Recently because one of the most important elections of the United States is coming up fast, we've been having big discussions and "battles" with conservatives and liberals about the state of the U.S. "system". I'm not really politically oriented so I can't get in there too deeply, but when it comes to discussing the healthcare system, I do stand up to be counted.
The interesting thing is that whenever you talk with conservatives in the USA they continually perpetuate many of the myths about the Canadian universal medical system and insist that government-regulated healthcare is one of the worst things possible because it is "socialized". They honestly believe them, even though the real life results repeatedly show these beliefs to be not grounded in reality. We all know how the U.S. government in the past has equated "socialism" with "communism" and communism has been associated with the antichrist and the death of democracy which all Americans hold near and dear to their souls (dear enough to go to war in other countries for).
This blog is not intended to ask the opinions of Americans what they think about their system. Nor is it intended to debate the differences; it is pretty obvious by looking at the real-life results that privatized healthcare that turns away people who cannot afford to pay for the "product" of health is not working well in the USA (of course the insurance companies and drug companies would say that isn't true, but they have a different agenda that isn't based on the health of the nation).
Now of course the Canadian system may have its flaws, and it may be stressed as well due to a lack of nurses, unions, and other things. But from my understanding, and of the Canadians I have talked to, not a single one to date has said to me that the "system is bankrupt, Canadian doctors are government pauper puppets and nobody can receive the healthcare they need".
I spoke about this with my Mom on the phone this morning (again), and she reaffirmed the fact that yes, it's strange how so many Americans hear "SOCIALIZED MEDICINE" and they think of the evil communist hammer coming on down and squashing our freedoms, when it simply isn't true.
Yes, she also admitted that there is an issue in Manitoba with not enough nurses and union battles these days. BUT she also said that although there ARE waiting lines, everyone gets treated, nobody gets turned away, AND urgent cases are treated URGENTLY.
My mom was a chemotherapy nurse until she retired so she knows the system very well.
Here is an interesting story for you...
When Mayu and I were living in Canada as boyfriend and girlfriend for one year, Mayu got a Social Security Number (similar to the American SIN). One night in the winter she slipped carrying bottles and cut her wrist. I took her to emergency. We waited maybe 30 minutes with others. She wasn't spurting blood and turning white, so it wasn't THAT much of an emergency.
When the doctor saw us, he stitched her up, and that was that. There were no waivers to sign, no insurance companies to get pre-authorization from, no huge bills that came in the mail. Nor were there any hour after hour long waits. The hospital was clean, professional, and modern for the time; it was NOT a third world hovel with the dead and dying lying moaning and gasping for life in the dirty, rat-infested hallways.
Another interesting "anecdote" if you will...
Mayu also went to a women's clinic while there and got various tests as well as went on birth control pills. No muss, no fuss, no monster bills waiting to bankrupt us. A foreigner was welcomed into the system!
My point....
Whenever people bring this up, immediately the conservatives in the U.S. try to shoot it down and discredit the system by saying "the government has bankrupt itself" and many other strange beliefs that have us Canadians shaking our heads and wondering, "where did they come up with that? Did they ever ASK us what we thought about our own system? After all, we should know better than anyone else how well it works or doesn't work...."
After reading Sheila's link in Multiply on the "Revolution of America" (very very interesting), I looked deeper into the blogs that this person has authored and found a very good one (two parts) on Mythbusting Canadian Healthcare, Part 1.
You can then read Part 2, Mythbusting Canadian Healthcare, Part 2: Debunking Free Marketeers here. It goes along very well with Jen's excellent blog on the volunteers that are trying to help a teeny fraction of the tens of millions of Americans that cannot get healthcare in their own country.
The interesting thing after I posted this link, there was a gentleman who visited and said the following:
"Sara Robinson's accounts are unique on this issue, as is her viewpoint. I also read quite a bit on this subject, including the report that Canada was looking and a complete overhaul of their system because it is bankrupting their nation after only 25 years (and this after they have virtually neutered their military in order to help pay). I'll have to see something more independent than her viewpoint."
I left a reply to him that you can read here if you like.
But the point of that comment was that I think he should now go out and actively try to get REAL LIFE RESULT data from CANADIANS to see what THEY think about their own medical system and how they would rate it on a sucess scale of 1-5 where 1 is a total failure and breakdown, and 5 is a "gift from the gods".
I don't know if he'll be able to do that or really wants to, though. It's a lot of work and most people don't place a priority on that kind of thing as they have a lot of other more pressing matters at hand to deal with.
So I thought I would do whatever I can to make this data collection a little easier to help anyone who harbours that same old conservative paradigm but would like to know what the real life situation is really like, all propaganda, and bashing aside in order to have a more objective understanding of the greater picture.
If there are any people from other countries who have had direct experience with the Canadian HealthCare system like Mayu did, please be totally honest and let us know. Good or bad, it is all important to know. If you had a bad experience, please DO share it! It's important.
All I ask is that you please, refrain from debating and arguing in this blog, OK?
I want to collect YOUR DIRECT EXPERIENCES with the Canadian HealthCare system.
Thanks for your help! I really appreciate this!
I love you!
Cam
P.S. I already know what Dunnster is going to say, and I love it!
Cam, your father promised to adopt me.... so when I move there, I can rest assured when I get there......LOL That will alleviate some of my worries about health care, or lack there of.
ReplyDeleteI for one appreciate that you are providing this opportunity so we don't have to dig through piles and piles of data, but simply look here and read whatever experiences will get posted in regard to the Canadian health care experience.
ReplyDeleteI love you.
<------- not Canadian... but willing to convert. The heathcare you are describing sounds like heaven... Hopefully... someday, we can say they same thing about our own.
ReplyDeleteMy son's Paris parents have the same situation from the way it sounds.
ReplyDeleteI had him ask when he was living with them last summer.
Good luck with the Canukians on your list.
CD - Thanks. Hmmm..... This is an interesting point. It may very well be that the concept of "socialized" healthcare that the USA has provided prior to ... was it Nixon? Reagan? I don't recall, and the U.S. military medical care is a different concept than that implemented in Canada. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I HAVE thought is strange about Canada is that you CANNOT have private health insurance even if you WANT it. I don't know if having it as an option would erode the system, or if it would lead doctors emigrate to private clinics to make more money, leaving a dearth of doctors for the regular system, either... It would be "interesting" to learn how your friends lost their lives through the failure of the Canadian Healthcare system. There are many reasons why this may have happened, of course, system-related, or non-related so it would be difficult to know. And of course, no matter how good something is, we can never ever have 100% success at all times. That's not possible under any circumstances (even Toyotas break down!) so I guess it is important to look at the "overall situation" (i.e. the forest in general), and not base one's opinion on a few isolated incidences, unless those incidences (incidi?) recur frequently enough to make the general assumption suspect.
I am looking forward to hearing about sitting for hours upon hours in the Canadian hospitals from our Canuck friends, but it looks like either they are not here yet. I wonder why?
Jen - It will be interesting to see what Colin learns during his internship in the UK this summer. Maybe you can beg him to dig into the "real situation" there.
PC - I just hope it really IS like that! Honestly, I know it was when I was living there and it sure sounds like it from the people I talk to but again, I don't talk to thousands of Canadians, either so the times may have changed as political parties change, as their agendas change, as the budget shifts from one importance to another and funding comes and goes. Let's just say I'm HOPING that the situation is still the same because I imagine I'll be moving there eventually, especially when our Japanese system collapses (and it's on its way to doing that because we don't have enough young people who are willing to pay into pension funds, etc. - it's a serious problem here now). BTW, would you give up riding your motorcycle for six months of the year and live in -40C weather... oh, wait... It's not like that in Vancouver. Right. Sorry. I was forgetting that not ALL of Canada is the arctic!
Mavis - Thanks for popping in. Let's see if any of those "frozen 49ers" come to share their tales, shall we? I posted this on 360 as well and will transfer any thoughts I can gather to a fresh post. I love you!
Paula - Moving from Arizona to the Winterpig..... are you insane?
LOL.... well not insane, maybe weird.....LOL only during the summer months will I move "home" the rest of the year I will flock to FL like so many Canadian geese....LOL
ReplyDeleteLOL.... well not insane, maybe weird.....LOL only during the summer months will I move "home" the rest of the year I will flock to FL like so many Canadian geese....LOL
ReplyDeleteI have to think that any new plan for universal health care will be thought out carefully so as not to revisit the problems of the past, and will look at the problems in the other systems with an eye toward avoiding those problems... or trying to at least.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like the new administration would dive headlong into replacing one failed program with another... one from the past at that.. That would be silly.
What of Medicare? As far as i know it runs fairly well in taking care of our senior citizens.
And the health plan enjoyed by all members of the house and senate. I don't think they're complaining.
It seems to me if we can have a paid program for SOME Americans, we should be able to expand it to cover ALL Americans.
I think it's a matter of WILL.
There's so much scare tactics by Big Pharma that few are willing to get in there and hammer out a good plan.
It can be done without the kind of anecdotal problems that abound.
We just need to TRY.
Plus....WE need to let OUR government know what WE want.
Bottom up governing!
WE need to get and stay active and vocal.
It doesn't end in November, Folks.
Sorry Cammy.
Got a little carried away... but i think i stayed out of opining... i was speculating...
yeah ... that's the ticket...speculating.
I constantly have to scratch my head wondering why is it that so many that want to scare us into thinking that those of us who want universal health care are asking for the impossible when all we have to do is look at the way medicare and medicaid is run. And as Jen has pointed out and as Obama has mentioned, the members of Congress have health care that is paid for.
ReplyDeleteWhy is this plain and simple little fact overlooked by the scare mongers? My grandchildren are covered by medicaid because their parents are in the low income bracket. And when they have to go to the doctor there is no more waiting to see a doctor and be treated than any of the others in the waiting room with private health insurance. My mother has medicade and when she goes to the doctor she is given the same attention as the holders of private insurance. So if this works for low income and elderly citizens why can't it work for all of us? Those of us that make too much money to qualify for medicare or medicaid , but can't afford the high premiums of private insurance deserve the same kind of privileges as the poor and the elderly and the members of Congress.
Its time for the scare tactics to end. Its time for us all to take a look at a system that already works and let the rest in on it.
Oh I didn't mean to get to arguing. I was talking about my experience with medicare and medicaid. Thats ok right?
ReplyDeleteMavis, You're so cute.
ReplyDeleteShe started it, Cam!!!
Anyway... the Canuks haven't arrived yet so Mavis and I are the warm up act, hehehehe...
My friend Darrell, in Manitoba just emailed me this *****
ReplyDelete"She's [the author] wrong on points 5 and 6, at least here in Manitoba.
As of last year, you actually don't get to pick your GP. We are so short of doctors here that the College of Physicians will assign your next GP when your current one retires or moves away. Shocking but true.
Unless I am mistaken, she also seems to be confusing our medical system (which is built into the taxation system, and is funded jointly federally and provincially, but administered mostly provincially) with additional private insurance coverage. Most employers here in Manitoba DO NOT pick up the complete tab of additional private insurance. Very few employers do. Most cover 50% (as does mine - I pay about $55 / month for a family plan)
Ambulance rides cost extra, as does chiropractic and the like. My private insurance (through Great West Life) covers ambulance rides, and about 80% of dental and chiropractic etc. But again, it is not the same as the government administered social health plan. I pay the extra $55 / month, as does my employer.
Manitoba has fallen deeper into the "have not" province category with respect to the medical system. In other areas we do better than average (giving to charity, low cost of living etc.) but our "Manitoba Medical" is a bit behind many other provinces. I just heard on the news this morning that there is a new study out that says we are spending a little higher ($3700 / person) than average ($3500 / person) than other provinces, but our level of care results in slightly lower quality than other provinces. We have a chronic shortage of almost all types of medical personnel.
Going into nearly any medical field will just about guarantee you a job for as long as you live in Canada. And if you don't care WHERE you work, you can make a fantastic wage with lots of sweet extras. So many rural and northern communities are so understaffed they pile on the incentives."
Wabbit says...
ReplyDeleteInteresting Cam - I'm not into politics either and I'm truly surprised if Americans think of our healthcare system as a - do I dare say it? Third world environment?
I also went to your Multiply site and read your comment. (Hey little big brother I didn't know you were there)
Some may know that I am Canadian and that I as well as my daughter work in a hospital. Yes there is a shortcoming of nurses and even doctors are on a tight schedule but the Canadian healthcare system is one of the best in this world.
Speaking from personal experience – my mom broke her hip due to a fall last summer. The moment she was admitted into the hospital she was attended to and after X-rays and the necessary examinations she was given the necessary medication to ease the pain until her surgery some hours later. She received immaculate care while staying for three weeks in the hospital with a brand new platinum pin in her hip all for free. After she received home care and therapy three days a week all provided by the hospital. No bills no headache and the doctor made a follow up examination in her home.
You see when most speak of the Canadian health care they speak about waiting in the emergency rooms – well yes there is waiting for non-emergency cases – don’t forget Canadians don’t need to wait until it’s so urgent to go to a hospital because it’s all for free, so many come with minor ailments or injuries that a band aid or Aspirin can fix. Americans cannot afford to go to hospitals for minor things because they have to pay so they avoid the hospitals unless it is an emergency. Simple logic eh. The point is everyone gets attended to and no one is turned away, neither does anyone receive lesser care because they didn’t arrive in a VIP car.
Plus what many don’t think about is the care patients receive in Canada – after* they’ve been attended to in a hospital.
And what about mammograms and Pap smear tests. Here in Canada Clinics send out mail to citizens reminding them when to have their mammograms – reminding them when to have their pap smear.
Doctors also keep up with their patient’s visits for the walk in clinics, when one is due for their health check up. All for free, all for the benefit of healthy Canadian children and citizens.
Huugs and much love to you and Mayu my brother
Your friend from Manitoba says she pays $55.00 a month for her policy. That is still cheaper than we pay here for a private policy even when our employer is paying a share of it for us. Right now I do have a good insurance policy and it is not expensive for me. But I work at a hospital so my employer provides free emergency room visits and discounts on hospital stays IF I use the hospital where I am working. For the first time in over 30 years of working I have health insurance I can afford. It was not always so for me and it is not for many many others in this country. I am so glad to hear from Canadians about their health care system.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a true statement. (now I am speaking for someone in Florida and I don't know how it is in the rest of the country) Our emergency rooms are JAMMED... filled with people with colds, flu and minor health issues. Why? Because the hospitals can't turn you away for not having insurance. These people can't afford to go to the dr and they are working the "loophole". Granted, they will get a huge bill... but they are not going to be able to pay that either. But at least they got medical treatment...
ReplyDeleteOur emergency rooms are so overwhelmed... it takes forever to get in to receive treatment. (I don't fault people at all for doing this.... people are desperate for medical treatment. My own daughter has had to resort to this during her uninsured pregnancy...)
You might remember when I had the staff infection behind my eye. My wait to see a dr was almost 12 hrs in the emergency room.... and that was with a dr calling ahead and telling them to admit me to the hospital immediately.... plus at that time I did have insurance.
My health insurance costs me almost $1000 per MONTH, and that is with high deductables. My co-pay on prescriptions alone starts at $50 per prescription per month.
Plain and simple... the American Health care system is broken. The only hope that I see is with the next election.
No.... I am not willing to give up riding 6 months a year...... YET....
PC - Thanks for your clarification.
ReplyDeleteI remember "being there" with you, in a virtual way, yes. I remember the nightmare. I remember seeing your terribly swollen eye socket on video. I remember you telling me of the blood oozing from your ears and eye socket from the infection (salivary reaction beginning now...)
I remember that nurses and doctors were walking past you trying to ignore your existence as you "gooped yourself" all over their hospital waiting hours and hours for them to admit you. I remember you telling me you specifically went to sit where all the other patients WERE, in spite of the medical staff trying to shoo you to a quiet private waiting area, specifically BECAUSE you wanted to make the other patients feel uncomfortable enough that it would SHAME the medical staff into finally paying attention to you.
Yes, I remember this all too well....
Oh, and one of the drawbacks about Manitoba anyway, is that there are so many motorcycle accidents that they are trying to push people away from them by raising the licensing and insurance on them so high that people won't pay the ridiculous prices for only 6 months of a year. This is why Bruce, my brother, gave up riding his motorcycle.
Wabbit's daughter (who works in a hospital) had a life-threatening illness in Quebec and needed serious medical care. I asked her if she would share that story and this is what she wrote...
ReplyDelete"Yes my sweet brother I thought about writing about Vikki and her life threatening experience when she had the accident in the lab where she works. But then I thought the response would be 'oh well she's working in the hospital so of course she would get that immediate and intensive response'.
But in reality regardless the fact that she is a staff member any life threatening injury or other life threatening health issue would be responded with the same immediate and quick actions of intensive and constant care until the danger would subsiden regardless if one works there or not.
Since she also had to be transported to the biggest Montreal Hospital after the immediate intensive care had been done in the hospital where we work all the intensive care there and then the trip back to our hospital the care and transport was all for free.
And again I'd like to mention that this is not where health care stops. It is the aftermath and the post care follow up that all is part of the package of the Canadian health care."
I haven't commented because the title of your blog is "Canucks: Please share your Canadian Healthcare Stories." I've decided to jump on. You know how I feel about our system and we've discussed how I have shelled out thousands of dollars for no relief. I've been patted on the head and loaded up with drugs. My biggest fear today is that it is going to happen again because I think I really messed something up inside my shoulder. It's going to cost me hundreds of dollars to see a doctor then thousands of dollars for an MRI and then...well, if I have to have surgery it's going to cost thousands more. YES - I have insurance.
ReplyDeleteRemember when Adrian stepped on a needle and it broke off inside his foot? Several thousand dollars later the needle was out, but so were we! That kind of money is ridiculous!
Another time I had to go in to get a piece of silicone ear plug removed from my ear - it was pushed in way too far. The doctor plucked the piece out with a funky looking tweezers right in the exam room while he was chatting to Adrian about something. There was no anesthetic/stitches/whatever. Several hundred dollars later and a bill stating the procedure was SURGERY....Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I can't talk about this without foaming at the mouth.
Robin - I remember these stories. It blows me away how you pay these prices! I can't even imagine how much my appendectomy would have cost you! Or how much it would have cost to heal the fingertip I cut off. Frightful. Well, at least we know your other eye, the bad one that you don't look out of in the mornings is a lost cause so you don't have to try and heal that! Good thing you were given a spare! I love you!
ReplyDeleteIt's not bad, it's just drawn that way...Seriously, it works, it just takes a while to get there. I believe I could call it an old football injury.
ReplyDeleteAsk Steph (our Fargo friend) what her emergency appendectomy cost - it will positively boggle your mind. Once you get over the cost, ask her how long it took her to pay it off...
Sharon over on the east coast of Canada has this to say about her experiences in the Canadian health care system:
ReplyDelete"I am Canadian and I cannot have one bad thing to say about our system, it's just great !!! When I hear some of the horror stories from people living in the U.S.A. (and I am not putting down their country here, just telling what I have heard) I know a few friends who aren't going to the doctors and they have serious health problems and the reason they aren't going is because they are out of work and can't afford to go, because they don't have any insurance. They are living with high blood pressure and cholesterol and when you are in your forties and fifties, believe me it is important to get help.Parents with sick children that have wiped out their life savings and sold their homes, because of the costs for treatments Thank goodness for our system, no one is turned away!! My mother broke her hip twice , my Dad was hospitalized for cancer for a long period of time and it cost them not one penny. Yes we pay into the system but it is nothing compared to what we would have to pay if we didn't have this great system. "
At this moment I am about to loose my group plan via my soon to be Ex's work. Even with a large corporation we paid nearly 400 dollars per month. Now I am shopping private policies and find that for me, and my current age (childbearing years...like that is some medical condition, discrimination more or less) with a high deductible, and not the best insurance the rates are still between $550-$700 a month for ME. I am a very healthy, non smoking female..... its insane, and robbery if you ask me. And the prices go up from there. I would have to work a full time second job to even pay for the premium, let alone god forbid I have to start meeting the deductible... I would LOL but its not funny...
ReplyDeleteOh its scary alright.....
I often say it as a joke, but this is really serious..."it's why i stay married"
ReplyDeleteAnd that is the real shame of this health care crisis. I stay in a marriage for the benefits??? It's crazy!
Even if i were on my own and worked full time at my job it would cost me between 3-500 dollars.
Add that to rent, car, and other living expenses and i don't know how anyone does it. I would have to get food stamps.
Even my friend who is a physician, in private practice has to pay emormous rates to cover himself and his family... and we've already established that doctors are no longer the wealthy members of our society, unless you're a plastic surgeon to the stars.
It's an embarrassment. Other countries look upon our system and laugh.
Yes, we have the best medical care in the world, but many or most of our citizens cannot afford to access it.
It's shameful!
JJ this is only reason I feel worried about being out on my own now...so I know exactly what you mean when you say that statement. I wonder how many more women are in this same place? Its not even funny.....
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what I am going to do?? I don't have the career experience to even afford rent, so I guess I will become one of the stats that goes uninsured in the USA, what else can I do??? My options working at Starbucks for the benefits and not able to pay rent for the small wage??
If your wondering I don't sleep anymore due to all the worry.... it sucks.
I broke down and bit the bullet - called the doctor for an appointment to have my shoulder examined tomorrow. They are going to start with xrays...Yeah, I am sick over what I think may happen next.
ReplyDeleteP.K over in northern California says with passion (and the sass she's famous for, lovable hippie that she is):
ReplyDelete" am obviously not Canadian :-)... However, I have been championing this for years!!! So has my Mother... I will state that, that is the reason she stays so close to Canada. She gets her, (as Bush puts it, "Contaminated Medications") medications from there. Same exact as she would get here! At least she can eat... As far as thinking "communistic" ..lol don't think so..;-D. I'm for one, not that ignorant... I want it here in the states, and if it goes up for vote? I'll be at the front of the door waiting for them to open so I can cast my vote! "
By the way, where the heck are all the damn Canadians? By last count there were 35 million of us in the country and around the world so I'm pretty sure that more than three or four are connected to us in some way! Am I going to have to revoke their "Friendly Canuck" status and call them all cold, heartless bastards or something?
ReplyDeleteCanadians, get your asses over here!!!!!
Cindy, a nurse in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada says...
ReplyDelete"I'm a Canadian and I have tons of stories about our health care system.
I work within it now, but I've had many experiences on my own as a Canadian and as a parent and as a foster parent and as a worker that escorts people to and from medical appointments and emergencies... and I've worked in a few emergency rooms here too :D
911 works..... and whoever is in need of the help will get the best of care. I've seen crews of people come in and work on the person in need. They walk into unknown situations and stay focused on getting to the one that is in need. It's not always the safest for them.... but they are determined.
The hospitals are incredible! I've seen out of province people (with no I.D.) get quality attention.
Life is always first and foremost.... here in Manitoba.... Quebec has a good system and Alberta too... I can't really comment on the other provinces.... but I'm sure that they are equal to the provinces that I've mentioned.
Even if one is in need of immediate help, but not life threatening... a Walk In Clinic or Urgent Care is available. Prescriptions can be cheaper with Blue Cross. Those on Social Assistance need not worry about their prescriptions.
Even our Social Assistance program is phenomenal!!! But I guess that is another story :D
I'm not very familiar with the American system, but my sister said that it costs her $20 just to say hi to her doctor.
I do know of a couple of people that have gone down south to get cancer treatment. I'm sure that if someone has the money, they could travel to anywhere in the world, if they are so inclined....
I like our system very much. I've seen many lives saved in our system.... I really don't think that we are Communist..... hahahaha let's vote on it eh!!!"
The NHS in Britain is a free at the point of contact public funded healthcare system and so might well seem similar. I could comment on the things that aren't free, like prescriptions, eye tests and dental care or I could comment on how some treatments are not supported, like the latest cancer treatments or talk of how the papers constantly tell us of an NHS in crisis but that isn't what you asked for, is it?
ReplyDeleteSo instead, I'll point out my latest experiences with the NHS. As you know, my other half is with child (sorry for the archaism, but it sounds so much nicer than pregnant) and I have to say that the ante-natal services have been a model of efficiency and friendliness.
You also know that I have had my own medical misadventures and while there is some contrast my views are still positive. The details of the events are here:
http://thefooloffate.multiply.com/journal/item/139/Under_the_Knife
I hope this gives you what you need.
All the Best,
Tez
Thanks, Tez! I just woke up to Maria's comment on 360, visited her pages that she wrote and read about the experiences. For those who don't know, Maria is from Greece, and has recently moved to the UK and married Tez. She is pregnant. This article talks about Tez' (thefooloffate) adventure in the hospital: Fun times on the NHS . If you read the following article, entitled "Week 16" you will hear her talking about her experiences with her pregnancy in the NHS.
ReplyDeleteSorry it took so long to get round to writing this!
ReplyDeleteIn the Uk we have a National health service It costs us, but we hardly notice as it comes directly out of our wages each week! We are allowed to earn a certain amount before we pay any tax or "stamp" (Stamp is what we call our national health contribution) The threshold before we start paying is £87 a week ($170) then we pay 11% of everything over that until we hit £610 a week ($1200) in earnings then its just 1% of everything over that!
There are many who criticise the waiting lists on the NHS and those who can afford to have private health insurance too, But If it weren't for the NHS my wife would have died of cancer long before i ever met her, and my mother in law would never have been able to have the treatment and joint replacement operatios she has had!
Just as thefooloffate said treatment over here is "free" but it isn't as we pay all our working lives it's just we don't have to find huge sums of money to pay for much needed treatment unless we want to jump the queue!
Prescriptions currently cost about £6.85 ($14.00) that's per item which sickens me because In Wales they get their prescriptions free yet they pay in the same as us into the NHS
Luckily I am not often ill, and though Joann is pretty ill her prescriptions are covered by an exemption certificate Jo has to take 30 pills a day of various kinds and also has to use support bandages for her knees and wrists, though she only uses them when she is feeling really bad! On top of that she also has to use ointments for her bad eye!
When we go to the pharmacy for her pills we come away with a bag not unlike the ones you get at a takeaway for a meal!
For Jo a National Health service is a Godsend, For me personally I guess i'd rather have the extra on my wages! But then that deduction is not just for health but also towards my old age pension!
But you know that is where i disagree with it all, If i die before i draw any pension, only the state benefit from it, Why isn't whatever i have paid into it paid out to my next of kin?
to me that is taking money under false pretences!
Another thing, why do people save for their funeral! After all have you ever heard of anyone left to rot? (I mean providing they weren't found weeks after)
Mark, thanks! Much appreciated. I wonder if Jo's health would benefit with the PEOs I've been evangelizing for years. I know for sure one Japanese friend's diabetes did the unthinkable and medically impossible: it disappeared! And these PEOs (formerly called EFAs) are the essence of all of our cells (cell walls), and they have been shown to seriously prevent cancer from starting (though we aren't allowed to say that in connection to any product because it is against the law to tell the truth, apparently...) but seriously, I understand why because if it were OK to say so and so cures... then all of the Chinese medicine would cure everything all of a sudden. But then, why was it OK suddenly for (and this was really really wrong) a certain grain to be labeled as "prevents cancer"? That was a push by the American FDA pressured by the good old grain industry mafioso I am sure!
ReplyDeleteTruth is Cam i don't think anything will ever prevent cancer but i do think a ure will eventually be found!
ReplyDeletereason i say this is because I believe we are all born with cancer in us, so unless we can edit out that cell from our DNA then I think Cancer will always exist!
I don't see any grain preventing cancer, and if it did i feel sure that it would be handed out to all! cancer really is the mother of all diseases, and the hardest one to find a cure for!
i hope it happens in my lifetime
without looking up PEO's or EFA's i don't know what either of them are, so i guess its to google next!
Oh and here is some food for thought!
you say about a Japanese friend whose diabetes disappeared after taking PEO,s
Well I know a Muslim family really well and one of the daughters Saeedah had cancer and it disappeared after a course of Quranic therapy! Yes Just reading the holy Quran and praying! I am sure that if i can persuade her mother to come on here I can get her to tell you more! It amazed me!
and i am not particularly religious, But i do believe!
Josée, my friend living in BC writes...
ReplyDelete... Just finished reading the Mythbusting Canadian HealthCare by Sara Robinson. I can't address all of the statistics that she quotes or how the US system works. As far as the Canadian system I'm very glad we have the system we do, but it could be improved.. In my personal experiences with my family, elderly parents etc... there has been some good experiences and some bad. In the movie Sicko, there's a scene where he is in an Ontario emergency ward asking people how long they have had to wait for care and the people there are all cheerfull and say no more than about 1/2 hour or so. That must have been an exceptional day because we and our friends have experienced waits of more than 2 hours on occasions. It's not that they're playing cards, they are seeing the bleeders first and even if they come in after you they get in first. The week after my Mom had her heart attack and was taken to the hospital by ambulance a woman died in the emergency room of a heart attack while waiting her turn, she had driven herself there. So I think maybe using an ambulance is the way to go to get noticed.
When I was having my first child in the hospital, I had to have an emergency caesarean, I shared a room with an Canadian who was married to an American and she had had her baby by a planned caesarean section. It turns out that close to the baby's birth she came to Canada to the town her Mom lived in, told the social workers that she had left her husband in the States and she was provided with Medical help right away. She told me that she had lied about leaving her husband and coming home because they had no medical insurance and couldn't afford the ceasarean section that she was told she would need. After spending a few weeks recuperating at her Mom's she would reunited with her husband. It sad to have to do that, and her husband not being there for the birth because it would have caused too much financial hardship for them. I had no bills to pay and like all new mothers I had a home care nurse visit for a few times to see that I was recuperating well and that Baby was being looked after. They also now check for post-partum depression on their visits, all free. Couldn't imagine it any other way.
Take Care Josée