OUR COUNTDOWN TO FASCIST MEDICINE

Those who don't access any healthcare at all are absolutely doing so out of choice, not necessity.

Words you'll never hear in the Canadian health care system

1. "Out of network"

There are no "networks" in Canada. Doctors and hospitals are not affiliated with private insurance companies. Doctors are private business entities and hospitals are usually run by non-profit boards or regional health associations.

2. "COBRA"

Health coverage is NOT tied to your place of employment in any way. So any COBRA-like scheme is unnecessary.

3. "Co-Pay"

The government pays 100% of basic care, 100% of the time. Drugs are not covered, but are subsidized by government to a point. And because of mass buys, discounts are obtained from the drug companies. That's why our prices are so much lower. Most employers offer a drug plan that pays for 100% of drug cost coverage.

4. "monthly premium\deductible"

Wazzat? We don't consider our health to be the same as our possessions.

5. "waiting for approval"

Doctors are the sole decision makers for health care. NOBODY influences or delays their decisions, warns them of costs or prevents them from giving treatment for any reason.

6. "Government interference"

The provincial government in each province PAYS for whatever services doctors provide. No questions asked. Unless the procedure is experimental, not medically necessary or unwarranted, doctors cannot deny basic care - by law.

7. "Health insurance lobby"

There are NO insurance companies for basic care, only companies for providing insurance for travelers. No money to be made here.

8. "bureaucracy"

When we visit a hospital or doctor's office, we walk in, get treated, walk out. No "applications", "registrations" or any other kind of paperwork is required. We NEVER have to talk to a single "government official" or wait for a "judgment".

9. "PRE-EXISTING CONDITION"

This is such a foreign concept to us. A Canadian's usual reaction to the explanation of this term is astonishment.

10. "rescission"

Your health insurance won't be cancelled when you need it most, i.e., when you get sick. That's the whole point of having insurance, isn't it?

11. "individual rates"

There are no individual rates based on your age or medical status. The premium for everyone in a provincial plan is the same.

12. "uninsurable"

No one is uninsured or uninsurable. Everyone is covered.

13. "profit"

There's no private insurance companies offering coverage for primary medical care, so there's no question of profit, no corporate bottom lines to incentivize screwing people out of the medical care they need.

I choose to keep paying my bills as best I can instead of seeing a doctor for services and tests I desperately need.

I don't want to live in a hospital being seen because someone has to do it.

you are right. I am free.

kiss my ass.

Anecdotal evidence is always useful to illustrate a point. It is rarely competent to illustrate a larger principle however .

Anecdotal evidence .... It is rarely competent to illustrate a larger principle however .

so everybody's bills are paid by the government

fozfire wrote :

Quote:

so everybody's bills are paid by the government

the government ????

last time i checked it was the canadian TAXPAYERS that paid for healthcare !
perhaps i haven't noticed the change that took place - must check with my member of parliament - he should know - he's also the speaker of the house .
hbg

So you forego seeing the doctor because you don't want to be seen as receiving charity? But if the government reworks it so everybody's bills are paid by the government, you see that as somehow different? You don't mind that it is somebody else paying for your healthcare as long as you can preserve your pride and pretend that isn't what is happening?

foxfire wrote :

Quote:

Anecdotal evidence is always useful to illustrate a point. It is rarely competent to illustrate a larger principle however .

so studying history , watching documentaries , seeing photographs , speaking to survivors of the dirty 30's ... it's all just :

Quote:

Anecdotal evidence .... It is rarely competent to illustrate a larger principle however .

(not my words)
hbg

foxfire :

so you agree that it is NOT the (canadian ) government that's paying for healthcare ?
just want to make sure we understand each other .
hbg

Your source takes into no account the extremely low quality of medical care provided by many of the so-called 'insurance' that people carry, especially for more complex, long-term problems.

As a recent commercial said, much of what we count as 'insurance' is really more like a coupon.

You started out with an anecdotal story and it was that which you used as the reason the Canadian healthcare system was devleoped.

foxfire wrote :

Quote:

You started out with an anecdotal story and it was that which you used as the reason the Canadian healthcare system was devleoped.

i'm sure that you know even better than i that what we know about the dirty 30's is not just an "anectodal story" - though many anecdotal stories likely need to be brought together to record history .
i imagine that much of our recent history is based upon anecdotal history and not just upon what has been scratched into stone or is being dug up .

and if you read about tommy douglas , you might give it more than a "just an anecdotal story" rating .

and as i also wrote , when WW 2 came along , there suddenly was money - taxpayers' money - for the war !
and i don't believe that's "anecdotal" either - it's HISTORY (the history of canada , to be precise) .
hbg

The vast majority of Americans are fully satisfied with our system. Who am I (or you) to say it isn't good enough? I am certainly not going to say there is no room for improvement or that we should not try to achieve that.

Quote:

Your source takes into no account the extremely low quality of medical care provided by many of the so-called 'insurance' that people carry, especially for more complex, long-term problems.

As a recent commercial said, much of what we count as 'insurance' is really more like a coupon.

I challenge that statement.

While public insurance plan vary, some better than others, I doubt that MANY of inferior. I think you watch too much CNN TV.

I do not pretend to understand the Canadian system

, but I am sure the majority of Canadians are used to it and it works for the majority.

However, our system is different and should not be compared to any other.

Our's needs to be fixed, not re-invented like the current proposals call for.