Wait Times

[stlsaxman]

Run time: 01:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXz90e2hSwU   Posted on YouTube: July 22, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: July 24, 2009 By DU Member: stlsaxman Views on DU: 3397

 
Another concise video from Lee Stranahan.

[stuball111]

1. Excellent ad!

Damn! That's the best one I've seen yet!

[AwakeAtLast]

2. Stop it! It makes too much sense!

:D

K & R!

:kick:

[Creationismsucks]

3. As a Canadian

I have been critical, on this board, of Canada's system. The criticisms about wait times, etc. are not completely unfounded.

But let me say, with all our system's problems, I'd take it over the US one in an instant.

I really hope this all works out for the best for Americans.

If that's a system that resembles the Canadian one in any way, that's still a lot better than being saddled with those vampire insurance companies.


My father gets home tomorrow from a knee replacement surgery.

It's not free. We do pay much heavier taxes up here.

...but he didn't have to be worried about covering his hospital bill.

I am thankful for that every single day, when I hear the stories from the US.

COME ON, PUBLIC OPTION!

[PDJane]

4. Actually, in truth, our taxes are not that much heavier

here than in the US, and we do get more for our tax dollar.

[Creationismsucks]

5. I know MINE aren't

Canada's a great place to be poor.

It's my sense of it that, aside from the fact that each province and each state are slightly different stories, we generally pay heavier tax load than Americans.

Perhaps I'm wrong. Sure wouldn't be the first time. I don't quite know how to quantify my claim, but I still think it's more or less true that we pay more.

I mean, there is no US equivalent of GST.

Anyway, I hope I'm making it clear that I have been treated very well under the Canadian health system, and the Canadian tax system in general. But I often think that if I made any kind of real money, I might feel like too much of it was being taken.

And of course my main point is that I'd still prefer our health system to the US's.

[GiveMeFreedom]

8. I am glad your father does not have to file

for bankruptcy after his surgery. That is the big difference between Canada and America. A family can lose everything, home, car, savings, retirement funds, all the money they have to pay for expensive medical care here in America. Or we can just not go to a hospital and die as far as our insurance corporations are concerned.

[AlbertCat]

15. But let me say, with all our system's problems, I'd take it over the US one in an instant.

Of course!

Are we trying to get a COMPLETELY PERFECT system? Or one that is MUCH BETTER than the one we have now?


This supposed "keep it the same until we work out something absolutely perfect" platform is akin to the "Christianity (or any other religion) will make everything alright" pipe dream.

Reality is on our side. No wonder Repugs don't get it.

[dugaresa]

21. I am not sure what your tax rate is, however this year I have had two US healthcare plans

both of them private.

I started the year with a healthcare plan that cost $940/month. It was a PPO plan that covered 100% of services in network, my co-pays were $10 for doctors, $20 for specialists and overall I paid on average about $25 per prescription.

About 3 mos ago, I had to change due to my spouse's job loss to my company's plan. I pay $560 a month, however this plan only covers 80% of expenes up until you hit a $4000 out of pocket per family. Due in part to a medical emergency with my back, I have been paying on average another $300 a month for additional healthcare charges and I am not done yet.

As for waiting times, I had to wait a month and a half to get an appointment with a neurosurgeon even though I was in excruciating back pain. My family doctor just wrung her hands about how much pain I was in and wrote me prescription after prescription for heavy duty opiates which I could not take because I have to work to pay for my insurance and can't be doped up.

Overall it takes months to get an appointment with a specialist.

I wish I had the previous plan that cost $940/month because it was best. In relation to the taxes you pay, is that expensive or about what you are paying? Remember, I am also paying taxes, local, state and federal so this expense is above and beyond those.

[Foolacious]

28. We pay less overall

when it comes to health care. That is, if you factor in taxes and any health expenses that are not covered, and compare those to comparable plans (like your $940/month one), we pay about half what you do for health care. I feel qualified to claim some knowledge on this because I'm a transplanted American and I paid $800/month for an 80% plan for a family of four back in the early nineties. So I've seen what paychecks look like both south and north of the border. Taxes are higher here, but a lot of things that are not considered taxes come out of your American paycheck; those things are generally considered part of the tax burden here and are counted as such.

When all is said and done, we pay slightly higher taxes in Canada for a significantly better (still not ideal) social safety net, including health care. And that's particularly surprising because we shouldn't be getting the same economies of scale as the US, being only a tenth the size.

[Creationismsucks]

33. Very interesting point

thank you!

[Creationismsucks]

32. Those numbers are absolutely staggering,

Thanks for that.

Once again, I wish your country the best on this.

And to my fellow Canadians, thanks for your input too.

It sounds as though, compared to what most people have to go through in the states, we have a system that makes for a tremendous amount of peace of mind.

Here's hoping you can get something done about it.

[Beartracks]

34. Higher taxes don't bankrupt people. Medical debts do.

Higher taxes are indicative of a proactive system. They are constant, and you can adjust to them. They won't screw up your credit.

Sudden medical debts are indicative of a reactive system. They are difficult or impossible to adjust to. They create economic emergencies and bankruptcies.

[midnight]

6. I'm no. seven to recommend this excellent explaination of wait time.

[ClayZ]

7. K and R

[indimuse]

9. KNR!

Love all his ads! thx for post!

[GivePeaceAchance]

10. Well you never have to wait for an emergency op but the choices are wait for bankrputcy or wait..

for operations. Although single payer isn't exactly what's on offer so waiting may not really be an issue. THe bottom line most indsutrial nations have it and haven't rejeted it for extortionate private plans.

[stlsaxman]

11. Wouldn't you agree that waiting to seek on a medical condition until it becomes an emergency

is waiting too damned long? in my humble- it's criminal.

[GivePeaceAchance]

20. It's never left that long from my experience if the condition can alloow some waiting time it..

occurs but if not it will be taken care of immediately. It's matter of more people being in the system and prioritizing. If person goes bankrupt there will be no operations one way or another. Let alone the system proposed isn't single payer but just a more afforadable versio of what there is now. They don't leave people to die, had this been the case most nations would of gone back to private but extortion just isn't a the best healthplan really. The fundmental thing is the right demonize what is good for America and that's all there is too it. Negotiatiing with nations, regulations all down the line it's all a matter of who a person wants to beleive.

[tnlurker]

12. This needs to be on TV

[ejbr]

13. But wait... n/t

[JBoy]

14. Rec'd. The GOP lies about wait times need to be countered.

[Wednesdays]

16. K&R

:kick:

[riverbendviewgal]

17. I'm American and Canadian. Born in USA and chose Canada to live

I came to Canada 40 years ago with my husband. Our two sons were born here. I am a Canadian citizen.
Both my husband and younger son were diagnosed in 1998 with Cancer. My younger son had seizures at work on a Friday. Three days later he was operated on for a brain tumor. He turned out to be GlioBlastma Multiforme. He had no previous symptoms My husband shortly after that found a lump on his stomach. Two weeks after the family doctor had sent him to a surgeon he had his operation for Non Hodgkin's lymphoma. They both received excellent care in the Cancer Centre and hospitals where they got numerous CT scans, MRIs, ultra sounds, X-rays, radiation treatments, Chemotherapy. My son had 3 brain operations all together. He spent 4 weeks in intensive care after the third one. Then step down intensive care and finally palliative care in the hospital for one week before he died. He was 26.
My husband had the radiation treatment, several different kinds of chemotherapy, one where after his stem cells were harvested he spent 30 days in the hospital due to the strong chemotherapy treatment he had to have. Finally he spent 3 months in Palliative Care in the hospital till he died in 2001.
What did this cost us all - NOTHING!!!!!. There was even home nurse care visits to check on them.
The Canadian government even gave me money toward their funerals. AND the Cancer Centre provided counseling for each of us and as a family. FREE

I am a widow now. I retired. I have my work pension and government pensions. I also have my husband's investments. I AM NOT BROKE. Last year I had 65K for income. 14K was paid to the taxes on it.
I think it was fair and I think all of us are in this boat together when it comes to health.
I have two older vehicles. No mortgage on my house. I never owned a house when my husband was alive but bought a town house and then sold it when I retired to live up north. I have a lovely house on the river with a beautiful view.
I go on some trips but don't live fancy. I am proud and thankful to be a Canadian.
I have friends now who have Cancer and they have not had to wait. One friend had been diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2002. It was a wait and see kind. (probably like the Waterdown, Ontario woman who complained about the care she got in Canada.) My friend was fine for 4 years until the tumor started growing again in 2006. She got radiation and it stopped growing. This year the cancer surfaced again near her liver. She is getting radiation and chemotherapy.
I get so upset when I see the misrepresentation of the Canadian health system Up here Health care is not run on profit. Our doctors are living comfortably. I hear no complaints from them about our system. We need more of them, especially in the north. We are working on that.

[stlsaxman]

18. Welcome to DU and thank you for this wonderfully pertinent reply!

Sorry that your family has had a hard time with medical issues that no one should go through. But I'm so glad you've shared with us how the tax-based health distribution system your government employs has worked well for its citizenry!

Thanks again!

[riverbendviewgal]

19. Thank You for the welcome. I have been reading DU for years

I wish the American Media could really, really show how Canadians love our health care system. It seems they like to hang on to the RW views rather than
show what it is really like to live having a one payer system. Heavens, it is not perfect but one thing is we Canadians are happier and don't worry about being able to afford health care and getting it. There is a joke out there that says you can tell a Canadian senior citizen from an American senior citizen. The Canadian senior is a lot happier because he doesn't worry about paying for his health care. In fact, at age 65 here in Ontario we get to pay only 2 bucks for each and every prescription, no matter how costly. My Canadian friends would never give up our health care system for one like the Americans have. Tommy Douglas, Keifer Sutherland's grandfather and premier of Saskatchewan, introduced one payer system to Canada in the 60's. He was voted in a recent poll as the most important and loved Canadian of all time. Here in Canada we know good health is a right and should never be for profit.


At the first sign of a ill health I go to my doctor. Up here in Northern Ontario we don't have a huge doctor base but we do have a walk in clinics which my doctor is part of a team. If I have no appointment, the wait may be an hour. I am able to get tests often the same day as seeing the doctor. Sometimes we have to get an MRI and the Health Care system pays for gas on part of the mileage over 100 km to go to the nearest MRI location. We have access to a CT scan machine in the nearby town but the MRI is 200 km away. and also an overnight stay at a motel is paid for if you have to be there early in the morning. I know because I got reimbursed.

I have relatives in the US and they are so against having a one payer system. They all have good jobs but I do wonder if they would change their tunes if they lost them. None have had any life threatening serious illnesses.
I have one cousin who is a VP for a company on the East Coast and he said why should he pay for someone else's health insurance. They all watch FOX TV news or listen to the RW talking radio guys. I actually have brother who changed his nickname to Bubba and he loves O'Reilly and Hannity. I am not giving up though. I
am always ready to point out the benefits of being Canadian and having this health care.

This video was great and I can say I am on a waiting list for physiotherapy for my back pain. I don't mind as I am not in as great pain as I had been in. It actually has lessened since I lost weight and exercise more.

Canada is a very kind and caring country. There is much community work where I live. We are all in this boat together, as Michael Moore's Canadian uncle said in his movie SICKO. It was a good portrayal of our system but I can tell you many, many other stories of how my friends have been cared for under our great one payer system.

[diane in sf]

22. Our media is deplorable because it was allowed to be bought up by corporate right wingers

starting in the 80s.

[orbitalman]

23. Excellent Video the DNC should adopt for TV!

Good framing to fight all the soothsayers.

[DuaneBidoux]

24. I wish someone would produce a one hour documentary where people are randomly interviewed...

on the streets in Canada and Europe. They could be assured that out of 100 comments one or two would be negative.

It would bring the truth home very quickly.

I lived in France, was treated in France for a severe medical condition and I can tell you that what I saw beats the hell out of our "system" in every way except the medical buildings don't have marble entryways and super chic designer interiors.

[riverbendviewgal]

27. large-scale survey finds that most Canadians have high praise for their family doctor

Canadians happy with primary health care, study says

Marina Jiménez
Thursday, Jul. 23, 2009 06:47PM EDT
The largest survey on primary health care ever conducted in Canada found that most people have high praise for their family doctor, and a staggering 92 per cent would recommend their physician to a relative or friend.

Canadians – except those living in Nunavut – have excellent access to primary health care: 85 per cent of people aged 12 and older have a regular doctor, and two thirds have been seeing the same doctor for five years or more, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) study, released yesterday.

“I feel darn good that 92 per cent of Canadians would recommend their family doctor to a friend. That is the litmus test,” said Sharon Johnston, a family physician and University of Ottawa professor.

READ THE REST OF ARTICLE ON
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/canadians-happy-with-primary-health-care-study-says/article1229169/

[Joe the Liberal]

25. Great ad....

It brings up a good point, would you rather wait to get a certain procedure done or not get it at all?

[Uncle Joe]

26. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, stlsaxman.

[mzmolly]

29. Ditto...

:hi:

[Uncle Joe]

30. Hi, mzmolly.

Have a good weekend.:hi:

[mzmolly]

31. Hi Uncle Joe!

Thanks for the weekend well wishes! :D :pals:

[gorfle]

35. Awesome ad. Well done

This is great.

[hay rick]

36. K&R

[gtar100]

37. Awesome video!

[ScottLand]

38. Everyone else has already said it but

I have to say it too. Great video! This is what everyone needs to hear.:toast: :applause: