Canadians: What do you think of the American health care system?

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Lieu. Provo Parry Wallis

The US system is great if you're rich. It sucks for everyone else. I don't want to live someplace where we don't look after all members of our community.

SteveN

The rumours of Canada's poor healthcare system appears to be all made up by a few trolls here that are just interested in pointing out flaws in our system rather than focusing on their own problems and ways to fix them.

I cannot dispute that Canada's healthcare system could be better, as it has its faults. The main problems we have are a lack of doctors and long wait times.

The good thing about Canada is that our doctors don't care if you have health insurance or not, they treat everyone equally. So you don't have people losing their homes to pay for a sick daughter's treatment. They don't have to decide between buying the groceries this week or having their heart medication prescription refilled.

The reason Canadians go to USA for treatment is usually because the treatment they want is not available or not covered by our basic healthcare (such as cosmetic surgery), or because they have the money and don't want to wait for the 3-6 months it takes to get an appointment with a specialist.

And its funny...you mentioned "you guys die while waiting for treatment." There was one case in Canada where a person died in the waiting room after waiting several hours to see a doctor. But the same situation has happened in USA, and more than once! (See my links...)

Would I like to see a public and a private health care system? Since I have private health insurance with my company, the answer is yes. It would help me bypass the wait times and get to see someone faster, especially since I do not presently have a family doctor.

However, I have a problem with a two-tier system if there is not also an equally skilled doctor in the public system to help people who are not as fortunate as me to have that extra coverage.

And this whole issue between public and private would be a non-issue if the government would just hire more doctors here, and give them more incentives to work here rather than heading south of the border where they can earn more money doing private practice work.

Mathew H

No, trust me, you guys usually only hear the horror stories. It's not nearly as bad up here as you think. For some reason there's lots of detractors down there... they can think and do whatever they want, it doesn't affect me none. If the USA still wants a lower life expectancy than some third world countries, then it can, no skin off my back.

I think the American system is ok. It's obviously not a bad system, it serves its function. I think it's a little bit immoral... why should people's health be observed as a commodity and not something that transcends their status in life? I think people should have the right to health... not the priviledge. I guess that's where me, and many Americans don't see eye to eye.

slipstreamer

What exactly are you stirring up (or trying to?)

Most americans only have the vaguest idea of how the Canadian system functions and most Canadians don't know much about the US system other than what they have heard through the media, all of it bad. The media on both sides of the border paint the other system as bad or better in areas depending on what gets attention/ratings.

The problem is that US system has just been hijacked by the Healthcare insurance industries. Just 30 years or so ago healthcare in the US wasn't the mess it is now. So, it's fixable.

No system is perfect.

Americans will fix this, it has gotten ridiculous.

Edit - I have a Canadian friend living/working here in the US and he recently had to go to the hospital for emergency room care and follow-up (sports injury). He said that there was no difference at all in the level of treatment or facilities except for the payment system. His healthcare is thru his US employer.

mstess

I think the American health care is great, if you're well to do. If you're middle class or low income, I think it's terrible.

My sister and her husband were transferred to Denver. Colorado. My sister has MS, and is a breast cancer survivor. For her to get health coverage, with a pre-existing condition was hard to get. Her husbands company found them health coverage. Their share was only around $800.00 a month. Now you tell me how many people can afford that?

I just chatted with my sis. Her next door neighbors have no coverage through work, and pay $2000.00 a month for their family coverage. They are very affluent, but most people are not! Absolutely ridiculous!

Randy B

No system is perfect. Our system is great as a basic level of care for everyone, regardless of income, location or status. If there is something that people don't like then they have the freedom to go to the US, the UK, China or Botswana if they want to go and pay for treatment that they can't get at home or a type of treatment that we don't cover here.

This friend I mentioned in the last answer to (your?) a similar question had the chance to have prostate surgery involving numerous larger incisions here in Canada or he could go to the US, pay $35k and have the same surgery but with a different technique resulting in much smaller incisions and much less residual pain and recovery time. His choice. Much the same way that Farrah Fawcett decided to go to Germany for stem cell treatments. He had the money, he chose to go to the US for his surgery.

The US health care system, as I see it anyway, is so minimal that it doesn't even cover the basics that we cover here and that unless you have the money you can't even get the same level of care we have. Those with the money can of course get what they want but for everyone else, the large majority of you, a medical issue that is covered up here will bankrupt you down there if you have to pay for it yourself.

It should be noted that our system is not intended to be an all inclusive safety net for all medical issues. It is designed and intended to provide a minimum of care for all. It just happens that our minimum is quite a bit higher then the US minimum...as I understand it anyway.

thinkingtime

I work with cancer patients world wide. I was shocked when I first realised how difficult it is to remain insured in the US if you become seriously ill.

The really odd thing for me has been jobless Americans who cannot afford MRIs to see if the cancer is returning, and are not eligible for assistance in any way, who cannot be turned away from public hospitals if the returning cancer makes them too sick to live outside a hospital.

I'm pretty sure that the cost of an MRI and the cost of minor surgery is less than major surgery and a lengthy hospital stay, in terms of $$ if not decent treatment of a citizen.

Don't believe everything that you hear on the Fox channel.

fuzzlestunk

The US system is embarrassing considering the Americas global position. They are the only G7 country without health care. The lobbyists (who control the whole country) make up stories about Canada's terrible health care system to scare pepole. I think Canada's system is very good.

*ajidamoon* the Eh team

I lived in Buffalo, New York for a bit during/after college. I have experienced the US system first hand. When ever I needed to see the doctor, I came home to Canada. You can bet as soon as I found out I was pregnant, we hightailed it back home.

My mother was diagnosed with Breast cancer last year, on a Monday, and started her treatment on Friday. She's now cancer free. Not bankrupt either.

My Father went to emerge one morning with an extremely bad headache. As he is diabetic, and on blood pressure meds, a severe headache is a concern. Our family GP said he would meet him there. After being seen by the triage nurse( who assesses the need of the potential patient) he went back to the waiting room and sat down. Being in there about 15 minutes, he was called into the secondary private waiting rooms. My mom left him there, to go get a coffee in the cafeteria. While she was gone, he had an Aneurysm, and slipped into a coma. Had it not been for the quick action of the ER staff, and his getting into surgery 8 minutes after he was discovered by a Nurse who came in to check his blood pressure and temps, he would not still be here today. He was in a coma for three months after brain surgery to implant a shunt. Intensive care the entire time. Three months of hospital stay after he came out of the coma, while he got his senses back, learnt to talk again, to move his limbs. Then six months of out patient physio therapy. All at no out of pocket expense to my parents. My mom took a leave of absence from her job, and even got a grant from the government, to pay the gas costs travelling back and forth between Niagara and Hamilton, where he was transfered to. Sure, my father's work plan covered the private room he got. But seeing as how he was in a coma, I doubt he would have cared whether or not he had to share a room if there was a shortage of them. If this had happened in the US, my family would have been living in a cardboard box in no time.

Four kids later, and hundreds of trips to the ER and GP I can say
no, I would never want the American system of health care.

Q&A

The US system is good, but lots of people especially in these times can't afford the money that it costs to get treatment. And no you will not die waiting for medical treatment, If you have Cancer...or whatever disease you will get treatment right away. No I wouldn't adopt your system, ours works just fine thanks. Most of the stuff you hear in the US are just horror stories, Its like us baseing our opinion on your health system by things like untold stories of the ER.

Karen L

I think it's shameful that a country as advanced as the US is in so many ways hasn't gotten around to offering universal health care, as is done in most major countries, and some not so major. As a self-employed cancer survivor, I can't even begin to imagine what I'd pay for medical insurance right now, supposing I could get any coverage at all.

Dale M

What's with Americans and their fascination with our Health Care System? Exactly where do you keep hearing this, from some neo-con fanatic who can't admit there are systems in other countries better than theirs? Maybe you should be more concerned with your gun laws and the daily news of another mass murder than our health system.

Jake

i'm not bothered by what u do or think in the US of A-holes

Wolfenstein

It sucks.

God Bless Canada!!!

mboles22

I will tell you 2 personal stories that I experienced first hand.

1) my mother got sick, very very sick and wasn in a coma for a monthand was in Intensive Care for 5 weeks and then another few weeks on a ward before being she came home. She wasn't suppoe tolive. The doctors prepared us for her death. The last thing I would want to worry about would be "how much is this costing"

2) at a regular checkup last year the doctor found a lump in my breast. (I am 40yrs old). The office made an appointment for me to get a mammogram - 2 weeks away! Are they friggin crazy. I am not going to wait 2 weeks worrying that I might have cancer. I high tailed it over to Lewiston NY to St. Mary's hospital. No appoinment neccessary. Had my mammogram and a doctor reviewed the tests same day. Cost me in total under $300US. Best money I ever spent.

So you see, there are pros and cons to our Canadian system. I am one of the people in favor of exploring have some private health services. In any case I don't think there is one perfect answer to solve all the problems.

Jim Z

My sister is a nurse living in Windsor, but she works in Detroit, with better hours for more money. She uses the American healthcare system for her family, if that says anything. In Canada, we have only one MRI machine between Windsor and London, they have 12 in the hospital she works in. The american system covers the uninsured. Their laws protect the uninsured first, and they don't have to pay. We claim our health system is free, you have to be Canadian to realize medicines are expensive, getting to see a specialist can take months, and we really don't have anything to compare our system with. If we get real sick, we can go to the US if our system is full, and our insurance will pay most of it. I don't know why Canadians try to build up our second rate system when we all know it falls far short since the government took it over. When my sister worked at Hotel Dieu Hospital, she never saw one American come to use our services. Anyone who thinks the government does it better, has their head up their butt. I don't know why you asked such a question, but here is your answer, with the facts. Anyone who puts a thumbs down on this answer, is blind to the truth.

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