Canada: Ruined by Socialism
If you’re one of those gullible drones who believes everything the Republican Party tells you: Make sure you’re sitting down when you read this. Your favorite urban legends are about to go belly up.
Ready?
“From screaming babies to frail seniors, Canadian-born or recent immigrants, the patients flow continuously through the waiting room of Dr. Kamini Kambli's clinic. Most have made their appointments that day. None will receive a bill.”
But, but — What about all those Canadians who’ve been writhing in agony on the waiting room floor for the last 96 hours? And we all know about that five-year waiting period for a doctor’s appointment. (And that’s for emergency care.) A friend of mine’s roommate has an ex-coworker whose cousin went to Canada, and she said…
Canada’s system is called Medicare. But unlike the American version which only covers people 65 and over, Medicare in Canada covers the entire population.
Dr. Kamini Kambli said: “It’s one of the best systems in the world. Everyone is guaranteed health care and it does not matter if you're rich or poor or what your medical condition is — you will be seen and provided health care. How can you argue with that?”
Nothing’s perfect, and Canadians have their complaints. But right now they’re more pissed off at American insurance barons and their slanderous descriptions of Canadian health care.
Dr. Michael M. Rachlis said:
“We've heard talk in the U.S. that you may die here because of long wait times, you can't choose the doctors or the care you want and that the government makes your health decisions for you, but none of that is really true. I think there's a lot that the U.S. could learn from Canada.”
A recent survey in the U.S. shows that 52% are worried about not being able to afford medical care in the future. And 30% are worried about being driven into bankruptcy by future medical bills.
The insurance industry has spent billions of dollars trying to soothe the public and conjure up fears of a giant collectivist government swallowing up their country. And yet more than half of the population is worried about how they’re going to pay their future medical expenses. So many more people to brainwash, so little time.
FreedomWorks, tell your bots to man their battle stations. Time for a few more of those spontaneous town hall disruptions.
cross-posted at Bring It On!
Labels: Dr. Kamini Kambli, Dr. Michael M. Rachlis, FreedomWorks, Medicare Canada
posted by Tom Harper @ 5:12 PM
16 Comments:
That the health insurance industry has billions of dollars to throw against health care reform should piss everyone off. And wake them up as well. Because if they have that kind of money while most people are struggling, then they surely must be the cause of high health care costs.
It appears that our brothers and sisters to the north have got a handle on things, not only do they have a health care system that works, for the most part, for the majority, the vast majority of the population, but they have a banking system that hasn't needed a hand out from its government, in a year when 81 American banks have failed so far. So, when the republicans say: "we don't want to be like Canada", I say "whoa Nelly" let us give it a think.
Bureaucracy is Bureaucracy regardless where you are. Me? I would prefer a delay due to some paperwork then knowing it was purposely held up to fatten someone's wallet.
I was married to a Canadian. Once during a trip home, she got sick and went to a clinic. She came back 2 hours later with a diagnosis and some medication.
She only had to play a small copay.BUT! THIS HAPPENED ON A SUNDAY!
You would be hard pressed to name a place in the US where you can get regular care on a Sunday. Everybody here would have to go to an ER and get triaged, which means she would be turned away for not being serious enough.
Erik
"Everyone is guaranteed health care and it does not matter if you're rich or poor or what your medical condition is — you will be seen and provided health care."
There's the deal breaker for conservative Republicans. Imagine, it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor! Why, that's downright un-American.
It's . . .it's Canadian! It's French, German, Italian, Swedish, Spanish — anything but American.
I still say we freeze the health care that senators and congressmen have until we get covered. And you know this will not get better with more layoffs. I support a single payer with a public option, the socialist that I am.
In Canada, everyone gets free health care, but the citizens are alotted only five doctor visits per lifetime. So they never have to wait, because once they have used up their alottment, they simply don't go to the doctor anymore.
Seriously though, like S.W. said, the deal-breaker for the GOP is that someone, somewhere, would be getting something "for free". In Canada, health care is viewed as a right, not a privilege... and to most Republicans, health care, education, etc. are all considered a privilege. To the GOP, the thought of anybody, anywhere, getting something they "didn't earn" is anathema.
Thus, their attitude toward anyone they deem as "freeloading" is punitive.
Lew: It's too bad too many Americans are too dense to see the irony, that insurance companies have billions to spend on political bribery but no money to insure sick people.
Holte: A health care system that works, and a banking industry that didn't need a trillion dollar bailout? Sounds like communism to me :)
Erik: That sounds like a perfect example of what we could learn from Canada. Or I guess to a rightwinger, that would be an exmple of the creeping socialism that could destroy America.
SW: Yup, downright un-American. People getting medical treatment whether they're rich or poor -- perish the thought.
Demeur: I'm in favor of that too. Our tax money is paying for Jim DeMint's medical bills while he rails about "socialized medicine." What's wrong with this picture.
Snave: Peons getting free medical care? Not a chance. The only people in this country who get government handouts are CEOs who ran their companies into the ground and if they fail they'll take the whole U.S. economy with them.
I think it helps Canuckland that they aren't blowing a vast, humongous, colossal, giant chunk of their loot on fancy toys for generals and neocons who never advanced beyond childhood Cowboys and Indians.
Not that if the far-too-large blow-em-up budget were to disappear overnight, we wouldn't spend it on something else, like more maximum security prisons or something equally ridiculous.
I'm with Demeur. Look how old most of those congress-critters are! They'd NEVER get private coverage for less than 5-Large a month!
That said, I LOVE Canada. I think it is a beautiful country (what small part I saw - Vancouver, Victoria). It was simply lovely. The bus driver made sure to point out the low-income public housing in Vancouver - looked nicer than most of my middle-class Virginia neighborhood.
Randal: I think most Western countries (besides the U.S.) have Canada's attitude, that taking care of the citizens is more important than conquering other countries and inventing new weapons.
Bee: That's true, there are probably a lot of pre-existing conditions among those elderly rednecks who rail against "socialized medicine."
so true. isnt it interesting, how in america we have a right to own guns hence kill but not a right to be healthy. that is a privelege. so interesting...
Anonymous: Yup, we do have some strange priorities here.
I am a Canadian and Americans should know that we can go to any doctor or hospital that we want to. We can visit the doctor as many times in our lives as we want to. We are not prevented from receiving treatment because of pre-existing conditions. Our system is not perfect and we do have some wait times with some things but we are working to improve this. We never have to worry about losing our house because we have medical bills- cause we don't have medical bills. So please do not believe all the fear mongering that you are hearing about our socialist healthcare- it's great.
Anonymous: Thank you for reaffirming what I was already pretty sure of. A lot of people in England and Canada are getting fed up with all the lies being told about them by American insurance lobbyists. I don't suppose any of these lies could be considered slander or libel, since individual people aren't being attacked. But I hope more people in Canada, England and Europe will speak out and expose these lies and tell people that these rightwing scare stories are a crock of shit.
I am from Canada and for the most part I am pleased with our system – but I have never had any real health problems. It's a triage system and the call is made by the doctors not the government. My mother recently had her kidneys fail she was in a semi private room in a few hours – she’s 83. Dental is not covered, but my work buys insurance as part of my work benefit plan – basic coverage is available for $40 per month. It’s a huge expense and it’s not perfect but it’s a starting point. I am comfortable with the government running the system. But I have never known any other means of obtaining health care. What does bother me is the amount of people using the system for ailments that are in their control such as problems caused by poor lifestyles such as over eating, drug abuse, smoking, and alcohol abuse.
Coming from a Canadian: Universal Health care is not so bad! Our taxes are not drastically higher than yours in the US and our healthcare costs are lower(maybe because of fewer emergency room visits and hospital stays by those who've waited too long--and lower admin overhead because everyone gets accepted) If I get sick, it is my doctor who decides what care I get, not an insurance company I can easily go to the doctor for a routine checkup. I never have to fear being turned away due to a preexisting condition--in fact, that would be all the more reason for my doctor to SUPPORT more extensive services. There are services not covered...such as elective cosmetic surgery...no free facelifts. However, if you suffered accidental disfiguration, cosmetic surgery would most likely be covered.
...and Canada is NOT a socialist country. Doctor's offices and hospitals are privately run...they are NOT government facilities. The government is billed on a fee for service basis. Canadians pay health insurance premiums to their provincial government health plans. Here is a quote from the BC Medical Services Plan:
"In B.C., premiums are payable for MSP coverage and are based on family size and income. The monthly rates are:
$54 for one person
$96 for a family of two
$108 for a family of three or more ."
Don't knock universal health care. You never know when you or your children, or your neighbour's children, might need it!
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