Members thelurker Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080119.neuro191/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home Good luck to Canada if the U.S. ever adopts this boondoggle. I read last week that Canada is short 26,000 doctors already, and it's getting worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jasper383 Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Canada needs to make private access to doctors legal, or this rationing of health care will lead to crisis. We see regularly in the US the mess that is the VA system. Why would we want to apply that inefficiency and incompetence to all US medicine? That said, I believe eventually the US will have a two tier system of national health care for everyone, plus the private system for those who opt in or can afford it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members takeout Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 The VA system has saved my father-in-law's life countless times. It is neither inefficient nor incompetent. It is underfunded. thelurker: you realize for every horror story about public health care in other nations, there is an equal story about private care providers either dropping the ball or denying service, right? Sawing off the wrong leg in the operating room, hospitals in LA leaving the mentally ill out on Skid Row for inability to pay, etc.? Both systems as currently implemented have their flaws. If anyone has a better suggestion, feel free to suggest it rather than trade jabs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goofball Jones Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 As I said before....seems both sides are screwed. Private insurance is screwed with so many horror stories as are the free health-care stories. Just don't get sick or injured....anywhere....on the planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted January 21, 2008 CMS Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 Both systems as currently implemented have their flaws. If anyone has a better suggestion, feel free to suggest it rather than trade jabs. Kill all the lawyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ThudMaker Posted January 21, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 21, 2008 Kill all the lawyers.Well said, Shakespeare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ThudMaker Posted January 21, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 21, 2008 Both systems as currently implemented have their flaws. If anyone has a better suggestion, feel free to suggest it rather than trade jabs.Since admittedly both have their issues, why trade one that doesn't work as well as it should with another that knowingly doesn't work as well as it should? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted January 21, 2008 CMS Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 Well said, Shakespeare. Methinks thou do'st protest too much!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richy Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Providing you don't die waiting, or contract a fatal illness during treatment off the dirty sheets, or get stabbed by a drunk in the waiting room, you should be alright in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bluescout Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Canada needs to make private access to doctors legal, or this rationing of health care will lead to crisis.We see regularly in the US the mess that is the VA system. Why would we want to apply that inefficiency and incompetence to all US medicine?That said, I believe eventually the US will have a two tier system of national health care for everyone, plus the private system for those who opt in or can afford it. Part of it is the Robinhood mentality in this country that it's OK to take from the rich and give to the poor. Another thing is where people think health insurance should cover every little thing. Car insurance doesn't cover wipers, oil changes and tires. It would be FAR more expensive to do so. Yet another thing is the pricing, where a doctor charges an individual $2000 but the insurance company can limit the fee to far less. Face it, health care is expensive, and if you want it, pay for it. I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bikehorn Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Why do Americans complain about our health care system more than those of us actually eligible for coverage under it? Frankly if you ask me the HMO system in the US is nothing to be proud of. We may be short doctors, but at least our doctors aren't quitting practice because their malpractice insurance is more than half of their earnings due to frivolous medicolegal lawyers chasing ambulances. Everyone except the HMO loses. Healthcare and for-profit business shouldn't mix, IMO. It's not perfect and the standard of care is not equal everywhere(like the article points out), but then, in a paid system, it isn't either unless you can cough up full price. If you're happy with the system in place where you are, stay there. I don't disagree that major restructuring is required in the Canadian healthcare system, but I'm not about to jump on the private healthcare bandwagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roger in the sky Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 If anyone has a better suggestion, feel free to suggest it rather than trade jabs. that's not what the internet is for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Joey Joe Joe Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Fortunately I haven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anubis Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Well, the fact that people ARE rushed to the States for tratment accounts for something doesn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazz Ad Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 French healthcare is far from perfect but it's the best I've seen anywhere.Please don't try to cut it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RSBro Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Just don't get sick or injured....anywhere....on the planet. Pretty much... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jackcheez Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Well, the fact that people ARE rushed to the States for tratment accounts for something doesn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ThudMaker Posted January 21, 2008 Moderators Share Posted January 21, 2008 Just because some web site reports it doesn't make it a fact. That article was not sourced at all. It's good to hear from Canadians about Canadian healthcare. As far as I'm concerned everybody else is just :blah: :blah: Of course they are, because their evidence and opinions are opposite of yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J. Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Face it, health care is expensive, and if you want it, pay for it. I do. I agree with you, but there's also the issue of people needing healthcare services who don't have the ability to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brake Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Face it, health care is expensive, and if you want it, pay for it. I do. I don't pay a dime for anything other than prescriptions and am in great health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazz Ad Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 This is not entirely true.If you work, you pay for healthcare just like lucky US citizens do to private companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thelurker Posted January 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Jazzy is correct, you ARE paying for it, you just never see the money. As to the source, it's a friggin' Canadian Newspaper. I'm pretty sure they're familiar with healthcare in Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members picker13 Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 The VA system has saved my father-in-law's life countless times. It is neither inefficient nor incompetent. It is underfunded. I used to work at a VAMC, and it was probably one of the better ones around. I was getting paid nearly a tenth of what I could make in the private sector. What I saw was a core of employees and physicians that went out of their way to see that the patients got the best care they could. But I also saw waste that would make you sick. I saw federal employess that were incompetent, and had to be moved to low-risk, non-patient care jobs at the same pay, as it was next to impossible to fire a federal employee. And while the patient's got good care, access was a problem. Many had to wait weeks to be seen in certain clinics, which meant the ER was full of those that couldn't make it to their appointments. It is underfunded, but serves as an example of how limiting the funding to universal care (for veterans in this example) will make most people unhappy. The problem with our healthcare system is that everyone expects to get Lexus or Mercedes quality and the latest innovations, but nobody wants to pay for it. Many times, getting a Ford is all a person needs, and most people can afford to pay for that. But insurance companies have to charge outrageous premiums as their customers want the latest and greatest. Same for governmental programs. IMHO, the answer is not universal, all access care for everyone, but a basic, barebones system for those that can't afford anything else, concentrating on preventitive healthcare and well living. ONLY the government could create such a program, as any other private system would be successfully challenged in the courts. EVERYONE would be taxed to pay for it (here's where the national sales tax makes alot of sense). Those who could afford additional coverage could buy if they wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thumper Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 The VA works fine for me, even though I have insurance through my current employer. I'm not going to slam the Canadian health care system. I figure if I lived there, I could judge for myself. We have enough problems in the US to cast stones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lokidecat Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 I don't think a lot about 'free health care' even though I should. My goal was to try not to worry about it by going to school, getting an education, and getting a job that has benefits. So far that's working for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.