[ggareau]

I have multiple friends of all ages that live in Canada. These are stories meant to scare us and not based entirely in reality. My friends would never give up their system and in fact they love it. More people in this country are shafted by health insurance companies than any amount of people who fall through the cracks in Canada. Also, Canadian hospitals have made deals with American hospitals to take care of their patients. The Canadian government pays them to do so. Why? Because some of the people along the board live in more remote areas and the US hospitals are far closer. It's that simple. Not everyone coming over the boarder is running from their UHC. This is the sort of thing that the Health Insurance Companies and Big Pharma spread as propaganda to get us to fear change. They want their bottom line and they want to hold us hostage.

Originally Posted by krisk

and I sit in the Doctor's offices not just a stones throw away, but a good 3 plus hours away from the border competing with Canadians for the out of date magazines.

Candian Health Care. By Canadians, For Candians, and not for this American

For what it's worth, I'm a Canadian who's married to a doctor. Many of my friends are also doctors of various specialties (all the way from family docs to neurosurgeons).

You can't make generalizations about care across the board. It doesn't work. Sure, there's a shortage of primary care docs (family docs, walk-in clinics) and that can be a pretty big pain. Yes, the ER can be really backed up from time to time, but that's because of the lack of primary care docs. Everyone just goes to the ER instead.

In the lower mainland, occasionally the government will pay to have tests done in Washington because it's nearby and can fill a need when volume for tests gets high.

The thing that people tend to miss - and I apologize if this offends anyone - anyone who needs a test done immediately gets it done immediately. Anyone with a long wait time has a long wait time because their issue does not need to be dealt with immediately. Yes, mistakes happen, and things occasionally get misdiagnosed, but people who need tests don't wait on them. People who need care, don't wait on it.

The people who have issues with the Canadian healthcare system are often just hypochondriacs. Most of the so-called horror-stories I've heard about Canadian health care revolve around things like fibromyalgia and benign tumors. If fibromyalgia exists, it doesn't seem to be medically treatable. Benign means that it's not doing any harm.

I dunno. I've had major back surgery, with a long wait before it. I know many many doctors, and know more about medicine than I ever really wanted to. Ultimately, while the American system might be faster for those who have a lot of money but don't really need the procedure (or at least not that quickly), the Canadian system works perfectly fine given the constraints that it's under.

I swear, it's all about control. Do you want to be able to buy the care you think you deserve, or are you willing to put some of your tax money into a pot so that everyone can get what they need when they actually need it?