Is this the truth about Universal Healthcare?

Yes, and for all too many, it is the truth in the USA as well. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own... As that story will tell.

FACT - Insurance companies in the USA admit to pushing up prices, buying politicians and not paying out claims when they should

FACT - PER PERSON the USA spends more on healthcare than any other nation on the planet

FACT - Obama debated his plans before the election for healthcare

FACT - the chance of a child under five of dying in the USA is greater than industrialised nations with universal health coverage

FACT - Obama was elected by the American people to bring in change

FACT - Obama wants to stop insurance companies from screwing the American people

FACT - The reforms Obama wants work in the Netherlands and Switzerland

1) None of this is correct. Except for you take a number and wait. Some of it was true in the mid 70s. But that was 40 years ago. And even in America's perfect system, I've had to wait an hour when I had an appointment. And I left once because I heard the nurses say the doctor was late teeing off and was only on the 13th green.

2) Canadians are not perfect. Canada is not a perfect country. Their health care system is not perfect.

3) Americans are not perfect either. America is neither a perfect country. Our current health care system is not perfect. Any reform will not be perfect either. eventually, if we keep working on it. it will get slowly better, but it will never be perfect.

I know that you probably aren't interested in FACTS anyways, but, as a Canadian, I feel obligated to provide you with them.

In Canada, clinics are closed on the weekend. So you have to attend the EMERGENCY ROOM on the weekends.

LIE - How do I know? I went to one last Saturday when I realized that I didn't have any prescription refills.

Then you get a number and wait. Anywhere from two and ten hours.

LIE - I presented my health card, and was told that it would be 1/2 hour wait. I actually waited for about 25 minutes before a doctor saw me.

Then you talk to a desk clerk. Who TELLS you what to do. (they are not their to serve you like its done today).

??? I don't get exactly what you mean here. The nurse at the desk asked me to fill in a form, because I had never seen that doctor before. Then she placed my file in the queue and called me into the room when I had reached the front of the queue. Is this any different in the US? (btw...you had the incorrect use of there...the one you used means "belonging to them")

Wait times:

A broken wrist=9 hours. Penicillin=9 hours. A broken calavical=5 hours.

To see a nurse.

LIE - We had our daughter in for a sore shoulder (it ended up being a pulled muscle) and were in and out of the hospital (after having x-rays) within less than 1 hour. And, this was in the emergency room on a Saturday in the middle of January (flu season)

Their are waits to get INTO a parking the lot.

WTF??? I don't even know where to start with this one, but we drive pretty freely in Canada. If all of the spaces in the lot are full, that is no fault of the hospital or clinic. Again, WTF???

To get a family doctor, for many types of testing. You get a list and have to wait 2-3 YEARS to get a family doctor. They cost $1000.

Definite NO!!! Paying for a family doctor? Testing? When I moved, I made an appointment, walked into the office, presented my health card, filled in a form, and got a new family doctor. No wait, no tests...plus, if I did need tests, they would be free...hence UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE!!!

So you have to pay for a doctor in Canada and wait 2-3 years to get one if your lucky.

Again...LIE!!!

So after 3 days, you MIGHT be able to see a nurse. If you can fit it into your busy schedule.

WTF???

Their missing equipment for MRIS, they dont have enough clinics, Then you get BAD treatment. Can you sue the government?

Again, you misused the word their...this time you want to use they're. Please learn English before you try to make these sorts of claims. People may think that you have a lower intelligence level.

The average wait time:

17.3 weeks to see specialist in Canada.

This varies by province, but if you need immediate treatment, then the wait is ZERO! If you are looking at elective surgery, etc, then you may wait. Canada is lacking in specialists, but anyone needing immediate treatment gets it. American often ignore this fact when they spout off crap about our wait lists.

2.8% of the population are on waiting list to get treatment.

Actually, this is .54%...you are working with old numbers. And, again, the ones waiting are those who need non-essential, elective treatments and surgeries. If I have a life threatening condition, I get treated right away!

Its overburdden and underfunded. Its rationed care.

Again, learn how to spell before you make your claims, and I might take you seriously.

The average person single person in Quebec pays city and federal taxes of 60% almost double that of California.

Yeah, way to grab the Canadian province with the highest tax rates, instead of a place like Alberta where people actually pay lower taxes than most of the states.

Here is a link to the Quebec government taxation site...maybe you can actually research something for yourself instead of making stupid claims. You will likely find that the "average" single Quebeker pays around 36% tax, and the "average" family pays more like 25% tax. Plus, no one pays tax on the first $10,000 they make per year, more if they are a family, student, disabled, a senior citizen, single parent, etc. And, for the higher amounts, the income tax that you pay is on the amount that you make over the prior exemption amount. Of course, I wouldn't expect you to be able to understand that.

http://www.revenu.gouv.qc.ca/eng/particulier/impot...

The sales tax in Quebec is over 13%.

It is actually 12.5%, and not paid on groceries, prescriptions, homes, or health related services. Plus, anyone who falls into a lower income category can get up to $200 back per month as "GST" credits.

Please, leave us Canadians alone in your health care debate. We are perfectly happy as we are.

Having spent all my life in Quebec, I can answer to your questions point-by-point.

In Canada, clinics are closed on the weekend. So you have to attend the EMERGENCY ROOM on the weekends.

>> Some may have reduced staff on the weekend, but I've never seen a walk-in clinic closed on weekends. They only ever close on some holidays and at night (usually from 6:00 PM to 8:00 AM. That's when you'd have to go to the hospital.

Then you get a number and wait. Anywhere from two and ten hours.

>> You do get a number. And while you technically get to wait from 0 to 24+ hours, according to Canadian Institute for Health Information, the median average for waiting time varies between 15 minutes and 2:45 depending on the size of the hospital and the time of the year (you tend to wait longer in bigger hospitals and less in the summer). In fact, those times are how long patients have to wait in emergency rooms until they get a hospital bed. If you simply need to see a doctor and get sent back home, you'll obviously wait even less.

Personally, I've almost always been able to see a doctor within two hours. Only once did I have to wait more than four, and that's because I went to the emergency room at night (when there often is only one doctor available) and whatever I had was not life-threatening or likely to get worse over a few hours, as the order in which doctors will see patients in a hospital emergency room is based on the gravity of their condition.

Then you talk to a desk clerk. Who TELLS you what to do. (they are not their to serve you like its done today).

>> You do have to see a nurse for sorting before you get to see a doctor. That's how they determine the urgency of your problem. If it's your first time at that given hospital, you also have to see a clerk who'll create your file and hospital card (which is free). This can usually be done between the points where you see the nurse and the doctor, so it doesn't add to the waiting time. As for whether they're serving you or telling you what to do, I don't really see a difference. After all, you go to the hospital so that nurses and doctors can serve you by telling you what to do about your health. There are rude or impolite employees here and there, but it's a very, very small minority.

Wait times:

A broken wrist=9 hours. Penicillin=9 hours. A broken calavical=5 hours. To see a nurse.

>> Again, see my answer to the second question.

Their are waits to get INTO a parking the lot.

>> Never experienced this, unless you consider being the second or third car in line at the parking booth a wait. Unfortunately, you do have to pay for parking on the hospital ground.

To get a family doctor, for many types of testing. You get a list and have to wait 2-3 YEARS to get a family doctor. They cost $1000.

>> It's true that family doctors are in short supply nowadays, and people often have to wait over a year to get one, but it won't cost you anything. And while it's hard to get an appointment for a general checkup with a generalist without a family doctor, you can still go to clinics or hospitals whenever you have a health problem.

So you have to pay for a doctor in Canada and wait 2-3 years to get one if your lucky.

>> No, you don't have to pay for a doctor. And having to wait 2-3 years is not being lucky; I'd say that slightly above average. If you're lucky, you'll get your family doctor in less than a year.

So after 3 days, you MIGHT be able to see a nurse. If you can fit it into your busy schedule.

>> Even if it's not an emergency, you'll get to see a nurse, and then a doctor within a few hours, the next day at worst. Still according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, 50% of patients in hospital emergency rooms had to wait less than 1:45 to get a hospital bed, 75% had to wait less than 4:30, and only 10% had to wait more than 15 hours.

Their missing equipment for MRIS, they dont have enough clinics, Then you get BAD treatment. Can you sue the government?

>> I guess we could always use more equipment, but I don't think we're seriously missing any. There may be a lack of family doctors, but certainly enough walk-in clinics. And why are you saying people get bad treatment?

The average wait time:

17.3 weeks to see specialist in Canada.

2.8% of the population are on waiting list to get treatment.

>> 17.3 weeks is exactly 4 months, so that does sound like a reasonable number. And 2.8% of the population (about one person out of 36) waiting for an appointment seems about right, too.

The average person single person in Quebec pays city and federal taxes of 60% almost double that of California.

>> According to the income tax rates for Quebec, and Canada, someone with an average income for a single person will pay 31% of his income in provincial and federal taxes. I don't have numbers for municipal taxes, but they're based on the value of your properties rather than income, and in any

this would not happen in USA. this is not the plan that Obama wants for the USA. don't believe for 2 seconds that old blue cross and the rest of the insurance companies would allow this to happen. the insurance companies have managed healthcare now. they tell the dr what medicine he or she can give us,what kind of treatment to give us.they control how long your stay in hospital should be. that's called managed healthcare.its control and we have already have it. that's why the insurance companies are so rich. that is why our healthcare system is a failed system. greed..

80% of the people are satisfied.The government should concentrate on the 20% only & leave the rest of us ALONE to pay our taxes

No it is not the truth. You are misinformed.

You are a living example, you and my (god-love-her) 85 year old mother who are the two most gullible people in America.

Gullible and selfish.

We have to have National Health or we will continue on the road to becoming a third world county.

hopefully we can do better then we are now and better then canada if it is really that bad for everyone, some things talked about is getting more dr's and nurses in the profession.

there are clinics where the wait is about the same now for low income people.

I would you suggest you talk to a real Canadian. Or if you can't do that try checking out WHO (world Health Organization). They seem to think that Canada'S health care is much better than the U. S.'s

You are confused and misinformed but it is your right to keep your head in the sand.