Government Shutdown

[oldfat&bald]

To answer the question of healthcare in Canada in a few paragraphs is very difficult. Much like any system there are upsides and downsides.

First the upside, I never have to worry about going to see a doctor, or getting sick or needing hospital care or to pay for any surgery. Not a penny, I have had several surgeries in my life, in fact my daughter needs eye surgery at the end of this month. Free, no forms, no insurance companies to deal with. If your family doctor or specialist says you need it, you get it no questions asked. If I need stitches, I may have to wait an hour or two but it's free. Break a bone, it will be set for free. For the past 20 years, I have had an illness closely related to lupus. I never have to wait more than a few weeks to see a specialist at one of the major hospitals here in the greater Toronto area.

Now the bad. There is always a bad side. Lines are longer at emergency rooms because people who don't need to be there take advantage of our system. Silly things like kids who just have the flu, instead of going a family doctor in the morning, parents get all paranoid and go to the ER. There is a grading system, you will be evaluated and seen in priority sequence. If you are there just for a cold/flu, you'll wait 6-8 hours. If you are having a pain in your chest or arm, you are seen in 30 seconds... now someone mentioned about wait time for scans. You cannot be seen the next day. Our CT and PET machines in hospitals run 24/7 so your scan might be in two weeks and at 2am but it is free. If you have disposable income, you can drive to nearby Buffalo, NY and have it done the next day but it will cost you out of pocket. If there is a procedure that may save your life that is not available in Canada, the government can (not necessarily will) refer you to a US institution to have it done and will pay for it. I have seen a family friend get turned down and a relative get approved. Both ended up passing away. The longest wait time at the moment is for hip and knee replacement. It is about a year.

I have an elderly aunt who has cancer. The cancer has attacked her adrenal glands. There is no hope of curing it fully however because she is high priority, she sees her oncologist via internet every week and has to travel to see him once a month. She lives in a remote part of the province nowhere near a major town/city. She is undergoing chemo at the moment and started treatment 24 hours after oncologist recommended it.

Our taxes are higher, our houses cost more but our pay for the most part is also higher. Would I change our system? On the whole no, there are aspects I don't particularly like but that is like anything else in this world. I truly believe the Canadian health care system works here because virtually every Canadians believes that to deprive a child of a mother or father because they can't afford cancer treatment or bypass surgery is wrong and we are all willing to pay more taxes so that it won't happen to us, our neighbours, or even a stranger on the street. Saying that, in the 1950s and 1960s when we first implemented universal health care, there were a lot of people in this country who fought hard against it with a lot of the arguments that I see in the American media today. If Canada ever decided to get rid of universal health care, I would move with my family to a European nation that did. Thankfully, my wife and I have dual citizenship between Canada and the European Union. That is how strongly I believe in universal health care.

Could it work in the US? Will it ever be implimented in the US? I don't know, all I can say is the system here works for 99% of Canadians but it was a fight and struggle to convince people it would work.

Sounds just like a well spoken subject.

I'd prefer to remain a free man.

 

[topher80]

I actually laughed out loud! That rarely happens on a message board but yes you are right ofb. Canada is still part of the British Commonwealth much like Australia, New Zealand, etc.

 

[Shane]

How much of an illegal immigration problem does Canada have? Are illegal immigrants given free healthcare as well?

 

[topher80]

Illegal immigration isn't a problem. "Legal" Canadians all have a card like our driver's license with our photo saying we are citizens and entitled to free health care. Our driver's license is blue, our health card is green. Both expire and need to be updated every 4 years or so at the DMV.

 

[smokeyjoe53]

I've had back surgery and ankle surgery this year. After meeting our insurance deductible, out of pocket cost to me has been around $6K. We are not on Medicare.
There is no way I would have been eligible for these surgeries in Canada. This is not my opinion but from one my surgeons who escaped the socialized medicine of our Northern Neighbors.
It sounds all warm and fuzzy to say everybody receives the same level of care.......... I dont want the same as everybody else. I want the best money can buy and luckily I can afford it.
We have worked hard to reach this point and do view with cynicism "free" services. The only thing that is truly free in this life is God's Grace.
You may not agree with my solution but I think it is worth a try; get government out our lives, allow God back in and caring for our neighbors will be accomplished joyfully.

 

[topher80]

Look ladies and gents, I was asked my opinion on page 2 about the Canadian system and I gave it. If y'all are happy with what you got, keep it and fight the Affordable Care Act with all your might.

I hope all of you live long, healthy lives so we can continue to talk six man ball for years to come...

 

[oldfat&bald]

Smokey's right. There's a reason that lots of hospitals around have the words baptist, Methodist, or some other church denomination in their names. They were set up to help those in need.

Now, the federal government thinks it's God.

 

[oldfat&bald]

Look ladies and gents, I was asked my opinion on page 2 about the Canadian system and I gave it. If y'all are happy with what you got, keep it and fight the Affordable Care Act with all your might.

I hope all of you live long, healthy lives so we can continue to talk six man ball for years to come...

You mean people talk about football on this web site?

 

[topher80]

Yes, when people aren't picking on Doggy, WV, RS, or the Canadian.

 

[oldfat&bald]

Yes, when people aren't picking on Doggy, WV, RS, or the Canadian.

It's been a while since I've seen anybody kick the Dog. Where you been Doggy?

 

[Old Bearkat]

 

[smokeyjoe53]

Oh yeah I nearly forgot, AARP is another pinko commie outfit.

 

[Old Bearkat]

Oh yeah I nearly forgot, AARP is another pinko commie outfit.

When I get on of AARP's membership pleas, I stuff everything into the postage paid envelope still blank and send it back, That way it costs them money because they don't have to pay postage on the return if you just throw it away. I have not gotten one for 2 years now.

 

[Old Bearkat]

The national park service at work....

“It is obvious that the Park Service intends to block access to these trailheads, even though it literally costs them nothing to leave them open and by closing them they actually increase the possibility of serious problems for drivers on the road and hikers still in the park. In fact, it is costing them money they don’t have trying to block access. To block access is thus a deliberate, senseless, and mean-spirited act that demonstrates quite clearly the political goals of the Obama administration during this shutdown.” Yeah, kinda like blocking off the World War II memorial. I’m surprised they didn’t put a bag over the Washington Monument

 

[MelaniB]

I knew a lady on a different message board whose hospitals were like the one Topher80 described. She had to have Carpal Tunnel Surgery in order to do the job she worked at. She said it took her 6 months to get in and they did an excellent job. If anyone felt sorry for her having to wait she would get so mad that the board would sizzling for 2 months until the moderator shut off the thread. She spoke highly of their system and would never leave to get medical attention. So Topher80 your right in how the system works and most of the people are happy with it.

Now for Old Bearkat when I was on here a couple of years ago I asked you to squash that bug going in circles. I see it's still alive and well. Every time I try to read your post my eyes drift back to your friend. Step on it, please. Put the cute little bearkat where that dad gum bug is.

 

[MelaniB]

My eyes have deceived me Old Bearkat your bug is making circle 8's. SmokeyJoe I like your answer to leaving our health into God's Hands. If I weren't there I would be dead. He has provided all I need to be alive today. I guess sometimes I'm afraid for myself because the illnesses I have, which anytime God is ready for me, I'll be ready. But money (savings) can only last for so long until it's gone. I have kids, grandkids and 1 great grand boy that gives me reasons to live. This Obamacare has taken a hold of me because what if it gets to the point where the doctors says you'll never be well so were cutting your visits and meds off. I guess you could say I wouldn't be bugging you great guys that are family on the sixman board. (JK) you don't get away with me that easy. For me it's the unknown that scares me. You can't believe a word Obama says so you won't and don't get the whole story.

 

[The_Red_Menace]

Our friends from the north's health-care system works as well as it does only because they don't have the expense from an illegal-immigration problem or have the expense of maintaining a super-power military, they have us to cover their rears. With those issues, that system would go belly-up.

 

[Shad Kline]

So, if the government is shut down, who is paying who to barricade and enforce the shutdown of the Washington memorials?

 

[Old Bearkat]

So, if the government is shut down, who is paying who to barricade and enforce the shutdown of the Washington memorials?

Who else? The taxpayers are. EVERY bureaucracy has a emergency cash stash they squirrel away for situations like this so they can rile everyone up over the mean republicans shutting down the government.

 

[rainjacktx]

Oh yeah I nearly forgot, AARP is another pinko commie outfit.

When I get on of AARP's membership pleas, I stuff everything into the postage paid envelope still blank and send it back, That way it costs them money because they don't have to pay postage on the return if you just throw it away. I have not gotten one for 2 years now.

I'm not to the age yet where the AARP gang is sending me stuff, but I do a similar thing with credit card offers - only it involves a small box and dog poop. My dad sends them bricks.