10 Myths About Canadian Health Care, Busted

[doublevision1]

To add to the previous discussion re: U.S. vs U.K. health care, here's a perspective on the Canadian system from a U.S. writer who immigrated to Canada.  It's a long article so here is the link:

www  michaelmoore  com/sicko/news/article.php?id=10903&action=print

Here is a taste of what she covers in the article:

"2008 is shaping up to be the election year that we finally get to have the Great American Healthcare Debate again. Harry and Louise are back with a vengeance. Conservatives are rumbling around the talk show circuit bellowing about the socialist threat to the (literal) American body politic. And, as usual, Canada is once again getting dragged into the fracas, shoved around by both sides as either an exemplar or a warning -- and, along the way, getting coated with the obfuscating dust of so many willful misconceptions that the actual facts about How Canada Does It are completely lost in the melee.

I'm both a health-care-card-carrying Canadian resident and an uninsured American citizen who regularly sees doctors on both sides of the border. As such, I'm in a unique position to address the pros & cons of both systems first-hand. If we're going to have this conversation, it would be great if we could start out (for once) with actual facts, instead of ideological posturing, wishful thinking, hearsay, and random guessing about how things get done up here.

To that end, here's the first of a 2-part series aimed at busting the common myths Americans routinely tell each other about Canadian health care. When the right-wing hysterics drag out these hoary old bogeymen, this time, we need to be armed and ready to blast them into straw. Because, mostly, straw is all they're made of."

and, here are the 10 myths:

1. Canada's health care system is "socialized medicine."
2. Doctors are hurt financially by single-payer health care.
3. Wait times in Canada are horrendous.
4. You have to wait forever to get a family doctor.
5. You don't get to choose your own doctor.
6. Canada's care plan only covers the basics.
7. Canadian drugs are not the same.
8. Publicly-funded programs will inevitably lead to rationed health care, particularly for the elderly.
9. People won't be responsible for their own health if they're not being forced to pay for the consequences.
10. This all sounds great, but the taxes to cover it are just unaffordable. Isn't the system in bad financial shape?

If you're interested in hearing more, go to the link above!

[Momzilla]

I PROMISE to look at this when I have some more energy.  I am quite interested, and I appreciate you posting it.

I have just been wanting to say that I LOVE that you've posted your beautiful picture with the cool shades!

Feel well,

Zilla*

[Bev707]

I`m British and have lived in the US with my American husband (who has MS) for 8 years.  We are not high earners and live in San Francisco where rents are really high and buying somewhere is completely out of the question for most people.When I say that to buy even the smallest apartment will set you back over a million I am not joking.
My husband has finally (within the last year) been accepted for MediCal so is able to get good medical care.  Up until then he had no medical insurance - it`s just not in our budget.  I also have no medical insurance and have to pay one hell of a lot of money to get even the most basic help.  
So, for me, since I`ve lived here, have had pretty much no medical care at all.  When I want to see a doctor I have to go to a clinic that mainly has  homeless/drug addicts for patients and get in line. I still have to pay but due to our fairly low income, it`s somewhat affordable.  But, I`ve had a thyroid disease for years that I`ve only just been able to get meds for, also other autoimmine problems that I might just have to put up with due to lack of insurance.
For me, even after 8 years here, it`s a big shock that I have to put up with my ailments and not get preventative care due to lack of funds. In the UK, I could always see a doctor the very same day I called.  Here, if you need to see a doctor, then you go to the emergency room at the hospital and get in line with people that have been in road accidents of have been shot or whatever. And then the bill is enough to kill you or wish you were dead anyway!   I love living here but I feel unsafe medically and for the unisured, it`s a constant worry. It seperates the rich from the poor in the worst possible way -  health.  I am self employed as is my husband so we have no company insurance scheme.
My mother who is in her 80`s still lives in the UK and get the most amazing FREE care imaginable.  Her husband who was American and lived there for the last 10 years of his life, got the most amazing FREE heathcare for his Leukemia.
Healthcare should not come at a price - it`s a total disgrace.
OK - off my soapbox now  - sorry about the rant!  My husband just got his annual MediCal forms to fill in and we hope we are still "poor enough" to qualify or he`ll be out there on his own again.

[summer63]

I work for the government here in the states and I see on a daily basis the incompetence of the federal government to effectively and adequately run any kind of administrative program.  From the bottom up (janitors to management) the government employees take, take and take from the taxpayers and they just don't care and I can guarantee, if the government takes over the healthcare program that is how it will be run also.  The government will hire people when they don't need, they will buy things they don't need,  they don't make people accountable for their mistakes.  Do you really want these people running your healthcare program.  

I know that our system is not perfect and there are things that needs to be fixed.  Our politicans will talk about the people that do not have health insurance but they never talk about WHY these people don't have health insurance. If you find out why they dont' have health insurance then maybe you can fix it and help them get health insurance.

Now I am absolutely ignorant about Canada's healthcare system but I do know about the US political system and politicians and there is no way in hell that I want our politican's running our healthcare system.

[doublevision1]

What I appreciated about this article is that is does clarify some irrefutable facts, for instance:

*  the Canadian system is definitely not "socialized medicine" - this is an overused misnomer
*  Individuals, not the government, choose their own GP
*  The provincial governments does pay out for more than the 'basics', some provinces much more than others

I recently asked my GP if she thinks she is disadvantaged compared to family docs in the U.S.  She said no, and gave just about all the reasons the writer talks about in the article!  I found that pretty interesting.

Some of the other points she made may be interpreted more subjectively, and coloured by individual experience.  I realize some of what she states re: wait times, etc. is hard for you to swallow given your unfortunate experiences.  However, what she says has been absolutely true for me: I have not had to wait for a GP (and I have a great one); all my testing regarding my MS ie: multiple MRI's, LP, has happened very promptly; I was seen at the MS clinic only 5 weeks after referral (by that point I was definitely a non-urgent case).  My experience at the B&W clinic in Boston was a very positive one, and very comparable to my experience at U of A, only I don't pay $450 each time I am seen here.  And the numerous and timely MRIs I've had have all been, as you know, free.  Had I wanted ONE in Boston.....$16,000!

I'm truly sorry you have had one negative experience after another when it comes to dealing with the system here.  Just know that it does not always have to be that way, because my situation, just like this writer's, is evidence to the contrary.

db

[Rena705]

Thank you for bringing this article to light...I have a lot I would like to say to this Sarah Robinson...but I don't have the energy today.  I think everyone is entitled to their opinion but she is obviously living a life of sore throats and the odd cough...not with a chronic disease.  If she really wants to be a reporter when she grows up she should go out into the real world and get her blinders off and see things for what they really are.  She makes Canada out to be a candy store when it comes to health care and as one that has had to deal with the "other side", I take offense to her imaginary world she is living in and spouting about.

But thanks db...we all need to see both sides occasionally and I appreciate you making us aware that this article exists.

Hugs,

Rena