Canada's amazing health care system is not so amazing after all.

I am an American living in British Columbia. My whole life I have been weened on stories of Canada's socialized healthcare and how amazing it is. If I had a dime for every American I have heard say this... will I would be able to but coffee for a week. I was told that everyone in Canada is covered by health insurance and prescription costs are low... all in all a way better system then in America.

Now that I been in Country for sever months I am beginning to wounder if all those people that have told me all those amazing stories about Canadian healthcare have ever even been to Canada?!

Here is the reality; All Canadians are covered by health insurance but for most this does not include prescription coverage. That can be picked up through a 3rd party insurer for a premium. But many on the low end of the income scale cannot afford the private prescription coverage. What is the point of going to see a doc, who uses medication to treat you, all to have to go without because you cannot afford the prescription coverage or the cost of the medication? I know someone in Canada that had surgery but took no pain killers because they lacked the insurance and could not afford the medicine!!! People with disabilities do get health and prescription coverage in Canada.

In Canada you get charged for paperwork to be filled out or even just signed by a doc. This is troubling because there are Canadian programs in place aimed at helping low income people receive extra benefits, but to get these extra benefits you have to have your doc sign the paperwork which can cost $75! For most $75 is is an easily absorbed expense, but for those living on a fixed income especially here in Canada where the price of living is much higher than many areas in America, having to pay the $75 can be a barrier to getting the much needed extra benefits. Never in all my years in America have I ever had a doc charge to fill out or sign paperwork.

Wait times to see a specialist can take months or ever over a year! Where is the compassion in making someone suffer for such a prolonged period of time while waiting for the medical attention that they deserve? In the U.S. I have never had to wait more than three days to see a specialist. Now I know someone who did have to wait months to see a cancer specialist in the States, but as a follow up after their surgery.

Wait times in hospitals is a problem also. Where I am from in the past we had long wait times, but this has long since been dealt with and wait times in my home town are now like Zero to 15 minutes.

So to all you American out there who think the Canadian healthcare system is nirvana and a model for the U.S. to follow... be careful for what you wish for. Because now that I have been to Canada, I would take the American medical institution with all its flaws over the Canadian healthcare system in a heart beat.

The American system does have its share of problems... for example, if my memory serves me right, in the last Presidential election, it was said that there are up to 40 million Americans who are under-insured or lack any insurance. This is definitely a problem.

 

Just found out that many Canadians have to pay a monthly premium on their Government health insurance.

 

Yup. The grass is greener on the other side. However, once you find yourself on the "other side" it's a different story entirely. People don't know how good they have it in America.

Law states that a hospital cannot deny medical care to a person regardless of their ability to pay the bill. If this is truly a "problem" regarding supposed lack of care, then it has already been solved.

 

I agree, many Americans have no clue how good they have it. I had some friends complaining on their $3.50 a gallon gas... I told them come to BC where it is the rough equivalent of $5.00 here... the same price as a gallon of milk too... although everything is metric here.

Indeed. Many Canadians believe if you have no insurance that you will be denied medical care in the USA. In reality Hospitals do not turn away people with emergency medical needs. Hospitals can then use this as a tax write off.

 

i pay no premiums...healthcare varies from one province to the next...

 

That is what I understand too - it varies from province to province

 

BS...here's the reality...healthcare varies from one province to the next...I've had major surgery in two provinces and never paid for medication and I'm not disabled...what drugs are covered by healthcare plans vary...

MD's charging for documents is optional, my MDs do not, some do charge for paperwork in regards to insurance claims or legal matters, routine paperwork is built in to their fees paid by the healthcare system...americans MDs charge for paperwork it's built into their fees you're just naive to realize it, US administration fees are considerably higher than canadian administration costs...

there are no wait times for emergencies, specialist help is immediate...and wait times are long in the US as well, for some without healthcare that wait is forever/never...no one in Canada regardless of income is denied specialist care...

and the population of your hometown was what 1000? 2000? I can get the same quick service in a small town as well...as in any major city anywhere in the world ER's are busy places...if you check in with an ouchie or the sniffles expect to wait while the triage sees to the really sick and injured first...on my last visit to an busy urban ER I was seen in less than a minute for suspected stroke; apologies to anyone who was waiting ahead of me with a tummy ache...

all you have shown is you know very little how canadian healthcare works...misinformation and 2nd hand anecdotes...

 

it's very complicated, most canadians don't know how it works either...

 

maybe I should add my own anecdote...my brother who got sick on a tuesday throwing up blood, wednesday sees a Md at a walk-in clinic who sends him on to a hospital where he is admitted on a thursday where he's seen by a "specialist" oncologist and on friday has emergency surgery for advanced colon cancer...all for the cost of, nothing....2 years later he's alive and cancer free...ya our healthcare really sucks

 

The OP is just making stuff up.

 

Then I guess I have to leave it at BC and not all of Canada.

 

I wanted to add that yes, in the United States you cannot be turned away from an emergency room if you cannot pay. You will be treated. But who ends up paying for that emergency care? American taxpayers... the indigent and poverty stricken are not going to pay for it. Wouldn't it be cheaper to pay for preventative care than the vastly more expensive emergency care?

Also, I have never been to Canada but my father's entire family lives there. His family has nothing but positive things to say about the health care system where they live (Toronto and Windsor areas). All I hear about is how much better their system is than ours and how America is so far behind them in health care.

Just my two cents...

 

The Canadians have a safety net. I remember a couple of years ago when a woman was having sextuplets and no hospital in Canada was equiped to deal with them, she came to a hospital in a fairly small city in Montana that could care for them. A friend of mine had a relative in Canada who was told her would not receive cancer treatment in a timely manner. He came to Massachusetts and got his treatment.

I don't mind Canada's system because I'm not a Canadian and it's none of my business but I do wish they would acknowledge the benefit they have obtained, and will lose, when we have socialized medicine. Then we'll be going to Mexico as our safety net.

 

not even there, you base your opinion on things that you have "heard" 2nd accounts from people who don't understand and your own misunderstandings...UHC is complex the vast majority of canadians don't understand it, even our politicians don't understand how it works...the people who understand it aren't allowed to talk about it for fear of losing their jobs...

 

like you do some 600,000 americans per year go overseas to get treatment...of the canadians who get medical in the US those actively seeking treatment in the US is something like .01%...the rest are either residents of the US or on vacation...it's an insignificant amount, while provinces like Ontario had to put in place identification/security measures at hospitals for thousands of people from the US who were coming across the border claiming to be Canadians to seek medical treatment...even where I live which is a fair drive from the US border I now have to produce extra photo identification to prove I'm actually a resident....

a perfect example of 2nd hearsay I heard it from a friend of a friend so it must be true....

firstly it was quadruplets not sextuplets, 2nd there is a reciprocal agreement between hospitals in a number of Canadian provinces and states that take in each others patients when capacity is reached...the babies in question needed intensive care and all nearby neo-natal intensive care units were filled...occupancy rates in neonatal units is unpredictable my sister is a neonatal nurse, arrival of expectant mothers can vary from few to many in a few hours...I recall Sarah Pallin crossing the border from Alaska seeking treatment for one of her children...


cancer treatment, all cancer patients are treated in a timely matter urgent cases move to the head of the line for treatment, but for anxious patients any time is an eternity so some don't want to wait and go elsewhere even when there is no need, your friend is not an MD nor was his relative so neither of them know the urgency of the situation...

 

US citizens are already going to Mexico (and other countries) as a "safety net".

Google "medical tourism" and see what you find.

 

Preventative care is certainly more cost effective over the long term that emergency care. Are you saying that there is no preventative care in the U.S.A? Taxpayers end up paying for the indigent and poor. But what is the alternative, especially with the indigent? It is required to have an address to get most benefits in the U.S.

After talking to my Canadian wife, she informed me that there can be major differences in healthcare programs from providence to providence. So I have to contain my comments to BC. But here in BC watching people wait for months or even a year for medical treatment is just amazing to me. In Boise Idaho I never waited more than three days to see a specialist.

 

Lots of people fall between the cracks here in BC, just like in America. But still I would take the American system hands down. Now if I were to live in another providence, say like Alberta, then perhaps I would have a different view.

 

That is true.

 

Yeah- every Canadian I know loves their system.

Think about it....getting laid off and not having how you will have health insurance for your family not being your first concern? Or as another friend put it to me- Canadian health insurance is a boon for entreprenuers with families- they can take risks to start a business and still have health insurance.

 

My take. You are either diseased or healthy. A healthy individual doesn't need healthcare except for car accidents, industrial accidents or crime. There are ways to minimize your statistical probability of dealing with accidents and crime. You can pretty much avoid health issues if you maintain a proper weight, exercise and eat a high proportion of non-processed foods. I'm always ready, willing and able to shoot myself in the head when a severe pain kicks in that I can't resolve.

 

everyone gets sick, like death unless it's accidental it's unavoidable...

 

you claim you live in BC and have a canadian wife and you don't know you live in a province and not a providence?

MD availability has nothing to do with Universal Healthcare but University training capacity the two aren't related.

 

anytime a canadian needs urgent attention from a specialist they move to the head of the list there is no wait...two of my last three trips to the ER I was seen by a specialist within a day,once a neurologist and another time an orthopedic surgeon, and those instances were questionable situations, had it been life threatening they would've been there immediately...most ER patients aren't even aware that a specialist has already looked at their specifics/chart and declined to see them because the issues are minor and the trauma MDs can handle it...

 

What you're saying is only part of the story, if you cannot pay or don't have insurance, they will save your life, but they will then bill you the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. You may survive, but you will be ruined financially and every penny you do make will wind up going to collections for a period before you declare bankruptcy and have to restart everything all over. And let's not forget that you have to be EMERGINT, meaning you are going to die. If you have a recurring pain that only needs an elective procedure, you will NOT get it in America unless you come up with the money. In Canada, you will wait, but you will get it. In America, you will suffer.

The reality of health care is simple, everyone likes what they have until they try to use it. Most people forget they have deductibles in America AS WELL as premiums. Most people don't realize that specialists are abundent in this country, because we have subsidized the specialization of workers particularly in medicine as well as reward more than being a generalist, hence the shorter wait times that come with the pressure to do more and unnecessary procedures because they don't make money if they don't do their thing. Most people don't realize that insurance is an adversarial relationship with you wanting it to provide coverage and them looking to deny as much as they can.

To say one system is objectively "better" than the other is not how to frame the discussion, but rather the question becomes, what pros do you want versus the cons that come with them. No system is perfect, including our own, and to say it's "better" than others tends to keep people from trying to fix it. It needs to be constantly worked on and improved. There is no humanity in denying people healthcare for the sake of idealogy.