What's considered acceptable medical care in your country?

[pubic_assistance]

1 hour ago, Rudynate said:

No place is perfect.  

All very true. But based on the little bit of inside information I get from my wealthy Canadian friends who are well connected with local leadership....things are not looking good up there. There are storm clouds brewing and they are also concerned about the future.

Personally I would move to Copenhagen if I were to plan an escape of the USA.

[mike carey]

7 hours ago, Rudynate said:

What I love about Canadians is that they are exactly like us and nothing like us, all at the same time.

Beautifully put, the same could possibly be said about Australians as well, but in both cases 'exactly like us' is a superficial judgment and 'nothing like us' exaggerates the differences.

[Luv2play]

On 10/6/2023 at 4:10 PM, pubic_assistance said:

All very true. But based on the little bit of inside information I get from my wealthy Canadian friends who are well connected with local leadership....things are not looking good up there. There are storm clouds brewing and they are also concerned about the future.

Personally I would move to Copenhagen if I were to plan an escape of the USA.

I think you are only getting  a one sided view of the situation in Canada. The experience I and my circle of froends and acquaintances is far different to the opinions expressed here. And I live in Ontario,  Canada's largest province. 

[Luv2play]

For an interesting look into the profit driven US health care system, read today's NYT on the look into the hernia repair business and the wreckage it has perpetrated on thousands of patients receiving treatment on the DaVinci robotic machines which doctors have trained for by watching Facebook instructional videos. Yeek. 

[pubic_assistance]

44 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

I think you are only getting  a one sided view of the situation in Canada. The experience I and my circle of froends and acquaintances is far different to the opinions expressed here. And I live in Ontario,  Canada's largest province. 

My friends in Canada have money. While most Canadians do not.

So yes...it's a viewpoint from a particular segment of society that your friends may not share.

[Luv2play]

4 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

My friends in Canada have money. While most Canadians do not.

So yes...it's a viewpoint from a particular segment of society that your friends may not share.

Most of my circle are well off financially and are of an age when they are encountering health issues which often require hospitalization and operations. Like myself they have good doctors both gp's and specialists to look after their concerns.

What one reads about in the papers is obviously true such as not everyome having a family doctor or waiting lines for needed surgeries. Our popularion is growing fast, I million immigrants in the last year, and doctors are not being replaced quickly enough. People who have been here all their lives tend to hang onto their doctors, like myself. I have no problem.accessing them when I need to. Newcomers are finding it difficult to do the same. 

However they came here knowing the situation and still chose Canada over the place they left. So that says something.

I think the impression people have looking on from the outside is distorted by the sensational stories they read about in the media. Those who are satisfied with their care rarely speak up about it and their stories are not covered.They wouldn't sell newspapers or get face time on TV.

[pubic_assistance]

11 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

I think the impression people have looking on from the outside is distorted by the sensational stories they read about in the media. Those who are satisfied with their care rarely speak up about it and their stories are not covered.They wouldn't sell newspapers or get face time on TV.

Likely true.

But my comment is about the direction of the country as a whole, not just about health care.

The rush to absorb refugees is overtaxing an already struggling system of public entitlement programs. Public Health-care is a part of that.

They have a bit of old-school family dynasty connections to local government and their concern is in reaction to whispers from within the system, not the news media's version of "offical" truth.

Edited October 30, 2023 by pubic_assistance

[Luv2play]

3 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

My friends in Canada have money. While most Canadians do not.

So yes...it's a viewpoint from a particular segment of society that your friends may not share.

I think it is an exaggeration to say most Canadians do not have money presumably to pay for such things as medical care. Because our taxes are generally higher than in the US, both income and sales taxes, which are imposed by both federal and provincial governments (except Alberta), people feel they are entitled to "free" medical.care in return.

The amount governments can direct to medical care is finite of course and there are many competing pressures to spend on orher programs. When we in Canada look to the south of us we see a society that is no better off in terms of health overall and in many way less healthy despite their much vaunted private medical system.

We also see shorter life spans in the US and much higher levels of obesity and other illnesses that aggravate health outcomes in older people.

Overall I like our system mainly because no-one goes to bed each night worrying about an illness that could put them into bankruptcy.

[pubic_assistance]

16 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

I think it is an exaggeration to say most Canadians do not have money presumably to pay for such things as medical care.

Correct.

But who suggested they didn't?

The presumption about Canada's public health system is that you simply need to wait for extended periods for surgical procedures and you don't have access to the best.

Not that you can't pay for it once you get it.

I assume all those who cross the border for premium care, do so with a fat wallet in their pocket.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

1 hour ago, Luv2play said:

I think it is an exaggeration to say most Canadians do not have money presumably to pay for such things as medical care. Because our taxes are generally higher than in the US, both income and sales taxes, which are imposed by both federal and provincial governments (except Alberta), people feel they are entitled to "free" medical.care in return.

The amount governments can direct to medical care is finite of course and there are many competing pressures to spend on orher programs. When we in Canada look to the south of us we see a society that is no better off in terms of health overall and in many way less healthy despite their much vaunted private medical system.

We also see shorter life spans in the US and much higher levels of obesity and other illnesses that aggravate health outcomes in older people.

Overall I like our system mainly because no-one goes to bed each night worrying about an illness that could put them into bankruptcy.

To the original question of "What is considered acceptable healthcare in your country?", It sounds like:

In Canada, it is acceptable to wait for months or years to see a new doctor or for a procedure.  It is acceptable to pay high taxes now for security to know you won't be hit with a surprise expense later.

In the United States, it is acceptable for patients to elect to pay for drugs, procedures, and doctors that may be out of network or not generic, if that's what better suits the patient.  It is acceptable to pay more out of pocket for healthcare because you've had the opportunity to work and save for it.  It is acceptable to forgo routine healthcare if the patient priorities spending co-payments on other aspects of their lives.

[CuriousByNature]

On 10/6/2023 at 1:10 PM, pubic_assistance said:

All very true. But based on the little bit of inside information I get from my wealthy Canadian friends who are well connected with local leadership....things are not looking good up there. There are storm clouds brewing and they are also concerned about the future.

Personally I would move to Copenhagen if I were to plan an escape of the USA.

I'm not sure that storm clouds are brewing, but Canada is not the utopia some people may think it is.  There are many good things, but especially if you are wealthy, white, have strong family connections, and live in a decently-sized city with available services.  I have lived here all my life, in various places both urban and rural, but I cannot see myself staying here once I get older.  While the medical care will never bankrupt you, you get what you pay for in terms of wait times, access to treatments, and general anxiety about finding a family doctor.  And the reserved nature of many Canadians means that it isn't very easy to get to know people, and for anyone who is single and living alone, this can translate to a feeling of isolation - even in big cities like Toronto and Vancouver.  If I stay in Canada, and if I assume I'll live into my elderly years, I expect to either check myself in to a care facility while I still have the capacity to do so - or risk being found dead in my apartment/house only after the smell starts bothering the neighbours.  I haven't lived anywhere else, but I could definitely see myself living in some parts of Europe where taxes may be higher but services are much better, or in Asia, where there is still a healthy respect for and acceptance of the elderly as valued members of society.   Of course there are many, many places where it is far worse to live than Canada, but I think Canada makes a fool of itself whenever it tries to come across as being superior to others - particularly in relation to our neighbour to the south.  We have many of the same problems but ours don't become the focus of global media attention like they do in the States.