Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Serious question, krisk: a while ago, on a coach tour of Canada, I visited Niagara. The place was full (and I mean full) of American senior citizens who, our guide informed us, were visiting to buy their medicines there, since medicine is so much cheaper in Canada than in the USA. Were we misinformed?
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All types of medication is far cheaper here, but the medical system in place right now is not large enough to suffice the demand. You go to an emergency and wait twelve hours to be told you need an appointment with a specialist, but that specialist will only see you in two months, and by then, you are either dead or don't care anymore. Even worse, in Québec there was a rule (that was dismissed years ago but is still unofficially applied) saying that patients will mental issues could only be seen in their living area, but since often people having those issues are poor and live in poor neighborhood, the hospitals get overcrowded. In my specific area, the delay is three months to see a psychiatrist. A person with suicidal tendencies needs far less then that to commit an irreparable act.
Anyhow, all this to say that I think a free medical system is a right, but such a system needs to be really well organize to be functional and appealing.