"It's Like Something Out Of The Third World", page 4
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ATS Members have flagged this thread 33 times


reply posted on 6-8-2008 @ 09:51 PM by BiohazardsBack
(warning, tangent approaching)
Ontario and BC are starting to go 2-tiered. Privatising #.
For example, my mom and I moved to Toronto for a year when I was in grade 9.
Her car insurance went from about 1200 a year to over 6000 a year, and that's mainly because ICBC is kept under check because its run partially by the government.
But in Ontario there's a whole bunch of choices for insurance. And guess what? All of them suck. People here don't report accidents because their rates will skyrocket, and because it's a shared-blame system, you could be parked and someone can drive into you and it would be the same penalty as if you drove into a parked car yourself.
Your rates would go higher because someone ELSE hit you.

We went back to Vancouver for a while and now I got dragged out to Ottawa (what a boring town...) and I was really sick one day, we went to the nearest drop in clinic (no doctors are accepting new patients) and it was about noon...and they said, oh sorry, we're too busy, we're closed for the rest of the day (there were only 4 or 5 people waiting) then we drove for half an hour to the closest one (where I was in Vancouver we had 2 within walking distance) and they said, get this, Oh, we don't take BC medical cards. You'll have to pay in cash.
The only place as far as we knew who were ALLOWED to refuse other provinces cards is Quebec, you don't qualify for your provinces health card until you've lived there for 3 months. Long story long, we drove ANOTHER 30 minutes away and waited for an hour and a half (what the hell, I've never waited longer than 30 minutes, even in a god damn emergency room!) only to be precribed some antibiotics which they later called me back and said "oh we were wrong, stop taking it, we don't know whats wrong with you but it's not what we though, k bye"



reply posted on 6-8-2008 @ 11:19 PM by Malynn
I was born and raised in America. I lived the first 25 years of my life there, and for the last 5 years I did I had really, really crappy health-care. When you're a single, early-twenties, working-class person with a high-school diploma and just a few years of college you don't make that much in a small town. I couldn't afford the $500 deductible required before my insurance would cover anything. I lived paycheck to paycheck.

I now live in Canada, and should I require medical treatment I can walk into a clinic or hospital and get it. What does this cost me? 0$ No co-pay, no deductible, and the only question they ask me is, "May I see your health-card?"

Furthermore, 5% less money comes off each paycheck for taxes here than it did when I lived in Wisconsin...and I make more money here. Somehow that doesn't seem right considering what everyone says but I did the math.

And the doctors here really aren't impoverished. You can make a damn good living as a doctor in Canada. A guy my husband grew up with is now a full-time, full-fledged doctor and he's doing this thing now where 2 days a week he goes to small towns around the province with a shortage of doctors to provide treatment to those who need it. Because he does this the health-care system is reimbursing him for the cost of his education. That's right: the government is paying him back the entire cost of what he paid to become a doctor. Not such a bad deal, eh?

A lot of people in this thread have no idea what they're talking about.

ucatlas.ucsc.edu...

Look at what the U.S. spends compared with Canada. And in Canada everyone has health-care. What's the figure? 50 million or so people without health-insurance in the U.S? I bet that's a very conservative estimate. To all of you saying "I don't want our government mismanaging my health-care." Are you serious? Considering what you're already spending?

[edit on 8/6/08 by Malynn]


reply posted on 6-8-2008 @ 11:42 PM by jackinthebox
reply to post by DimensionalDetective



After racking up a huge bill that I can't pay at the local emergency room, I have been diagnosed with Lyme Disease. The presciption is not working. I have no money to see another doctor. No one will take me without payment up-front. I wish I was in Virginia.


[edit on 8/6/0808 by jackinthebox]


reply posted on 6-8-2008 @ 11:42 PM by zorgon
If the Health Insurance companies were not making HUGE profits they would lead the fight for better health care...

If they would spend a little for preventive care they could save huge payouts later...

Why do I have to pay a doctor who tells me he doesn't know whats wrong? He didn't fix anything... he may have said "Try this stuff and see me in two weeks and we will see what happens" Probably a kick back from the "Stuff" manufacturer...

Why did I make an appointment for 2 PM and don't get seen till 5 PM? Is he billing the insurance companies for those three hours?

Why do we allow doctors to serve 4-6 patients at the same time on a rotation thing? Isn't 600.00 an hour enough? Is he billing the companies for 10 minutes per person or is he billing the same hour 4-6 times?

Maybe that is why you wait three hours

We don't need socialized medicine, we need a FAIR system.

I was at a medical convention here recently... they were selling this new surgery tool... made of plastic with a little metal tip for cauterizing (sealing) blood vessels...

Looks about maybe 5.00 in material... cost price to the doctor? 895.00 EACH.. they are plastic so cannot be cleaned and must be tossed out after one use...

Totally out of control....

My neighbor had to take his wife to the Emergency room... He has full union coverage... but he had a 6 hour wait because all the illegals that were filling the waiting room had signed in first...

So unless you wealthy enough to afford a private clinic... the system here SUCKS and Nevada even passed a law that we are not allowed to buy cheaper generic brands from Canada (I think that has been pulled now... but they made it)


reply posted on 7-8-2008 @ 12:33 AM by redmage
reply to post by zorgon



I wouldn't disagree, and it does pose an interesting question; however, I was speaking more to the notion of the "dream" that our country was founded upon.

I'm not so sure that "dominating the weak" was the ideal that the founding fathers had invisioned. As for what our country has become... well... everyone has their own opinions.

The dream may be just that; a dream.




Originally posted by mental modulator
Free markets will save us all !


The notion of a truly free market flew out the window with no-bid contracts filling the void.

I have no doubts that Mccain would continue that status quo.

[edit on 8/7/08 by redmage]


reply posted on 7-8-2008 @ 01:25 AM by ImaginaryReality1984
May i take the liberty to bring up an old thread of mine?

The NHS - Some Praise Deserved

For all you people saying that socialsed medicine isn't any good, or that it's a communist idea, or that it's only for the lazy, jobless idiots out there. Please think again. Health insurance doesn't cover everything, the whole basis of a health insurance company is to try and make money. To do that the logical thing is to try and not to pay out on insurance claims. Furthermore many insurance companies only cover you up to a certain cost per illness, i know that because i looked into insurance years ago.

Socialised medicine is a wonder. My mother couldn't have afforded health insurance (and yes my family work thank you). She got breast cancer and what saved her was free screening at the hospital for anyone of her age and the free treatment. If that free screening hadn't been there then she would probably have not found that cancer until it was very progressed as it was a soft fleshy lump that even the doctor couldn't find by touch.

Care for your fellow human beings, you will get more out of a national healthcare system than you put in, i promise you.


reply posted on 7-8-2008 @ 01:46 AM by jackinthebox
reply to post by patrickrpg



I wish I could star that twice.

Most excellent point. Companies have a reponsibility to their workers.

I happen to be homeless right now. My boss owns some bottom of the barrle apartments. Yet he still doesn't pay me enough to actually rent one of those apartments, much less have any money left over to eat or pay other expenses even if I did.
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