A few days ago, I got a couple of e-mails from my friend in Canada.
His e-mails had an alarming tone to them.
The e-mails were basically saying that we (Americans) should really think twice about a government run health care system.
He e-mailed me from a waiting room where he & his sick son had been waiting for hours to see a doctor.
The reason I'm sharing this with everyone is that he is a REAL Canadian citizen (unlike the actors on TV commercials) who has been living with "government managed" health care all of his life.
I have a few more thoughts on this subject at the end of this e-mail.
Below is a copy of his last and most profound e-mail.
I am posting this verbatim except for the full e-mail addresses & names for safety reasons.
"From: Kurt M*****
Date: July 25, 2009 9:11:49 AM MDT
To: Paul
Subject: FW: Letter to Paul
Hi Paul ,
Here is a little more detail on our socialized medical up here. I'm not the authority on the system but I can tell you my experiences with it.
Basically every Canadian is given a health card similar to a drivers license card. With exception of higher taxes which I will get into later , you are covered from cradle to grave. In theory any health condition you have will be taken care of. Plans may vary a little province to province , but are generally the same. Go to a doctors office and simply show your card and you good to go . Emergency trip to Hospital , same deal . What we get is health care without ever having to worry about financial ruin due to any type of health issue. And insurance can't be denied when an illness is discovered(sounds like one of those life insurance commercials). We spend less on health care than USA but have a longer life expectancy.
Sounds ok so far and for many it is just fine , especially if you are not sick . I've seen many of the horror stories on your national news about horrendous conditions up here. Although maybe not as bad as might be portrayed , there are many problems and complaints with the system we have....
First off , it's not free as many people like to say . Taxes are out of this world compared to what you probably pay . Someone making around $60,000usd would be at the 40% tax bracket. You are at the top tax bracket of about 46% after roughly $105,000usd. And the cost don't stop there. A few years back our system was costing too much so an additional tax "health care premium" ranging from anywhere from nothing for low income earners to 800usd for high income earners was implemented.( I think I forgot to mention our 13% sales tax ).
Additionally, not everything is covered. Doctors ( and I don't fault them as they are paid fer less than US doctors)apply additional fees to cover procedures not covered by the plan , requiring out of pocket expense for the patients.
One Size fits all ...I guess that is why they call it socialized. Everyone in theory is suppose to get the same level of treatment . There are no tiers. If you need a hip replacement everyone gets the same one. If there is some new carbon fiber material that cost an extra $5g's, sorry about your luck , you take what you are given . You can't pay the difference and get a better model than someone else, even with your own $. If your doctor requests a CAT scan for whatever reason, prepare for a wait .Unless you are on deaths door, if you get in before 6 months consider yourself lucky . Want to pay at a private clinic to get the scan ? Try again. Again, under universal coverage in my province, there is no choice except what the government offers . In the city I live in of approximately 300,000 people we have only 4 MRI machines. And Ontario does not use PET scanners(Update-ontario guv just announced they will cover "some"scans for cancer patients).want a PET scan for your sick dog? no problem, you can pay for that and get it same day,but pay for yourself ? forget it. Again, if required people will have to take a trip to US and pay out of pocket for this test. It is against the law to open a clinic outside of the government run system. So even if someone with lots of $ wants to pay for a scan and get the common people a little closer to the front of the line, it can't happen .
I was luck the other day . My son had a rash on his hand and the local clinic requested blood work as a precaution. We went to emergency at the hospital and after a 7 hour wait we were ok to go home. Hospitals here are understaffed and because there are shortages of doctors many people use emergency at the hospitals as there own doctors office. I only had medical attention for about 5 minutes . Sound like typical government efficiency for you ? Can you imagine running your own business with that kind of efficiency ? I would be fired. Part of the problem is that there are not enough doctors who want to work under these conditions so the hospital is understaffed. I will predict that given time, you will soon be witing for service.
Where I live , my community has a great advantage in that we are right across the river from very good hospitals in Detroit. If we are not happy with our service we can use our own $ and have a choice( an expensive choice). We Canadians can sometimes be a little too critical of your health system , but are always the first to use if we choose.
I have heard that those that are already insured will be able to keep there present insurance but anyone else will have to join your new national health system . I would be interested to know if that goes for politicians too ? My guess is there will be loophole that lets them join there own separate plan even when the rest of you don't have an option.
Looking at your system , I do think you need an overhaul . I can't imagine anyone being denied medical attention . But I would take time to think this whole process out and not try to ram a policy through congress before the summer is over just to get something done. You have a chance make great strides but just be careful what you wish for. If you don't get this right it could create a very expensive mess that no one is going to like.
So million dollar question...Do I like our health care system up here ? I do realize writing the message that I am lucky that I do like going to the doctor and never seeing a bill (until i do my taxes). I have never been really sick and had to go on a waiting list for months to get cancer treatment or 5 months to get cataract treatment. As a healthy person , the most I have had to endure for minor ailments are long waiting room times and waiting months for specialist appointments for noncritical issues(I would have to wait even if it was somewhat urgent). So yes, where I'm at right now it does the job. But on the other side the problems that are highlighted in the news relating to universal health care are very real . It is definitely not a perfect system. It will be good for the people who have nothing but if you already have insurance I would bet that you will either loose it because your company will cancel the policy( why wouldn't they) or the level of service will deteriorate.
My advice , tell your politicians to take some time and do it right. Actually read what is in the document , inprove it, keep the lawyers out as much as possible, and then get on with it and fix it.
Sorry about the rambling, just my 2 cents.
Have a good day Paul ,
Kurt
One more story I can share. Friends or ours, there son had a traumatic brain injury last month . The local hospital in Windsor did not have the specialist to deal with the injury here so in this case the child was rushed to a hospital in Detroit. After several weeks with the best care anyone could ever wish for the child was sent back to Canada to continue recovery when it was deemed safe. When something like this happens , The government plan will pay for the US care with no expense to the family ,aside from living expenses. But what happens when the child is sent home is a different story . Now the family has to fight with our local hospital and government beaurocracy to get more than the 15 minutes of therapy he was now getting. This child deserves more but there are no alternatives for him in our system . Like I said , it's a great plan if your not really sick."
This letter scares the hell out of me as should it any person who reads it!
What my Canadian friend may or may not know is that while the "American" health care system may seem dramatically better, it's not.
Our health care system is not doing to well it's self!
The "great care" Kurt spoke of is wonderful "IF" you have insurance (or lots of money) and if your insurance provider will pay for it!
There have literally been thousands of instances where an insurance company had DENIED life saving care based on the cost of that care.
It did not matter that the patient would die without the care (many have) it only mattered that the cost of that care was to great.
Currently Americans (especially senior citizens) will go across the border to Canada or Mexico to get their prescription drugs!
Why?
Because they can get them at HALF of what it would cost them at home!
Remember theses are AMERICAN drugs, that are manufactured here in the United States!
As you can see our system leaves a hell of a lot to be desired.
I believe there are 3 things to blame here.
1. Americans. we have allowed the system to get out of control!
2. Politicians. there have been Presidents, congress people and senators, both Republicans & Democrats, for the past 50 years that have known about the health care problem, but NONE of them have been able to effect any real change.
3. Insurance companies & Hospitals.
There are some good and decent Insurance companies and Hospitals out there.
Unfortunately a large percentage of the insurance companies have set up an adversarial system that pits them against the people seeking care.
Insurance companies also continually push doctors & Hospitals to deny and cut services any where they can, all for the sake of Cost.
Some hospitals have actually gotten so greedy that they routinely deny or give inadequate care to people with out insurance and a few hospitals have actually been caught "dumping" homeless & low income people on the streets in HOSPITALS GOWNS!
This is of course against Federal law, but only if they get caught.
So it's abundantly clear that we need change and sooner rather than latter!
Not so fast.
President Obama (who I voted for) is proposing massive changes to our health care system that will impact all American's lives for years (maybe decades) to come.
Sounds great right?
Maybe not so much.
I agree we need change and I like some of the Presidents suggestions but the one scary thing the President is pushing is a very quick time line!
President Obama wanted a vote on a giant health care overhaul bill by this August, when the Government takes the Summer break!
We as Americans are looking at the most profound change in the American health care system in 50 years, a change which will impact our lives for a very, very long time and we have to do this RIGHT NOW?
I agree that we can not wait much longer for a significant change in our health care system but shouldn't we do what Americans do best?
Debate this! Talk about this at length, have several types of ideals to choose from!
I voted for President Obama, but I do not trust him, nor do I trust ANY politician!
As an American, it is a long standing tradition to not trust our Government.
The United States was founded on the distrust of all things political.
Pardon me if I don't trust a government that as an institution, has acted in it's own self interest many times in it's history and Usually at the expense of it's people.
As of January 1, 2009, Canada's population was an estimated 33,504,700 (less than California).
The current U.S.A. population is over 300 million people (303,500,000 in early 2008)
If the Canadian Government can't get a good universal system to function well for 33 million Canadians in over 30 years then how will our very efficient (sarcasm) government be able to it with 300 million people in a few months?
We need change, soon.
We need to be very careful what we wish for, we may just get it.