Health Service

The US health care system is pretty bad, its fair if you have insurance, but if not, care is performed at Emergency rooms for very expensive costs, if you are unable to pay, care is still given though. Compared to rest of the world, the US has lots of expensive care if you can afford it.

 

In the U.S. you get emergency service even if you can't pay. You will get a HUGE bill from the hospital, but they can't get blood out of a turnip. Routine doctor visits depend on whether you are poor enough to qualify for government aid, otherwise it's up to private pay and private insurance.

If you visit us from overseas, you should make sure you have travel health insurance. If you get sick or injured over here, the cost will come out of your pocket.

Welcome to the land of "I have mine; screw you."

Tom

 

Really? Why do some many Canadians jump the boarder to get care here?

Conversely of course many of us jump the boarder to get cheap drugs over there.

 

Then you have workers insurance, that covers your expenses such as insurance for everything else. (seriously... yeah it is really screwy for those of us from a socialist society, I know)

Fewer "jump the boarder" than you think. Any argument made about not choosing your doctor (I cant choose my doctor with US insurance, but I can go to any Canadian doctor I choose) is rubbish. Any claim that they aren't as bright or dont do as good of a job because they are paid by the government and not the private sector is rubbish too. It may surprise those that have never left the US, but lots of people do what they do because they like it, not because it makes lots and lots of money. It is a very foreign concept around here, and it makes it hard for people to understand just how well it does work.

As usual, Michael Moore made a bigger deal out of the situation than reality, but his overall message and conclusions were fair and accurate.

 

As long as it's not a pre-existing condition, then you may have the option for getting a different premium. The main thing that needs to be reformed in the US is the cost of healthcare: for patients and primary care physicians. 40% of Americans don't have adequate insurance coverage: be it they can't afford it, insurance companies refuse to cover them, or they just chose not to have it. America is still recognized for specialized medicine, but primary care really needs to be improved. I have several family members who are primary care doctors, and they all are getting frustrated over how much control they're losing (to hospital administration and insurance coverage). If we continue to let things progress the way they are, preventative medicine is not going to be possible. But, hopefully, specialists will be paid enough to want to stay in practice.

If you want a more balanced interpretation of different healthcare systems, there's a Frontline episode which I enjoyed:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/view/

and when it comes to Canadian vs US healthcare, wikipedia actually has a fairly good overview of their differences:

Comparison of the health care systems in Canada and the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Its not as many as you think, but its the same principle of, if you have a lot of spare money, you will get the best service, and go where you can get it under your time frame, not your insurance's time frame. Its all about money, not the best care, you got the money, you get the best care money can buy.

 

contrary to popular belief on this thread, the American health care system is fine. We have excellent medical care and the best drug makers around. basically what happens is this: insurance is an employment benefit. each company or employer can determine what kind of coverage they want to offer, and how much they want to pay per employee. the employee then picks up the rest. most standard plans include some sort of percentage of coverage. in my case, i pay $140 per month for insurance, and if i go to a doctor's office, i pay a $20 co-pay up front and my insurance company is billed for the rest. if i have to have more intensive treatment, like in a hospital, then i have a 750 deductible that i will have to pay, and then beyond that, i pay only 20% of the rest of the bill up to 3000, and then insurance kicks in at 100%.

if you are not employed or employed in a low income job that doesn't offer insurance, then you are in a spot of trouble in many cases. however, there are generally free clinics around, and emergency care is never denied.

if you are older, then you get on the government's tab called medicare. This is a system with different parts you can get. my parents for example are on the plan with major medical and prescription coverage.

many of our nation wide pharmacies are offering great drug plans separate from insurance altogether. walmart now has $2 prescriptions on some of the most common drugs that people need. i pay CVS 10 bucks a year and get a three month supply of maintenance meds for 10 bucks.

i personally like my insurance. it's easy to manage, relatively inexpensive, and i get the care i need when i need it. my biggest problem with the NHS is exactly what Friar pointed out in that you pay a large part of your salary for it, but then you basically need a private insurance as well to make the medical care better quality. I know that i pay much less for heath care than i would by paying 10% of my salary.

 

I am so glad you two can read my mind. This way I can save time and bandwidth (by not) typing my comments.

 

You're obviously young, single, and have no pre-existing conditions. I can tell this by what your insurance is costing you. You'll have different opinions about healthcare when A: you're older and have premiums go up substantially, and/or B: if you get a serious illness, and/or C: you're self employed or a small business owner.

It's not just me or other medical professionals that I know that say that healthcare should be reformed: but there are plenty of patients (insured or uninsured) that say there needs to be reform.

 

Why is it that as of Feb 09, only 8% of Canadians want our health care system, and 80% prefer theirs' to ours'.

And why is that no other country on the planet has for-profit health care? Maybe they understand how repugnant it is to make a profit off the sick, injured or dying.

 

^ Do you and Toast live near each other?

 

yes i am on a single plan, and i'm 36. i'm not opposed to some reform, but i'm against the government take-over idea.

 

I encourage you to watch that frontline episode I linked to:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/view/

It does examine several countries: some with completely socialized care, some with government mandated rates. Personally, I think having some sort of national option is a good approach. I think it would help make private insurers compete, and it may bring all our healthcare costs down. Even though a lot of our healthcare is private, we still have the highest GDP towards overall healthcare costs of any nation.

 

So, you think its more appropriate for businessmen (hospital administrators, insurance company CEOs, pharmaceutical company CEOs) to decide on your medical care than doctors and nurses. And for them to make huge profits off the sick, injured and dying?

I don't know that government bureaucrats would do better, but the VA and the Indian Health Service seem to do a better job of letting doctors do what they need to do than Anthem Blue Cross. They certainly cost a lot less than the private sector system.

Hopefully, you're not trying to say that you believe Karl Rove's outrageously silly ads that Obamacare has taken over health care?

 

woah, did i not just say (and you quoted) that i am not opposed to reform? geez, just because i don't want government take-over doesn't mean i think the system is perfect.

 

Nope. But I do spend a fair amount of time looking at how other countries do things. I found that survey several months ago, and thought about how intriguing it was that this was not in the American media. Then I thought about how much money the pharmaceutical companies spend on advertising prescription drugs in the media...

Don't know about NW Ontario, but I could do Calgary or some other parts of our neighbors to the north.

 

Very cool.