Canadians, do you like or dislike our healthcare system?

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*ajidamoon* the Eh team

Odd that someone has been waiting 3+ years for a gall bladder operation. I have only ever had one attack in my life, a fairly mild one too, according to others who have also had them, and was scheduled for surgery within 6 months. Of course, as it interfered with my vacation, I rescheduled. I even got to have the new way done, where they go in via your arm pit to remove it. Where would I ever come up with an extra $16 grand to have the surgery done?

I love our health care system. I have four kids, one of whom is Autistic, another who spent the first two months of his life in neonatal intensive care. With all the surgeries, MRI's, ultrasounds, bloodwork, doctors visits and cancer screenings I have received(all in a timely fashion determined by need), if I was living in *another* country, that shall remain unnamed, I would be living in a cardboard box now. Of course it can be improved upon, and people do fall through the cracks. But its 100% better than many other places.

Would I ever be in favour of a health care system that takes care of people based on whats in their wallet, rather than who needs the care the most? Never.

Lex

horrors..what horrors?
sure theres some downsides to it
but i think overall its great and we are very lucky to have universal healthcare.

thinkingtime

One stat is that Canadians score higher than Americans on health outcomes and length of life, but have health costs per head that are half those of down south.

An aweful lot of people who have billing and admin jobs in the US health industry are afraid - rightly - of losing their jobs if healthcare there becomes more efficient.

SÃ©bastien

I have no complaints.

There's room for improvement, for sure, but its a decent systems we're very fortunate to have.

Jake

americans are idiots, nobody takes them seriously...our healthcare is excellent, i've exp it with both my parents spending time in hospital

Shelley

Most of my father's side are nurses and doctors. My Dad is a nurse and he worked both in the US and Canada. He prefers working in Canada and doesn't plan on going back to the US even though some places will pay more than our Province.

I had cancer as a small child that resulted in an above the knee amputation. I was never put on long wait lists or had substandard care. I've had many surgeries following my remission and the most important were done very quickly. I would sometimes have to wait a few months but this would be for minor surgeries and because I didn't want to be laid up while in school or on holidays.

My province doesn't cover everything it's still a good idea to have private insurance. Dental and eye doctors are usually not covered once you're past a certain age. Some of my brothers special testing for Autism had to be covered by private insurance.
With my last surgery a private room had to be paid for. but it was covered by my insurance.
My prosthetic limb ( my knee costs 50 thousand and because it wasn't fixed properly the company wants to charge 14 thousand to repair it) are not covered by my provincial medical plan. I go though private insurance and charities to finance my limb.

while some things that I see as important are not covered I am very happy with the care I have recieved.

J.J.: If your situation became critical, you would be rushed into surgery pronto.

Cocken - I think you mean "lower mortality rate". Mortality rate refers to the rate of death so you would want a lower rate, not a higher one.
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As for the question itself, I have no serious problems with our health care system. I have multiple sclerosis and so must see a specialist once a year. I accept, and agree, that there is room for improvement but I also understand that we are each responsible for taking as much care of ourselves as possible. We shouldn't be relying on the health care system to "fix" up problems that are largely of our own doing.

Part of the problem that I see Canadians having is that we often wind up spending more time sitting around in waiting rooms. Unfortunately, because we don't pay out of pocket at time of delivery for medical services, a lot of people who really don't need a doctor are in waiting rooms. A lot wouldn't be there if they knew they would have to pay up front to see the doctor.

Nevertheless, I very much appreciate living in a civilized nation that values delivery of medically necessary health care services to its citizens. I do not mind paying the high taxes we do pay if it means we all benefit. The alternative is, I feel, much MUCH worse.

Next time you hear some American spouting off on something they don't know anything about, ask them to provide actual statistical evidence to support their argument. Do not accept, "I heard it from a Canadian friend.". Anecdotes aren't evidence. Ask for actual, genuine, unbiased, third party evidence.

Cocken

It's funny how americans can listen to fox news about our health care and think we are in dire straits.

The truth is we have better and cheaper health care here in Canada. This is evidenced by our higher mortality rate compared to the US and our lower average cost of care per person.

Å‹oÑThÎµÑÅ‹

it used to be better

ms_m2you

Getting a general practitioner (GP) is not easy in Canada but it can be done - I have 2! But I live in Toronto - it's not like living on a Reserve.

Getting surgeries can be tricky too. But while you can pay out of pocket for one in the US how many people can do that?

As a child I got medical care in the States for strep - I thought I had an advantage as my grandmother and aunt (both Americans) were nurses at the hospital. But the doctor would not listen when I told him that I was immune to penicillin.

By the time I got back to Canada I had to be rushed to hospital - fungus had developed on top of the strep. I nearly died. Needless to say I don't have much more faith in the US system.

There are things about the Canadian system that suck but we Canadians have to remember that we are consumers and we have stay on top of things. Generally our doctors are good, the nurses could improve (but that's because their working conditions are shite) and the hospitals should be avoided at all costs as total germ factories.

But I would rather have to wait to see a doctor than have to give up my life's savings (presuming it is not life or death).

J.J.

I have been waiting 3+ years for a gaul bladder operation but I can spend 16K US out of pocket and get in done in Boston, MA

sts3235s

The facilities are very dirty. If you're used to getting around the slumps, you should be fine.

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