Would some kind Canadian tell me

[Hieronymus]

your feelings about the healthcare you receive in Canada?
My gut tells me it's very good, but I do hear the negative things being repeated now and then.
I believe I could be very happy living in Canada.
Thanks.

[yvr girl]

1. I NEVER worry about money when I'm sick

I've been to regular doctors and specialists. I've broken bones and sprained ankles. I've had day surgery, been X-rayed and ultra-sounded. I didn't get a bill from the doctor or hospital.

My dad was in the hospital for a couple of months when he had surgery on his aorta - didn't cost him anything.

There can be waits for non-emergency surgeries like knee surgery but you can get it done outside the system if you're in a hurry.

[Hieronymus]

2. Thank you so much for confirming what I believed to be the case.

:toast:

[Maple]

3. I like it

It's very good, and I never have to wait for appointments or anything else.

Emergency is backed up sometimes, but if it's serious you go to the head of the line...triage. Some people show up with colds!

We had private insurance plans as well when I was a teenager, and we may well try it again...but there's little difference between then and now as to service and care.

Live in Canada for a short while if you like...or carry dual citizenship, that's allowed. Or even just visit and talk to people or check out hospitals.

We don't bite, honest. :D

[Hieronymus]

4. Thanks, two replies that are totally positive.

:)

[BCBud]

5. Its very good.....for now.

We've had two kids in the last few years and received top notch service all around. I think we paid $95 to upgrade to a private room each time and about $100 for one circumcision.
My whole life going to the Dr. or hospital was never a financial issue and can't imagine that feeling.
As new procedures and technology come on, combined with a few cut-backs and an aging population some waiting lists have developed. Its a big political issue these days.
Maybe someone who requires more medical service would have a different opinion, as I do hear some horror stories. Thankfully no one I'm close to has been limited to medical service in any way, knock on wood.

[achtung_circus]

6. My specialist (ENT) recently referred me for an MRI

for a 1 in 100,000 chance exclusionary diagnostic test.

Waiting time, I was told, would be months. Waiting time was 3 weeks, I had the MRI last Sunday morning. My mother's husband needed one due to a heart problem. Waiting time 30 minutes.

The wait for MRI is one of the standards used by those who insist that the Canadian health system is going to hell. I'm not buying it.

Our per capita health expenditure is lower that the US and our outcomes are better (longer life spans, lower infant mortality, etc).

I'm happy.

My sister-in-law's father just broke his hip. He was moved from an acute hospital to a short teerm/long term hospital until he is capable (if he ever is) of going to a rehab hospital. This is (gasp) 40 minutes away. That's where there was a bed.

That's their biggest beef.

[BCBud]

7. Well said...

.....I hear about these so-called waiting lists all the time but I don't actually know a single person that has received sub-par service.

[Mother Jones]

8. Same here....

I say this all the time, but will repeat;

With various cancers affecting so many in my family, I have yet to hear of one single instance where there was a delay for any treatment. Not one single negative comment about anything to do with our health care system.


I've also 'heard' of these wait lists, and I'm sure they exist- somewhere, I just have never had the experience of knowing anyone -friend, family or acquaintance, who has EVER waiting for anything.

Our health care system absolutely is a factor in our higher standard of living. We're very lucky.

[HEyHEY]

9. Never had problem here

Walked in, said, "ow, ow, ow, ow" and was taken care of. However I've never needed at major surgery or anything.

[ironflange]

10. It's nice to not have to worry about. . .

. . .a health problem now that puts you in big debt for the rest of your life.

[ConcernedCanuk]

11. Hate to rain on this positive parade here

.
.
.

I do not have a family doctor, so I have to go to clinics or emergency for ANY diagnosis/treatment-

I HAD a family doctor, but silly me was too healthy, didn't see him for over 4 years. No doctors are taking new patients in my town or the city close by, and some law (in Ontario here anyways) allows the doctor to DUMP me as a patient after a period of time - I've been quoted three years.

Clinics will only take care of a symptom - usually a prescription/pill and off you go . . if it doesn't work, well, they'll try something else next time

without a family doctor - you can't get those "check-ups" - you know - a little blood work, peek in ur ears ur eyes (and other places . hmmmm) - no preventive medicine services at really . .

I recently had ONE doctor in emergency prescribe a tiny diet regimen for major weight loss (actually I needed to GAIN weight, having dropped from 155 to 124 in 6 months due to severe dental infection) - he never took my temperature, heart rate, weight, - or even look at my body to see the emaciated state I was in - fortunately the system allowed me to seek another doctor's opinion and I was prescribed a suitable diet.

I've had to resort to some home remedies(successfully thank goodness) after having over a half a dozen different doctor's "practice" on me

IF you intend to move to Canada, CHECK in the city/town of your choice to see if there are Doctors taking new patients - if you need/want REAL health care, that is a must

On the plus side, there is no charge for the clinics/emergency visits, but the waits can be hours . . .

Health care is managed Provincially, so regulations and benefits may differ slightly from province to province

[hermetic]

12. Cc above's remark very timely

"Lengthy wait times, pervasive doctor shortages and medical errors are among the major health problems ailing Ontario’s system. Health care management in Ontario is perhaps 10 to 20 years behind the rest of Canada. At least one expert says the lag is costing money and lives."

http://www.nugget.ca/webapp/sitepages/ospreyhealth/?pg=8605

This series of articles should be an interesting read and hopefully will get people moving to do something to fix this problem. No, I don't know what that would be exactly but.....hope springs eternal.

[Canadian_moderate]

13. My experiences have mostly been very positive

However, finding a specialist can often take a while, especially for non-emergencies.

My wife (she's American - came to Canada to work as a nurse) had knee surgery (ACL and MCL ligament) in Ontario just over 2 years ago and the waiting time was quite long. I think it was roughly 7 months. That said, she had little trouble with regular walking (except for a few weeks after the injury) and was able to work after initial recovery from injury (she was off work for maybe 3 weeks). She needed the surgery to avoid further future damage and to be able to actively play sports again. After the surgery, she was off work for roughly 4 months and fully recovered after about 12 months.

Care for life-threatening surgery is normal without delay while these type of non-emergency situations can result in frustrating delays.

I personally think we should also have private options for these types of treatment and surgery where the public plans cannot meet the need of people who wish to have active lifestyles.

[iverglas]

14. thinking that through

I personally think we should also have private options for these types of treatment and surgery where the public plans cannot meet the need of people who wish to have active lifestyles.

So, would that mean ... removing "non-essential" treatment from the public plans altogether? If you can get around fine for, say, employment purposes, but want to be able to, say, jog recreationally, should the public plan just say "fine, go pay for it"?

It's an idea. If the shape of your nose interferes in your love life but not in your breathing, we do insist that you pay for any changes yourself.

But a malfunctioning knee really isn't the same as an unfashionable nose.

Where will these "private options" come from? That's the one that always just stumps the hell out of me.

Will we suddenly sprout new doctors and nurses and surgical facilities?

Or will the obviously limited and sometimes too scarce resources within the existing system be drained off for the more profitable purpose of selling them to those who can pay -- for things that are simply not as important as the things that the public system would do with those same resources?

Basically, if the problem arises from removal of resources from the public health care system, how is removing more resources from the system going to solve it?

And the perennial question: if people like your wife are spending their own loonies to get surgery fast, how long are (at least some of) them going to be willing to keep paying the taxes that have to be paid so that other less-affluent people can get it at all?

Lots o' good stuff can generally be found here, for thinking about these things:

http://www.healthcoalition.ca/

[Canadian_moderate]

15. I support universal access to healthcare

...but governments should not be playing God. By limiting the supply side of healthcare, our governments are creating waiting lists.

Canada is one of the only OECD countries that does not allow private insurance as an option for basic healthcare. Most social-democracies in Europe, however, don't seem to have a problem with it, as long as the public healthcare system is not compromised. I think Canada needs to look at similar options. Don't just compare our system to that of the USA. Look at other, more successful healthcare models in countries such as France, Sweden, Germany, etc, etc.

[CHIMO]

16. Would

You please show me where Canada does not allow private insurance for health care.

We are talking private not public money here as I understand it.

[Canadian_moderate]

17. It certainly does not allow private insurance for...

services that are currently covered under the provincial health insurance plans.

Of course any items not covered by the PHIPs can be insurance through private insurance. Since my wife's knee surgery was covered, she was unable to get the surgery privately in Canada. Hence she had to wait more than 6 months because of lack of physicians under the public system.

Don't get me wrong, I do value public and universal healthcare, but I don't think it's acceptable for the governments to intentionally create long waiting lists for certain procedures.

[CHIMO]

18. Can't Find That

Restriction as a part the Canada Health Act.

Here is a copy of the Canada Health Act. Perhaps you could point out what I am missing. Would be greatly appreciated.

Introduction
The five principles of the Canada Health Act are the cornerstone of the Canadian health care system, and reflect the values that inspired Canada's single-payer, publicly-financed health care system. This legislation, passed unanimously by Parliament in 1984, affirms the federal government's commitment to a universal, accessible, comprehensive, portable and publicly administered health insurance system. The Act aims to ensure that all residents of Canada have access to necessary hospital and physician services on a prepaid basis. The Canada Health Act defines for the provinces and territories the criteria and conditions that they must satisfy in order to qualify for their full share of the federal transfers under the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) cash contribution.

The five criteria of the Canada Health Act are:

public administration: the administration of the health care insurance plan of a province or territory must be carried out on a non-profit basis by a public authority;
comprehensiveness: all medically necessary services provided by hospitals and doctors must be insured;
universality: all insured persons in the province or territory must be entitled to public health insurance coverage on uniform terms and conditions;
portability: coverage for insured services must be maintained when an insured person moves or travels within Canada or travels outside the country; and
accessibility: reasonable access by insured persons to medically necessary hospital and physician services must be unimpeded by financial or other barriers.
The Canada Health Act also contains provisions that ban extra-billing and user charges:

no extra-billing by medical practitioners or dentists for insured health services under the terms of the health care insurance plan of the province or territory;
no user charges for insured health services by hospitals or other providers under the terms of the health care insurance plan of the province or territory.
Reporting Requirement
Under the Canada Health Act, the federal Minister of Health is required to provide information on the operation of provincial and territorial health care plans as they relate to the criteria and conditions of the Act. The approach to this information gathering has been collaborative, where provinces, territories and the federal government have worked together to supply the information needed by the Minister.

Information contained in this website, some of which was obtained as a result of this annual reporting process, has been organized as follows:

The Overview provides an overview of the Canada Health Act and the associated regulations and policies that are used in the administration of the Act;
Administration reviews the administration of the Canada Health Act during 2003-2004, and includes a summary of compliance issues addressed and deductions levied;
Contributions describes the evolution of federal transfers for health care in Canada;
P/T statements presents descriptions of the provincial and territorial health insurance plans, including statistical data on insured hospital, physician and surgical-dental health care services;
The text of two key policy statements (Epp Letter and Marleau Letter) clarify the federal interpretation of the criteria and conditions of the Canada Health Act;
A description of the Canada Health Act Dispute Avoidance and Resolution process is provided;
The References section supports information found in provincial and territorial narratives; and
A Glossary of terminology is provided to explain terms used in the Canada Health Act Annual Report.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/medi-assur/fedrole/cha-lcs/index_e.html

Thanks.

[Canadian_moderate]

19. All the more reason to make it available then

Private health insurance options, that is.

[CHIMO]

20. It

Is available if anyone wants to do it. Perhaps this is a good business venture for you. Quebec said that they wouldn't allow the insurance, but I don't think any other provence has that restriction. Alberta allows some day surgeries.

But don't turn around after and ask for monies from the government health funded insurance. So as I see it one can open a hospital and have doctors, nurses and support staff that are in no way connected with funding from the public and go into business. One area that perhaps needs amplification is if one of these operations screws up and the patient has to be brought to a public funded institution the cost should be full bore against the institution that screwed up.

It would seem to me that those that want private insurance should be banging on the doors of the provincial government. And those that want to keep the public system free of private for profit business should throw out those provincial politic ans that won't co-operate. Then the next step is to have increased funding from the federal government so that we won't have waiting times that some are complaining about.

But don't forget, a lot of the push for private insurance is based on the assumption of government funding and blending of the support services to reduce the private costs. This in my book will kill public insurance. Stand back and look at the costs of single payer vs that in the US.