Canadians and Europeans, what do you think of your national health care ?

by RubaDub 46 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  RubaDub

  We have been in a battle over health care for so long here in the US regarding public, private, gov't subsidized, Obama Care, Medicare for all, and just about every permutation of the above.

  We hear the horror stories here that people wait 20 years for a check-up (ok, bit of an exaggeration), but you get the point. One side tells us that Canadians flock across the border when they are sick and need to see a doctor. The other side says that is simply not the case.

  So tell us, if you live under one of the government systems would you replace it? Would you be willing to go the private route and pay for it yourself ($500, 1000, 1500 / month)? Obviously if you have a company health plan at your job, you are indirectly paying for it anyway since it is money that you otherwise would be taking home.

  Or is the assumed safety net of government-sponsored health insurance a more palatable choice?

  I really am not trying to inject politics into this (but I smell it coming) but just looking for actual, real-life comments, thoughts and experiences.

  As always,

  Rub a Dub
• 

  Giordano

  Our Medicare has worked very well for my wife and I here in the USA since we received it when we turned 65..... we are now in our 70's. We paid into it for some 50 years and I still pay for it.

  We pay 200 plus dollars per month for each of our medicare polices. At a certain level one's income is taxed. But that's fine because It covers everything with the exception of Dental.

  At the age we are now it would be impossible to get affordable health insurance.

  Medicaid is for people who are in the poverty level........... it is a big deal for children however it is not available in every state.

  One final thought...... all the undocumented workers who are employed by legal companies get a pay check that has been deducted for federal and state taxes, Social Security and health care which they will never receive.
• 

  DesirousOfChange

  [QUOTE] We pay 200 plus dollars per month for each of our medicare polices. ~ Giordano

  Giordano, if you are paying a premium each month, then isn't the coverage you have a Medicare alternative policy with a private insurance company? Here, we have such coverage with names as: "Coventry" "Essence", etc. In these cases, private insurance companies (United Health Care, Blue Cross, etc) have contracted with the Government's Medicare office to cover the insured person and the Gov't pays a monthly fee to the insurance company that is equal to the "average cost" the Gov't typically pays for a Male/Female of your age.

  MANY US Citizens who are 65 of older (or qualify due to disability) opt out of the Government Medicare coverage for such alternative policies thru private insurance providers. Once again, private business has shown they can make a profit at the same "premium" they receive from the Gov't.

  The Government is ineffective and more expensive at damn near anything they do.
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  I think it's good in principle.

  I'm a Brit, and I think our NHS is on balance good (free healthcare at the point of delivery).

  But there are serious issues that need sorting out. One issue is health tourists - foreigners who come to the UK, legally or illegally, just to have our expensive healthcare (free at the point of delivery), then they p*ss off home. This means that it's totally free for these people because they've not paid taxes. That needs to stop.

  Another problem I noticed when I was a hospital porter (2000-05) was the fact that there were 'too many chiefs and not enough Indians' ... meaning that we porters needed less management types and more blue-collar types getting stuff done. A related issue was that of some porters claiming overtime but fiddling their hours. This went on all the time - I personally witnessed it a lot. One porter's hours were supposed to be 9am to 5pm but he went home every day at 3.30pm. One day a week was our early day - we got to go home an hour early. This particular porter went home early at 3.30 anyway. On his early day he went home at about 3.15 or 3.20pm. But he always wrote his hours as 9-5 (and 9-4 on his early day). Millions of pounds must have been wasted like this.

  OTOH, I've benefited from the NHS in 2013 - after my first year of uni, I needed to go into hospital for 10 days or so. I was impressed with how good everything was - even the food was good, with vegetarian options, halal options, etc.
  
• 

  DesirousOfChange

  
  

  Love Uni -- what is the cost to the average citizen? Or, taxpayer? (There is a difference)
  

  Is it paid for by a VAT, income tax, what? What does it does it cost the "average" person?

  Are there "co-pays" or "deductibles" or is everything FREE?

  Are restrictions that prevent people from abusing it? For example, some here in the US that have free health coverage (Medicaid) will procrastinate taking their child to the doctor's office for checkups or early health needs and just go take them to the hospital (much much more expensive) because it's all "FREE" (to them). They have no incentive to do it the inexpensive route.

  "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." ~ Margaret Thatcher
  
• 

  Giordano

  Your Right DOC I think I slept in and confused two issues. What I should have said is that we pay taxes on our Social Security income because our private income exceeds a certain level.

  Our Medicare is coupled with a Private Supplement plan which extends coverage in those areas where Medicare drops out. Like longer hospital stays etc.

  We also have a drug plan that kicks in after we reach a certain out of pocket level.

  These are backup plans that kick in if a serious illness occurs. Its worth it to us to have affordable supplements.

  Private insurance companies compete in their pricing to provide a regulated standard level of coverage and some offer additional services. It is obvious those plans are profitable as every year we get a dozen offers from insurance companies.

  What medicare does is to set up what it will pay for health care, surgery etc.
  

  If the private practice takes medicare patients they have to accept the cost that medicare establishes. The good of this system is that more elderly people can get the treatment they need. Other wise if it wasn't regulated many more people would have shorter lives.

  The medical community gets a ton more business.
• 

  Biahi

  I heard of an Illinois resident (US citizen) who had no insurance but needed a lung transplant. The doctors asked for $500,000.00 UPFRONT to do the needed surgery. He, of course, did not have that much money, so he moved to Canada, became a legal resident, and got his lung transplant FREE from the Canadian government. I don’t think that was right, but I guess he did what he had to do to survive. I think the US needs national health care.
• 

  Xanthippe

  I find surgery under the NHS in the UK is excellent, I've had six operations. Good aftercare and generally compassionate nursing. For anything else I have found the NHS poor.

  I was subjected to two biopsies after a routine breast scan didn't look quite right. After waiting over a terrible Christmas holiday for the results, they told me everything was fine and it was probably moving to digital scanning machines that had given a false scan result! Try telling that to my teenage daughter who thought she was going to lose her mum after losing her dad!

  Mental health care is appalling. I know someone who was sectioned, put in a psychiatric ward for several weeks and basically was just fed and given somewhere to sleep. As if they were an animal. No occupational or talking therapy, only seeing their psychiatrist once a week, no treatment at all beyond anti-anxiety meds. Plus they are now on a list whereby they get called into see their doctor for a mental health check every year even though they have been better for years and they can never be taken off this list, it's the law. Like they are a sex offender!
• 

  redvip2000

  My parents live in Europe. They have national healthcare. When they need to go to the doctor, they make an appointment, go and pay close to nothing. It does take time to schedule an appointment, sometimes weeks, but this assumes it's not urgent.

  if it is urgent, then they can go to the emergency room, or go to an urgent care, or go to a private clinic. Even in a private clinic the prices are very low compared with the prices in the US.

  The issue with health care in the US is that prices are set with the expectation that the insurance companies will pay. This is why a hip replacement costs $35,000 +. If the health care providers expected the cost to be paid by the consumer, then it would cost as much as a TV. And this is generally what happens in Europe even outside of national health care.
• 

  shepherdless

  Healthcare in USA is ridiculously expensive in relation to the rest of the Western World, and people often argued that it was because there was no government healthcare system. However, from what I understand, a major reason for the additional cost is the litigious environment and the propensity for US civil juries to award huge amounts in punitive damages for medical malpractice.

  In Aust (which has what has been described as a hybrid public private healthcare scheme), due to various reasons, and various laws applying in various circumstances, there are no punitive damages, it is almost impossible to get damages for lottery ticket type numbers. Even negligence that kills someone might lead to an award in the order of $100,000 or so. Instead, a lot of effort is taken to ensure underperforming medical practitioners lose their right to practice. As a result, it seems healthcare is way cheaper.