CANADIANS!- Let's talk about heath care!

I don't know about Canada, I have heard stories of wait for surgery....... But I am an american who lives in france, where there is also a socialized medical care system and it is WAY better than the care I ever got in the states! I even had a baby in the US, then two in France, and the difference is remarkable. The care is better, faster, and I never had to compound the worry of pay on top of things.
I train horses as well so have had need of a lot of emergency care at first, surgery and all, and had it immediately and well done.

Originally posted by incrediblelousminds
Right. It's all immigrants fault.

Yes, it is. When it comes to emergency ward wait times.

Are you under the impression everyone can afford insurance and has access to a family doctor?

You have dual citizenship? Sounds like you have NO idea how things work here.

reply to post by incrediblelousminds



Almost everyone can afford medical, dental and paliative care IF they have group coverage from work which almost all companies here in canada provide, and if not they are screwing their employees over as its 100% tax write off for the company to provide these insurances. Send me a Private message for more info on the ins and outs.....In most cases anywhere from 60-100 a month is taken off of a paycheck to provide the group coverage. You would be insane not to take advantage of it.

As for a family doctor, there are hundreds of walk in clinics after you visit with teh doctor a few times they will usually take you on as a new patient, or you can always ask to see that exact same doctor every time you walk in....I mean everyone has to stop complaining about the insignificant things because if you know how to work the system it will work for you, not against you!

reply to post by Bluesma


doesnt France also send in a care giver free of charge to do household chores to give the parents a break? I love that aspect of it!

We need more Drs and other health care people here in Canada and I know thats needed souith of the border as well.We have a number of walk in clinics here as well and they can be faster than the Hospital ER but during the night there is only the Hospital and It is fast or slow depending on their work load same as anywere.

Originally posted by Tifozi
It's called "the manchester method", and nurses apply it. It states the severity of your reason to be at the hospital, from a flu, to an severe accident.

Ding, ding, ding... we have a winner!

From my personal observations, those that complain the loudest about waiting time, and are given a lot of media time because they make for more dramatic viewing, are those who should not be in an emergency room in the first place.

Talk to any emergency room doctor and they will tell you how they have their "regulars" who visit for a slight fever or runny nose, or sometimes just to chat. Needless to say, code "make them wait so they stop wasting our time" comes into effect.

There was talk of charging these people a "penalty" or some sort of "fine" for abusing the system... and I've gotta say I wouldn't be against it!

The problem with social programs is that there will always be some who "leach" off the system, however, the far greater quality of life that comes with them far outweigh the inconvenience. That said, anyway to reduce the number of people who exploit and reduce the quality of service for the rest of us should, obviously, be of concern.

the Billmeister

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by incrediblelousminds
Right. It's all immigrants fault.

Yes, it is. When it comes to emergency ward wait times.

Are you under the impression everyone can afford insurance and has access to a family doctor?

You have dual citizenship? Sounds like you have NO idea how things work here.

I am. Although based on your rant against immigrants i thought you were an American, referring to american emergency rooms. I apologize. Continue to rail against immigrants at will

Originally posted by incrediblelousminds
I am. Although based on your rant against immigrants i thought you were an American, referring to american emergency rooms.

This is a thread, by you, on the Canadian health care situation. Please, your obfuscation is easily spotted.

I apologize.

You should.

Continue to rail against immigrants at will

I don't rail against immigrants. They are necessary for Canada's growth. I'm saying they need to get with how we do things. Can you?

reply to post by misfitofscience


yes, as previously noted, i mistakenly thought 'intrepid' was referring the the US, not Canada.

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by incrediblelousminds
I am. Although based on your rant against immigrants i thought you were an American, referring to american emergency rooms.

This is a thread, by you, on the Canadian health care situation. Please, your obfuscation is easily spotted.

I am not 'obfuscating'. I clearly stated I misunderstood your comment.

reply to post by intrepid


Its not all immigrants fault and that is just plain dumb to assume that....Here is what the problem is:

People walk into an emergency room for a simple cold, a cut or gash on a body part, they have a tummy ache (mainly always due to bowel movements or lack there of.), a fever, fell down and twisted an ankle, broke a tooth, feel nauseous, etc etc etc....These are all symptoms that can be dealt with and should be dealt with at a walk in clinic. It would cut back on wait times TREMENDOUSLY at emergency rooms. in fact if Canada adopted Alberta's policy on a $250 fee for an emergency room visit that was not diagnosed as an emergency (ie: see up top), our waiting room times would be anywhere from 2-4 hours tops. Let me make this perfectly clear. We abuse our system because we are not fully educated on how it was meant to be run. If individuals were faced with a $250 fee, you can bet your stars that more walk in clinics would have more patients sitting down in them. Then once the Dr. at the clinic diagnosed you to be referred to an emergency room, you could take a referral slip and be seen at the E room. It makes perfectly common sense. But we as Canadians do not use it the way its meant to be used, yet we complain about it! Which makes no sense.

Originally posted by incrediblelousminds
Are 'moderators' often as rude as you?

Nope, I'm about the most vocal there is. Going to make some more generalizations with them as you did with our health care system?

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by incrediblelousminds
Are 'moderators' often as rude as you?

Nope, I'm about the most vocal there is. Going to make some more generalizations with them as you did with our health care system?

I'm just not used to 'moderators' trolling so hard. I clearly apologized several times for my mistake. You have chosen to harp on it.

Thanks for participating in my thread.

Originally posted by kro32
Here you go straight from a Canadian woman:

www.lewrockwell.com...

Our Soviet-style emergency rooms have waiting rooms equipped with hard metal chairs, vending machines that sell junk food, and maybe a television in one corner. There is no access to any medical equipment, beds, or even stretchers. In the emergency room everyone passes through triage and is given a code based on a nurse’s cursory evaluation of their affliction. If you are not satisfied with the "care" that is provided there is nowhere else to go, except to an American hospital if you are close enough to the border and can afford to pay cash. Canadians know that if you call an ambulance you can bypass the 10–12 hour wait in the emergency room, but this drives up the costs of healthcare even further.

That story is BS.
I've never been in a Cdn hospital that sounds like the one above. I was raised in Vancouver, had my son in the Lion's Gate Hospital in North Van, and it was nothing like above. It was nice, the care was good, although the food was horrible. We do have medical equipment up here, we're far from a third world country.

I've never had a bad experience, Lions Gate used to have long wait times on Fridays or Saturdays in emergency, but if you're in really rough shape they get you in right away. Vancouver is a busy place, of course there's going to be wait times in emergency. I've never seen more than 4 hours though, and most of those people didn't even need to be there, they could have waited and seen their doctor the next day - injuries from bar fights and similar stuff.

No access to beds or stretchers? We don't treat people on the floor

Hard metal chairs, I guess that would depend on the hospital, I have seen plastic, which makes sense, it's easily washable every day. Any hospital I've been to up here is really big on cleanliness.

Ambulances here don't have anything to do with the cost of healthcare, they bill the patient separately. People can purchase extra insurance up here that covers the cost of the ambulance, among other things.

reply to post by snowspirit


What is that lady expecting Lazyboys? Haha..

reply to post by snowspirit


A group plan will allow up to 5-10 ambulance rides a year on general, more than enough to make sure that you never have to pay out of pocket. Also what people fail to realize, is sometimes you are closer to a hospital and it is cheaper to take a Taxi to the hospital than an ambulance, again let the system work for you!

reply to post by misfitofscience


I doubt 'that lady' is even a real human. Her account is likely bogus.

i actually find it pretty funny when you read about people who think our health care in Canada is dysfunctional and blah blah blah because i've never personally met anyone who was unhappy with the health care system here. for the most part, we really value our health care. i've never had an issue. i have NEVER waited 10 or 12 hours for care. i think 6 hours might be the longest wait i've experienced, but thats not a common occurrence at all. i think one of the main problems with the system is wait times for having surgeries done. i know some family that had to wait a while for knee or hip surgeries and stuff, but they all got their care and are doing just fine now

Originally posted by misfitofscience
reply to post by snowspirit

 

What is that lady expecting Lazyboys? Haha..

Exactly! How would you even clean those constantly? Any time I've been in a hospital for tests, or whatever, there's someone constantly cleaning things.

Even the comment about "Soviet style". I think our waiting rooms are quite bright and cheery.
I'll also bet Russia has hospitals that are better than what she thinks.

A i allowed to cross post?

for example:

Originally posted by Eurisko2012

ObamaCare = rationing
Take a number and good luck.
That sounds like Canada.
No wonder they fly down here for medical care.

eta: www.abovetopsecret.com...