Just heard this:"Every time the health care debate is raised the Republicans drag out the three people from Canada who couldn't get an operation within 6 months." - Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, Columbia University Professor and frequent Fox News Contributor.
Excuse me? I can think of 3 people off the top of my head and I would wager it's not the same three he's thinking of.
So, really, When was the last time Mr. Lamont tried to get any sort of health care in Canada?Does he live in Canada? Work in Canada? Have a best friend or 4 million in Canada? As usual, he has NO idea what he is talking about as do the other proponents of universal health care who seem to think the Canadian/British/CUBAN????? (are those people risking their lives to get out of there?) systems are all that and a bag of chips - for everybody else, but them.
Let me tell you what I have learned about the Canadian Health Care system in less than 2 months.
1. It's NOT FREE. We are paying higher taxes than we ever have before and I believe we are still in the lowest tax bracket out there. And those high taxes don't only get you health care, but they also get you an exorbitant cost of living, because, well, the businesses are getting taxed as well, and they have to pay those somehow, so we the consumers get to help out there as well.
2. The patients outnumber the doctors by the thousands. NOT KIDDING. A friend just got yelled at by her stressed out doctor who screamed at her "I have over 3000 patients and I am totally stressed out!" Alrighty then.
3. You have to go through a family doc (who also deliver babies in their spare time - you only get to an OB/GYN specialist for problem) to get to ANY other doc - that's called a referral, and that is what you wait and wait and wait and wait for - that and the MRI.
If you break your hip, or have a heart attack, you can go right to the emergency room. But DON'T go if you aren't almost on your death bed because then you will get a lecture about how the docs in the emergency room don't have time for trivialities that aren't life threatening. Not kidding - happened to the same friend who was trying to get care from her doc. So...I guess you really aren't guaranteed care - it's up to the discretion of the doctor - who may or may not be in a good mood that day from being overworked and overstressed..
4. Six months is short for a Canadian wait. MRIs in particular are especially hard to come by in any reasonable amount of time - unless you are a dog or cat or rabbit or such. One of our friends relayed how he had injured his shoulder about 18 months ago. He went to his family doc and was told he would get put in line for an MRI and it would be about A YEAR before he would get in. In the meantime, he spent 11 months and his own money going to the chiropractor and getting massage therapy on the injured shoulder - all of which is NOT covered by Alberta Health, so he PAID for it. He did finally get called for the MRI, went in and found that his chiropractor had done a great job and the shoulder was completely healed. What a great help that "FREE" health care was!
Another friend just told me that she had been referred by her doctor to an internal medicine specialist in April. The internal med doc's office called her last week to make the appointment. Hmmm...April, May, June, July, August - it's a good thing she wasn't in a lot of pain or anything...
5. Loss of competition means loss of care - as my friend found out from her screaming doctor who had been fine for the past 6 years until she REALLY needed some help and it just sent this overworked, overstressed family doc over the edge. Not only did my friend get screamed at, but she got FIRED from her doctor! She was told she just needed to find a new doctor - WHY??? Because she had been researching her issues on her own and because she trusted the pharmacists advice over the doctor's - the doctor who told her to take two meds together, and the pharmacist who adamantly told her NOT to. The doc felt like there were "trust" issues and since she already has way too many patients, she told my friend to hit the road. Nice. Now they are on the hunt with us for the elusive animal, the "family doctor". Maybe we should get National Geographic involved. It's a good thing we are pretty healthy right now - but I better find that doctor, FAST.
6. Canadians have been coming to the states for health care for years - because it's better to get care and pay for it than to not get care at all. A friend who worked as a physician in Michigan said that half of his patients were Canadians crossing the border to get care.
7. Have I mentioned what's not included in Canada's universal health care? Prescriptions, ambulances, dental - umm, is that because it costs so much?? It's just a question. Then how in the world is the U.S. going to pay for a system that would care for a population4 times that of Canada? Again, it's just a question.
So I have a question that needs to be answered - Where is anybody bringing up the current FREE, and I mean really free to those getting the care, health care in the U.S. I know for a FACT that free health care is available for the poorest of the population. I have records to prove it. Before my two adopted children were removed from their previous home for neglect, they were taken to the Emergency room for everything from a snotty nose to an ear infection - why? Because their parents knew that they would receive care there and would not be obligated to pay.
People, you do not want this system - no matter how much your heart is bleeding for the poor - as does mine - but universal health care will only be universal in that everyone will get the same crappy care as everyone else - everyone else that is except the people who drag us into it. There has to be a better way.
Let me close with these statements from the latest meeting of the Canadian Medical Association:
"The incoming president of the CMA says this country's health care system is sick and doctors need to develop a plan to cure it. . . . 'We know there must be change,' said Dr. Anne Doig. 'We're all running flat out, we're all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands.' " - Canadian Press report in the Thunder Bay, Ont., Chronicle-Journal, Aug. 16
"Other than enough finger-pointing to risk repetitive strain injury, what are the politicians actually adding? . . . The CMA, the Canadian health insurance industry and plenty of ordinary Canadians are calling for significant change in the way we deal with health care. It's time our so-called leaders caught up to the public." - Column in Windsor Star (Ontario), Aug. 16
And that is the truth, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, and Ms. Pelosi, and Mr. Waxman, and President Obama, and the whole lot of ya!
Somebody had to say it.
Now I'm going to bed.
4 comments:
Well said--just wish you had a bigger audience!
Canadian health care sounds worse than British health care. We've heard of people waiting for months for non life-threatening operations, but seems like the dr. to patient ratio is better here. Sounds like the system is a bit different there, because we are assigned a dr.'s clinic on the basis of where we live. They call it the "post code lottery." Some are good, some are not. Thankfully, we are in a good location. Prescriptions are mostly included, or only a small fee charged, I'm pretty sure ambulances are free, and a basic dental check (counting teeth and making sure no cavities) is a small fee or free (cleaning costs extra!). Midwives care for the pregnant. You're right though about high taxes and cost of living to cover the "free care." It's just not free!
On principle, I'm against nationalized health care for a number of reasons. In practice, the basic health care that the poor get here is probably better than the basic care that the uninsured get in America. On the other hand, those in America who have insurance are almost always guaranteed far superior care than to those in Britain. Seems like there's a better way to fix the problem than nationalization!
Just shared this on FB--miss you there, BTW! We just need to talk on the phone...and soon, OK?
Love you, Heather!
Good news... my angry doctor did go ahead and put the rush on the referrals she gave so I have a neuro. appointment on Tuesday and a sleep clinic appointment within the next two weeks (though it is not covered and the $800 fee will hopefully be paid for by our additional insurance.)
Shawn reminded me today that Canada limits the number of people who go through medical school to become doctors because if they allowed too many doctors (ie. enough) the govt. wouldn't be able to afford to pay them any higher than burger flippers. This is what happens when the govt. controls supply but cannot obviously control demand. They have to create scarcity to drive the prices up otherwise more Canadian doctors would go to the States where they would make more money.
We too are here not because of the govt. We are here because God has called us here and we love the people. Systems can be broken anywhere. Lives are broken everywhere. The gospel works on lives. Systems will only be redefined as people's hearts are and that is a long way down the road no matter how you look at it. Either way, our lives are in God's hands and we are but to trust and obey. (We just might *feel* like we have to do more trusting here.)
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