Nationalized Health Care

[lars573]

I'm a fairly recent addition to the backroom, but I must admit that I'm enjoying the discussions here very much. Recently I read a post in which the author expressed amazement that Americans don't even have free health care. This is a debate which has been going on for some time in America. The liberals often point to Canada and say that they want to create a national health care based on the Canadian system. The conservatives then point to Canada and say that their system is broken and worthless. They say that the wait to see a doctor is so long that for most ailments you will either get better on your own or develop a life-threatening crisis (which moves you up in line) before you see the doc. We are also told that in response to this, illegal storefront clinics have opened up in Canada to handle the overflow, and that the government doesn't force them to close because they realize that their own medical facilities are not sufficient. The upshot is that Canadians pay huge taxes to support National Health care, but then end up paying again at these illegal and unregulated clinics because they can't get access to the National Health Care. I'm not saying any of this is true. I'm only repeating the propaganda we are fed.

Italics: Myth number 1. That rarely (1 or 2 people a year) happens. Now I can imagine that opponents of socialized health schemes in the US would latch on to that. My grandmother needed to have plastic knees installed. Took 2 years for both. She had one done then waited about a year for the next one. She could still walk with a cane. She went and saw her orthopedic specialist every few weeks. My old supervisors wife had a tumour in her limphnodes. As soon as their doctor found it she was in surgery to remove it in the next 2 days. So you see my grandmother waited for a year so that poeple with cancer could get in their first.

Bolds: Illegal clinics? Myth number 2. Quebec has allowed a private surgery clinic in Montreal to open to handle some over flow. Nova Scotia has a private MRI clinic to open in Halifax. All of which opened with the Provincial governments permission.

The problem we have is, like Gorebag said, that doctors leave. So if you don't have a GP most (mistakenly) go to the ER. We have drop in clinics for those without GP's. But many don't know that.

I would like to hear from citizens of countries that do have a nationalized health care system. I would like to know how the system works. How do you go about seeing a doctor? Do you have your own doctor who is familiar with your history? Do you have to pay anything for medical care or prescriptions? How long does it take to get in? To see a specialist?

Canada's syetem is a public insurance scheme. Where each province runs a medical insurance program. That is funded by taxes and free of charge. The public insurance covers, GP visits, nessisary surgery, hospital stays in none private rooms, and covers part of perscription costs. You have to pay out of pocket for eye care, dental care, elective surgery, and the rest of perscription costs. Now if you work for a company that gives you a health plan most of these costs can be covered. My mom works for the school board as an EPA and gets blue cross coverage (reimburment) as part of her salary. For me to see a doctor is relatively easy. I call our GP office. Schedule an appoitment and go. If I didn't have a GP I'd have to find out where the drop in clinic is and go there.