I suspect the reason for the length of the Obamacare documentation is due to the way it has tried to please every corporate constituent, while trying to set up a universal system. A balancing act like that is extremely difficult to pull off and is very likely to fail. Your Canadian system is apparently not hampered by such constraints.
Last edited by Captain_Fingers; 12-22-2012 at 08:19 PM..
Reason: typo
You think that is absurd, when my wife became ill, she was terminated from her job which, in the states, provides health insurance to the employee in which both parties contribute, I was forced to pick up my employer's expensive coverage at $1600 per month. And still had to pay co-pays and deductibles. We almost went bankrupt like many do in the states in our situation. It took her 3 years to qualify for her medicare insurance in which all working Americans pay for to cover them when they are old and or disabled.
Very sad, very sad. Medicare for all would solve this problem.
In Brazil, we have the Single System for Health (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS) which is free and covers almost all specialities. The healthcare for all ciizens is a assured by the Federal Constitution. However, it has long waiting times and queues both for simple circumstances and for more complex procedures, like scheduling surgeries, chemoterapy, transplants, and so on; so the people of middle and upper class usually choose to pay for private healthcare systems, which features considerably better clinics and hospitals. The employees of most private companies also have access to private paid by the employer, although it's not mandatory by law.
Obamacare is a farce. While it may provide coverage for the small percentage of Americans currently uninsured, it will cause many more to become uninsured. It would have been better to raise the cut off for the income eligibility for Mediciad and/or made Medicare available for all and/or expanded the VA system.
Obamacare is a farce. While it may provide coverage for the small percentage of Americans currently uninsured, it will cause many more to become uninsured. It would have been better to raise the cut off for the income eligibility for Mediciad and/or made Medicare available for all and/or expanded the VA system.
....
I know how vehemently some people here in the US distrust the government, but quite frankly, I distrust the corporate world even more. But, of course, right now, they're both joined at the hip thanks to the way campaigns are financed.
....
You make a great point here. You CAN elect gov't officials but you CAN'T elect corporate officials. Corporations come and go. And corporations are very skillful in finding a way around rules. At least, I would love to see citizens be dependent on gov't instead of corporations with regards to social services (medical insurance, unemployment, retirement etc.) these days. I'd rather have business pay me a higher salary instead of those corporate benefits so if I lose a job I still have medical, unemployment etc.. services. Of course, I would have to pay more from my paycheck ... I wouldn't mind. Fyi, I'm a constant victim of corporate greed.
Thanks for everyone's opinions in this thread. And please continue.
After I retrired from the Canadian Forces, i was a owner/operator, with my own one ton cargo van, contracted to a expedite freight company , here in southern Ontario. About 90 percent of my destinations were in the USA, carrying high value freight, such as aircraft engine parts. Most weeks I was in the USA for 3 to 5 days.
Once I had dropped my cargo off, i had to wait in the USA for a return load, back to Ontario, as Canadian based trucks cannot transport goods with=in the USA, only back to Canada. As a result, I spent many hours sitting in truck stops, and shopping malls, waiting for my pager to go off, with a return load.
One of the things that I saw, that amazed me, were the number of posters that were begging for people to make donations, so that a child could get a transplant, or a much needed operation. The families were reduced to public begging, because they couldn't afford the medical costs. That type of thing is NEVER seen in Canada. If it is a "needed medical treatment " you get it here ....... no questions asked. No being "cut off " by a private insurance company, because your 10 year old has cancer of the brain.
A second thing that I saw, time after time, was the high number of personal bankruptcies, caused by medical bills. Just across Lake Ontario, from Toronto, is New York state, where about 60 percent of all the personal bankruptcies, each year, are due to medical bills. That just does not happen, in Canada. No one here is being forced to sell their house, to pay medical bills.
In a past post, some one said that they had to pay $1400 a MONTH in medical premiums ? We don't pay that in a YEAR, here in Canada, for our supplemental private coverage. At $80 as month, the yearly cost is $960. No wonder so many Americans wait until they are just about dead, before they will go to a Doctor. By being able to go to a Doctor, BEFORE a condition becomes truely life threatening, a Canadian actually saves the health care system money, by not occupying a in- hospital bed space. Preventative care is a large part of our system here.
3 words would have been even better: Medicare For All
The problem with Medicare for all as a stand alone policy is that Medicare only pays 80% of covered outpatient expenses. Most seniors on Medicare have expensive secondary policies. If they are income eligible they may qualify for Medicaid. If they can't afford a secondary policy and are not income eligible they pay for the balance of their outpatient sevices out of pocket.
Health insurance reform should have cut employers out of the process, except perhaps for the collection of the "premiums"/increased taxes.
I think healthcare coverage should include dental and vision also - at least basic necessary services- Medicaid does.
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