Top recommended comments to NPR story about Canadian health care

I'm a Canadian citizen. I taught at 5 U.S. universities in 3 states (WV, Calif. and PA) over a 9-year period, & had health insurance at each institution. I'm back in Canada, where I was unemployed for 6 mos. before finding a job. Canada's system is better than that of the U.S. (the ONLY developed country lacking govt. health care). I saw few differences between U.S. & Cdn systems, except when uninsured in the U.S.! No Cdn. bureaucrat controls what doctor I see, whereas U.S. HMO's do tell people what doctor (etc.) to see. ER wait times were the same, & it was equally hard. to find a family doctor (good ones via personal contacts). I actually paid more out-of-pocket in the U.S. even with pretty good insurance, due to plans that paid "80%" up to certain amt., co-pays, deductables, etc. One year I paid %4500.00 out of pocket for MRI's and CT Scans in the U.S. My U.S. insurance co. required me to subst. a generic form of a name-brand pills. In Canada, the generics weren't available because Canada (or at least Ontario) requires a higher standard of bioavailability than the U.S., & I was back on the namebrands, which were better. I taught courses to U.S. nursing students, some of who were less qual. than any Cdn nurse I've encountered

 

Cris Kalangis (crisk) wrote:

In 2003 my father needed emergency heart by-pass surgery. He got it with no issues from one of the country's top hospitals. He recieved outstanding care before, during and after the procedure. He was a retired gentleman with no insurance. He didn't pay a dime. Why? Because he lived in Canada!

 

George Gekas (nicknora) wrote:

I’ll say it again. 

 

Why is this country so short on progressive action and long on hysteria and utter ignorance? We should be ashamed that we are even having this argument…and in front of the entire world no less. Canada is smarter, Germany is, France is, and the USA…well, just a bunch of dumb arse idiots. We are the laughing stock of the industrialized world, how embarrassing, embarrassing to call one’s self an American. Palin, Limbaugh, Beck, etc, the sewers of hate and disinformation, and ultimately the true subversives of democracy. We cower at the mere mention of the word terrorist, but here they are right in our midst, in our face, on the air, and funded in part by laxatives. Are they and their ilk who we really want as our collective voice? Get real.

 

And for those who are self employed and the rulers of their own creative domain; the artist, architects, inventors, musicians, the people who enrich our lives you better hope and pray every day that even with your expensive insurance policy you don’t become sick because the odds are stacked against you under the current health insurance system, not the health care system, but the system that is designed to take away all your dreams in the blink of an eye. Get mad.

 

If I sound pissed, well I am, and I make no apologies to anyone nor to this country, which I love dearly. Wake up, get in the street, and support your president who’s working his butt off to regain our rightful place as leaders in the world and as a nation of healthy, productive, and creative citizens. Get smart

 

Liz L (citygirl) wrote:

Only in the United States could we look at a system, our healthcare for example, that is far more expensive and much less efficient and call it the best in the world. 

 

I am not saying that universal/single payer is the answer our prayers and has no faults, but when you compare costs, life expectancy, infant mortality and see that we spend more, get less, have a lower life expectancy than France, Canada, Norway, Sweden, etc and have a higher infant mortality rate than Cuba, hardly the bastion of the wealthy, it only makes sense to least consider the option. That is unless you are bought and paid for by the healthcare insurance industry and big Pharma.

 

You would think the GOP and Blue Dogs would worry about the burden our businesses must bear that puts them at a competitive disadvantage with foreign companies that don’t have to fund the healthcare of their employees, but I guess not. Maybe they’re all bankruptcy lawyers on the side.

 

Lee Batdorff (Batdorff) wrote:

Who is paying for the apparently mis-informing ads being broadcast in the U.S.? It is likely the health insurance companies themselves, through proxies. Is it our health insurance payments paying for these ads? What about using the money to pay for the health needs of the people insured? Are these health insurance companies major backers of NPR? In which case don't look to NPR to cover this story.

Mon Aug 10 2009 14:02:49 GMT-0400 (Utech EDT (14))

 

Judi Grimsrud (JudiG) wrote:

Thank you for what I felt was a well-balanced perspective on the Canadian health care system. As a citizen of both Canada and the US and someone who has accessed healthcare services in both countries, my vote goes for the Canadian system. The only time I've had to ask permission to receive health services from a bureaucrat was when I lived in the United States. I chose a few years ago to move back to Canada with my young son. Among the reasons: more easily accessible health care with no concerns about how to pay for care as well as the education system. There are many things to like and admire about the United States; the healthcare system isn't one of them.

 

Kathleen Kelly (Turtlebox) wrote:

As an American living in Canada, all I can say is "THANK YOU NPR!" I have a six year old with a rare disease and we have had two years of top notch care in Canada without seeing a bill. Because I am self employed, I can never afford to return to the States because of my son's "pre-existing condition".

 

Here is a link to a video I made telling my story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TWuO5dBYjo

 

 

Iona Trailer (IonaTrailer) wrote:

All the people who are screaming they don't want socialized medicine should realize how many people already are covered by Medi-Care and the VA. 

 

I hope Obama doesn't whimp out and allow the insurance companies to derail this issue. They've already shown they can't be trusted with the public's health care.

 

 

robert hobbes (bobhobbes) wrote:

As a Canadian, I would like to add a personal perspective to this story. First of all, the notion that 1/2 of us are desperate for a private health insurance scheme doesn't wash; I don't know anyone in my extended family or network of friends for whom this applies. Dental care in Canada operates exactly like your health care system so we know how private insurance plays the game. I think the aformentioned statistic is suspect and should be fact-checked carefully. In all of my friends' and family's experiences with our medical system, there have been uniformly good experiences overall for a wide range of chronic and emergency related health issues. As an example, my cousin's pregnant wife had a health emergency which resulted in the delivery of twins at 9 weeks early. After a helicopter flight from Victoria over to the Vancouver Children's Hospital, the twins were kept in the preemie ward for the next 8 weeks with intensive medical care. Follow up care for the twins has been extensive and they are now healthy and hearty 11 year olds who do still have some minor underlying health concerns. Cost to family = 0$. Liklihood of coverage refusal or bankruptcy = 0%. Wait time = 0 days. The care is there when needed.

 

 

jc nettles (guade00) wrote:

about a year ago, NPR did a series of reports on health care systems around the world, which was instructive on how the US health care system might reform itself without "for-profit" insurance companies...

 

Germany: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91971406

 

France: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92419273

 

Switzerland: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92106731

 

Netherlands: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92641635

 

UK: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92067101

 

On the whole, the United States has the least desirable system.

 

Dave Thomas (Kryten) wrote:

I'm a Canadian who moved to the U.S. about eight years ago. The situation described in the story is very similar to my own experience and that of my family. My father, who still lives in Canada, suffers from a chronic condition which has required several surgeries and ongoing pain management. He has had no problems.

 

But there is one aspect of this which some reporters have hinted at, but which nobody has really explored: when I moved to the U.S., I was struck by the sense of fragility, the sense that everything could fall apart if one is struck with a serious illness or injury. This chronic worry is part of my life and probably most other people's (although, never having experienced life without it, most people probably don't notice it). This is just a slight, nagging worry that leads to changes in behaviour: for example, I don't change jobs without considering medical insurance.

 

One could probably make the argument that lack of universal healthcare is hampering the operation of the free market: employees do not move freely and probably stay in jobs where they shouldn't.

 

Dave G (DaveMG) wrote: