This year I had the misfortune to get the flu… was worried that it might have been H1N1. I went to the emergency room in the suburbs of Toronto and prepared for a full day event.
Overall they put a ventolin mask on me and sent me home. 8 hours.
An emergency room is a huge event in Canada. Prepare to Camp out.
—–
Flash back to when I lived in Australia. I show up at the emergency room with stomach pains (it was my appendix). On the wall was a small arrow that could be moved to indicate the amount of time you would wait to see a doctor. It went from 0 minutes to 60 minutes. Currently it was set for 20. I was thrilled. I would NEVER expect 20 minutes in Canada at the emergency room. Even 60 minutes I’d be impressed in Canada.
And again, I was a student at the time on the most minimal of public health care systems.
Australia had an excellent combination of public health care which everyone had access to (including international students like me) and a private system (which many employers provided coverage for, or insurance could be purchased).
All of my Australian friends had private health care – which was truly amazing. But it seems like having a private system took a lot of the burden off the public health system. So when I went to the public system, the speed and service was great.
Canada has some good features, but have a look at some other places before concluding that our health care system would be a better option for the U.S.
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Here’s a good story. I love cycling. Unfortunately my knees don’t. I was having some problems so I went to see my local doctor who told me I’d have to see a specialist.
Unfortunately, our area didn’t have specialists. So what they told me would happen. They’d put me on a list for the specialist. Once there were enough names on the list, a specialist would come to our area. So I waited a half a year. No appointment. Eventually I moved out of the area.
During the wait period, I was told I should get an MRI on my knees. The hospital near my house spent years fundraising for a CT Scanner… years. And that’s what they bought. For me it is like saving up for years and years to buy a VCR when everyone is buying a DVD player.
So to get the MRI I had to wait for an ‘off-peak’ time to have it done.
Off-peak meant driving 120 miles to get to a hospital for my MRI appointment at 2 AM.
That’s Canadian health care for you.
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Here is an example of how the Canadian run healthcare system removes your choices.
A family member had a period in his life where he was struck with seizures … not certain if it was epilepsy. He had been taking medicines to help prevent the seizures, but some occasionally struck.
One particularly bad attack occurred a number of years ago. His convulsions took his breathing down to almost zero. His wife was fortunately with him, and grabbed a taxi to the closest emergency room. By the time he had arrived there, his breathing had stopped.
The emergency medical staff snapped to attention, and took extraordinary means to revive him.
I don’t know if you have dealt with someone after a seizure, but they are much disoriented. His wife, very relieved at the saving of his life, was planning to leave him at the hospital for observation.
However, local bureaucrat said that he was to leave immediately, stating, “Government guidelines do not allow us to give a bed to someone who has suffered an epileptic seizure.”
You might argue that you could be told the same by your US insurance company, but you have choices. You could pay for it yourself, argue with the insurer, etc. But in Canada, the hospital and all the doctors work, essentially, for the government. And they, not you, make the decision.
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This entry is very personal, so I’m going to leave out names and relations, but these are the facts and an example of what government run healthcare can mean.
A beautiful women turns 50 in Toronto. She has a husband, 2 children and a dog. Her son has just graduated from University and was married in 2007. Her daughter was just entering University.
Having worked almost her entire career at one company, she decided to take an early retirement, build a new home and relax.
Just prior to retiring, she visited her doctor in January 2007 and asked for a colonoscopy. Her concern: other family members had contracted colon cancers while still young. The government run medical system denied her request saying she is too young for a colonsoscopy and that colon canceers are not know to be hereditary. (Ah! government best practices saving taxpayer money!)
In December 2007, she saw her doctor for stomach pains and was admitted to the hospital for tests. The news was devastating: stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to her liver.
She faught on with her positive spirit that was like a ray of sunshine. Chemotherapy, radiation treatments. In February 2008, she suffered a set-back when her intestines developed a tear. She went into the hospital and passed away in late March 2008.
Too young, too old? When you have government setting best practices, making what are life and death decisions, and your choice is removed from the equation … the consequences can be fatal.
Government run healthcare can only control costs by controlling the supply of healthcare.
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My father is in his late seventies, and has been a very active person, golfing many times a week. He lives in Florida in the winter, and in Northern Ontario, Canada in the summer.
This winter, he began to experience considerable knee pain. When he returned to Canada in April, he made an appointment to see a doctor about the pain, and an MRI was scheduled — for July! — 3 months later.
Not willing to wait, my father left Ontario and paid a few hundred dollars for an MRI in May, and brought the results back to his doctor, who he will see NEXT WEEK! So 3 months to get an appointment to review the problem.
Based on the comments on the MRI, it looks like it will be arthroscopic surgery .. a few hour procedure.
His expectation (and I will provide and update when he finds out) will be yet another 3 month wait!
Even for full knee replacement in the United States, the average wait time is 3 weeks! So why would a much simpler procedure take 3 months after diagnosis, and 3 months to get the diagnosis (versus 2 weeks in the USA).
If suffering with aliaments for long periods of time while waiting in line for care is your prefernce, then you will like the current government healthcare proposal in the USA. If not, let’s look for other, more creative options to repair the “ills” of the US system
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