General questions Canada's health care?

I hate to disappoint you, but some of what you've been reading is not entirely accurate. The immediacy of treatment depends on the severity of the illness or injury. I can get in to see my doctor almost immediately if it's an emergency. If it's for something routine like a prescription renewal or non-urgent like a driver's licence medical, it may take a few days to get in (that's also due to the fact that I want my appointment scheduled for after my work hours). The wait times at our town's emergency department are quite short, but that is not the same in the cities where the higher population results in higher usage. I have never waited "weeks" for an x-ray - they've usually been done the same day, or maybe next day if it's not too urgent. More severe conditions/injuries take priority over those of a lesser severity. I've been able to get in to see a specialist (a neurologist, and it was not an urgent issue) usually within a couple months.

Overall, there is definitely room for improvement on the delivery of health care, at least in Alberta. But I would never want to have an American-style, for profit health care system where the quality of treatment you receive depends on your income or insurance plan, or where the first thing they ask when you get to the hospital is whether you have insurance or a credit card.

A real example: my ex hurt her leg while she was at work. We phoned the nursing station (we don't have a hospital in my small, remote community, although one is being built), and arrived 5 minutes later.

The doctor met us in the hallway. We did not even make it to the waiting room. Well, I did, eventually, but, my partner was admitted immediately. She had X-Rays, and all, right away.

So, that is a real life story. Overall, Canadians pay about half what Americans do for health care. This includes all taxes, and everything. For this, we get better health care: a lower infant mortality rate, and longer (approx 5 years on average), healthier lives. People talk about the high taxes, but, Canadians and Americans pay very similar rates of tax. Exact comparisons are difficult, but, overall, about the same.

That is not to say there are no demands on the system! There can be delays, but the doom and gloomers in the USA really exaggerate these. If I go to see a doctor with no appointment, I may have to wait an hour or two. If I phone for one, I can get one for the next day or two. For something big, like an annual physical, with the usual battery of tests, I may need to wait a week or so. These physicals take a fair bit of time though, so, no big deal. Someone with an emergency is seen immediately.

The big difference is that a rich person can not pay extra, and be seen ahead of a poor one. Canada's system is "universal access," which means rich and poor are treated the same.

As for the tax burden; the wealthier do pay more in taxes, although this difference is far less than in the USA, where the rich actually pay a lot more tax than in Canada.

I don't support Universal Healthcare. I'm wondering if there needs to be an amendment to the constitution which would prevent the government from being able to take over any segment of the economy. Regulation is one thing but nationalization of an entire industry is NOT what we do in this country. It amazes me that even though there are problems with the healthcare industry, noone can come up with any ideas on fixing the problem except for Universal Healthcare, which will only cause more problems. Some people have said that Doctors just flat out charge too much. But I don't think people have considered the cost of liability insurance for a Doctor. It's outrageously high because people are allowed to sue hospitals for unbelievable and unjustifiable amounts of money. Maybe congress should consider tort reform to alleviate this problem. There are other solutions. Given the inefficiency of the government I don't see the sense of letting them control healthcare. It still has to be paid for just in a different way, thru taxes.

Arghhh! I keep hearing this horror story about people having long waits for treatment - but what they never say is that patients go through a triage system. Those in most need of immediate care move to the front of the line. Routine things like X-rays are not on long waiting lists - and as for the complicated things like surgeries, again, it depends on what the surgery is for. Cosmetic surgery is pretty low on the list. Heart surgery is right at the top. Along with maternity surgery and pre and post-natal surgery.

Wait times are thrown out of proportion, by people who are miffed because their surgeon doesn't think their case is the most important in the world. Yes, it's inconvenient to wait six months to get a knee replacement, but it isn't life threatening. And those are the kinds of surgeries that people are complaining about.

Inefficient workers? Not in any hospital I've seen. The staff - especially the nurses and doctors - do more than is called for, and do it better. General government bureaucracy? Nope. They're running a pretty efficient system. Over-crowded waiting rooms? The only place I've seen that is the emergency room in hospitals, after a major accident. Most people make appointments to see their doctors, so you don't have over-crowded waiting rooms at the doctor's office. Walk-in clinics sometimes do - again, it depends on what's happening.

My experiences with the health care system have been exceptionally good - and I've been around a long time - since before the health care system was initiated, so I have a good basis for contrasting the 'patient pay' versus 'social insurance pay' system.

Last weekend, I slipped & fell at Superstore on a wet floor. We left & bopped over to Concordia Hospital (I really hurt my wrist). Within 2 hours I had my x-rays & was on my way.

Also, if you want to know about the real tax burden in this country, check out the Canadian Tax Payers Association web site. They'll give you the real scoop. The upper class does not carry the load. It is mostly carried by the middle class in this country.

Sure, I've been in an overcrowded waiting room, but let's face it, if you live downtown, a Friday night when welfare cheques are out is a really bad time to go to the hospital....peeps bleeding all over the place, cops bringing in more.....in my city new facilities for Urgent Care have opened up to take some of that strain off of the actual ERs.

No, I don't have a family doctor. Too many other markets can afford to pay their doctors better, so it's difficult for a public system to retain doctors, especially when the US the sky is the limit for making coin off of illness is right next door.

From different internal memos etc leaked to the news, I will say there is much waste, bureaucracy, and even some stupidity & fraud in our system. But hey, we are talking about humans, there will be good & bad in all.

Our health care system usually receives negative media during elections, mainly because opposition parties try to put fear into people by saying our health care system isn't working.

As a whole, I'm quite satisfied with Canada's health care system. Of course you have keep in mind the Provinces are mainly responsible for providing health care.

Wait times aren't perfect, however we usually only hear of the negatives people have. Far more people have had a great experience with our health care with fast wait times.

It also depends on what your illness or problem is. If it's not life threatening, then you will most likely have to wait longer.

The 'tax burden' is felt by everyone. Everyone pays taxes which goes to fund health care. Personally I don't mind paying taxes in order to receive certain government benefits. I'd happily live in a place such as Denmark, where they have the highest taxes in the world, but get a great 'bang for their buck'.

EDIT: The biggest issue? Far too many people do abuse the ability to simply walk into a walk-in-clinic and see a doctor for minor sniffles and coughs. They tend to be the ones making others wait longer.

It's not impossible to get immediate attention, if you have a problem that needs immediate attention.

I once had cancer. They did a biopsy on Friday. The oncologist called me on Saturday morning telling me to get to the chemo clinic on Monday. That's pretty fast. Friend of mine went to his GP for what he thought was a minor problem. Three hours later, he was in a hospital bed.

On the opposite end of the scale, I've recently been told that I have arthritis in one hip and will need a hip replacement. That was what my GP said back in May, and he referred me to a specialist. I have yet to hear from that specialist that I have an appointment coming up, and his answering machine tells me I could wait a couple of years for any surgery. But while my hip might be uncomfortable, sometimes painful, and prevent me from doing some activities, it isn't going to kill me. That kind of wait isn't unusual, for things that have no genuine urgency to them, and the length of the wait can vary from place to place.

I needed an X-ray on this hip. My GP gave me a requisition form, I drove to the hospital, and the X-ray was done about an hour after my doctor said I needed one. For more high-tech stuff, the wait can be long especially if you're away from larger centres as I am.

I think the cost of health care in Canada is spread around fairly. Health care is administered by each province. In some, no one pays any premiums. In BC where I live, you pay about $60 a month for an adult, somewhat less each month for dependent children, but if you are low income there's a sliding scale for the premiums, all the way down to nothing at all if you are very low income. If you're working, $60 a month isn't much to pay to avoid the possibility of paying 2 years' pay if you ever need surgery, and it's certainly better than paying hundreds of dollars a month for coverage that might not even cover something you need.

The Canadian system has no such thing as no coverage for pre-existing conditions. I had complications resulting from my cancer treatment which resulted in me needing one minor and one very major corrective surgery some years later. In the US private system, those probably wouldn't have been covered.

It's not entirely clear to me why wait times are so long for some things, but a common scenario is doctors willing and able to perform more surgeries than they already are, and operating rooms with nothing going on in them, but because the budget for the year only pays for so many surgeries then that's how many get done even if there are more patients waiting that year. That kind of thing would be from the government mentality. Annoying, but on the whole I think the system works well.

We always have room for improvement in our system and strive to be the best we can be. Unfortunately for you the same doesn't seem to be the case in the USA. They seem to put fear into you that alternate systems are broke down instead of concentrating on fixing your system.

I have never had to wait to see a doctor, to see a specialist, get an x-ray, or in the emergency rooms. However, the worst horror stories I have heard are talking with friends in California who have had long waits in emergency, battles with insurance companies, and doctors who refused to see them.

We have our troubles, but I wouldn't even be sure they are the results of public health. Canada has the population equivalent to California. However we are spread out over 20 times the size of California. The general health care is also looked after by each Province, so divided by 10 ways. So when it comes to infrastructure and how many doctors it takes to take care of us, you are looking at a different structure. How far you would expect a patient to travel to a hospital, Doctor, or x -ray machine? You can decide to put an x-ray machine in every little town, and the one in the big city is going to be over used. Under private health system those x-ray machines would all be in the larger cities and not in the smaller communities 100's of km's away. So there you go, a line up and has nothing to do with public vs private health.

Last time I needed scans, I got them in a week.

I can call for a doctor's appointment for the next day or go to their walk in clinic and wait half an hour.

Last time we went to an ER, in inner city Toronto, on a Sunday late night, triage was at the door, then ten minutes later in depth. On a gurney in half an hour.

Chest pain gets you through that door in 30 seconds.

Last time someone needed to talk to a surgeon, it took two weeks, then two weeks for surgery. Chemo was after a month healing time and radiation a month's rest later.

Where do you guys get this stuff - apart from US citizens unwilling to share access to healthcare?

I don't pay tax right now. Still get top quality service.

Glad I don't have to deal with the US system. I just show my card and everything is taken care of [except the charge for the bedside TV.] No insurance companies making record profits by denying me service!

Montrealer here. I have found the health care in Quebec to be excellent. BTW, Canadian doctors and nurses serving with us and other soldiers in Afghanistan are the best ever! I've never had surgery here but I see a doctor monthly as follow-up to anorexia during my teenage years (rare for a guy) and occasional nutrition problems since. I have never had to wait more than half an hour. An x-ray could be done after a mere few minute waiting. Non-threatening issues can cause a delay of a couple of days for an appointment, much better than in the US.

I've never seen an over-crowded waiting room here, although it may happen. I used Chicago's Stroger publc clinic once for an urgent but non-emergency issue. Four hundred people were ahead of me and I had to wait about 7 or 8 hours.

My family is well-off. I don't see that our tax obligation for health as a burden or inordinately higher than those of lower incomes, who might receive no health care in the US.

For example, I attended the last 2 years of high school and then university in Chicago, where I'd have to wait a month or more for a routine appointment. A patient could die of old age while waiting for treatment in their ER.

A Chicago physician once called me at home to tell me to come in immediately after I had a physical. I was 20 years then, an athlete in great shape. He told me I had diabetes, very high cholesterol, super high blood pressure, and an irregular heartbeat. That news over the phone nearly caused me to have a coronary, but I told him that was impossible.

He double checked and discovered he had the wrong file. I think that covers your last question. . .