Originally Posted by ggareau
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?
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