Can anyone tell me anything BAD about Canada's Single-payer health care system?

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Judy C

Yes it's not a perfect system by any means.

There is generally long waiting lines at hospitals and doctor clinics, although the last part depends on the doctor. If you visit a walk in clinic, you will definitely be waiting at least an hour or longer. Hospital visits are generally 3 hours or longer, once I had to wait for 6 hours in the emergency room to be seen!!

Also, the system sucks because preferential treatment is given to wealthier people, who are on the same system as we are. I know this probably exists everywhere, but I know it does here too. For example, if you need an MRI or CT scan you could be waiting months for this - say this is for determining cancer, that is months more that the cancer is growing in your body. If you are a hockey player or a Cdn singer though, you would not have to undergo the waiting process. There is a lot of controversy over this, but nobody does anything about it.

For the amount of money of our taxes (and we do pay a lot of taxes) we do not get the treatment that we pay into. I guess this is why the private healthcare system is growing rapidly in this country. I guess you get what you pay for!!

Karen L

I've never heard it called a single-payer system. The waiting times can be ridiculous for some things, though if you have something really serious they can rush you through the system. I had cancer some years ago. They did the biopsy on Friday and the oncologist called me on Saturday morning to tell me he wanted me to start chemo on Monday. That's fast.

Chris I

I think you get the idea - you will wait for hours in an emergency room if the triage nurse thinks you are not an emergency, but if you have a heart attack or respiratoty problem it's usually pretty quick. I had pnuemonia last winter and it took less than an hour to have me on an IV in a room, but a simple sore throat could take hours.

In some places, like Quebec, we also have private clinics where wealthier people can be seen quickly or have an MRI in a matter of weeks for big bucks. ( My husband's cost $950.)

The main advantage is that no one gets turned away. Prenatal care and childhood vaccinations are covered, as well as some childhood dental and optic care.

Jane Marple

The waiting lines are long because 30% of people in our emergencies don't belong there. Some of them are simply ridiculous, showing up with a runny nose. Since we don't have to reach directly in our pocket to pay up front a lot of people are abusing the system.

I broke a leg in September, within an hour I had seen a doctor, had an x-ray done and seen a second doctor. My reason for being there was legitimate therefore I was taken care of right away. Note I broke my leg at 20h and went to the hospital the day after at 6 am. I knew if I showed up at the hospital at 20h they would have me go home and back in the morning cause no hospital do cast after working hours....using common sense. I was better home with tylenol and family taking care of me then waiting all night at the hospital because the person doing the cast comes in at 8 am.

When I need care for smaller things I simply show up at a walk-in clinic next to my home. You go in, they punch your health card and tell you how long it will be before you see a doctor. If it's long you're invited to go back home and they call you when it's your turn.

There are hospitals in Montreal that are overloaded with work because they serve a very populated area. People still show up there instead of driving to another hospital a few miles away in a less populated area. Once again using common sense.

In the past years my mother had breast cancer and my father had a stroke. We were entirely satisfied of the care they received during and after their health problems.

If you're really sick, Canada will take real good care of you and in an expeditive way. If you show up for something trivial yes you will wait. It may not be a perfect system but it is better then having to second mortgage your home to fight cancer.

SteveN

Canada's healthcare system is pretty good, but as with any system there are some problems with it.

First, because it is a public health care system, doctors and nurses are all paid government regulated salaries (There is a min/max they can charge for various services). As a result, many doctors leave and go to USA where they can earn more money in a private practice. Or they refuse to work in a rural zone because of the lack of patients resulting in them not earning enough to pay back their loans. So we have shortages. Almost half the population (including me) does not have a family doctor they can rely on and go back to.

Second, the wait times can be long. There are two places people can go, at least here in Quebec. You either go to a CLSC, which is like a public clinic. Or you go to the hospital emergency room.

Here are some real life examples from my family's experiences:

1) I was having sharp back pain issues for three days. I went to the clinic at 8AM when it opened and there was already a lineup. I was told that I would have to wait because they take everyone in order and they already had people waiting for the two doctos on call. I finally got 10 minutes of time with the doctor after about 1PM ! He asked four questions and sent me home with a diagnosis of a pulled muscle and a prescription for extra strength Advil. On a good note, I suppose he was right because the pain gradually went away.

2) I took my father to the emergency room when he developed a nose bleed. It was trickling out like a tap and would not stop for 20-30 minutes. We waited for two hours at the emergency room with only the triage nurse giving him gauze to try to stop the bleeding. After an hour it stopped and we finally gave up and left after the second hour since the bleeding had stopped. Of course, what he had wanted is for a doctor to check just to make sure it was not a sign of something more urgent, like a clot, tumor, or some other dangerous situation.

3) A friend of the family was coming down from her second floor apartment and fell all the way down the stairs, hurting her leg. Her husband took her to the emergency room because she was having trouble putting weight on one leg and was in severe pain. It turned out she had torn ligaments, but she only found that out after waiting 13 hours in the waiting room!

So yes, there are problems with wait times and getting a doctor to spend some time examining you. I have not had a physical in 15 years, and I do self-diagnosis quite often because TIME is more important to me than MONEY.

Since I have private insurance that would allow me to get coverage at a private clinic (if they were allowed here) I would not be opposed to a system that lets me pay to get service now instead of having to wait 6-7 hours. You pay for the privilege of that quicker service. Think of it like the postal service...you can send a letter by regular mail, or you can pay a bit more and get it to the destination faster by Priority Post.

Of course, in any dual private/public system, I would expect the doctors in BOTH systems to be of equal quality. It would not be fair if the better doctors were all in the private system.I have an idea to prevent that too, but that is for another question!

;-)

Ariana

Yes Canadian Healthcare is far from perfect but compared to the US healthcare I keep the Canadian.
The issue is that Canada has a shortage of Doctors, therefore there are long waiting times in hospitals which is the biggest complaint. However when you go into a hospital you are checked by a nurse who'll assess your condition and will be seen accordingly. ie: If you're dangerously ill, or in a lot of pain you'll be seen almost right away, if not just wait.
But for minor problems-such as sore throat, fevers etc you have the Walk-in-Clinics also free where you're seen by a doctor and treated in about 15 min tops.
and the OHIP (well in ON but in the rest of Ca is the sam) doesnt cover prescription medication.. which sux.
And it doesnt cover Dental or Optical-so eye glasses and cavity filling you're on your own.

Aside from that I think we have a pretty good healtchare system.

Mike88

Yeah, we have to pay for all of these welfare bums to go to the doctor 5 times a week.

your messiah

If you need stitches or something that can wait, expect to be in the emergency all day.
If you need tests, you probably wont get them for a couple of months.
Need a checkup? Go to a clinic. Wait 3 hours.

Cariad

What I consider "bad" is the amount of fraud and abuse of the health care system here...and there isn't any money to stop most of it.

Fraud: people who are not entitled to Canadian health care stopping people who are entitled to it from getting the care they need. That can be document forging, sharing health cards that don't have pictures on them etc. The worst to me is when someone KNOWS this is happening and lets the person get away with it. Canadians have this sense of entitlement too that says because they are born in Canada is their legal right to health care. Not so...that is only PART of the eligibility.

Abuse: Canadians rarely see what is covered by their health care. They don't see what doctors bill the system for, or what their bill would be without the coverage. So, some people go to the doctors because they are lonely and fill spots so a sick person can't get in. Others shop for doctors to get their need for attention rather than a valid second opinion. It happens more than people know. I personally think that any person who wracks up "normal" charges over a certain amount should be sent a bill of what they would be charged without their health care plan. It would be a real eye opener for some to see the thousands of wasted dollars spent on them so they could have a nice chat with their doctor about the weather. I've been to the emergency room at my local hospital where I had to wait for hours to see a doctor because all of the beds were full of drunks saying they were sick, so they had a warm place to sleep. (that's sad too...and another topic altogether)

There are some long waiting lines for care. It is very sad now in some parts of the country that there are not enough doctors for the population. Some areas have to close their emergency rooms because there simply isnt enough doctors to operate a clinic and be on call 24/7 for a hospital. In some areas people can go to another hospital...in rural areas that means the next hospital is 2 hours away. That can mean life or death, not only for the patient but for the person driving. Trying to drive fast so your father who is having a heart attack in the back seat can get care....but the roads are slippery and you dont want to crash. All 2 ambulances are already out looking after others....you get the picture.

We need more money for health care as our population ages.

Jimmy Dean

You cant get good medical care. For that you have to go to the US and pay for it.

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