Life's necessities are :Food, clothing, shelter. Healthcare comes in a distant fourth.
I think they are linked together in ways that cannot be so easily defined. My uncle is dying as we speak - he has fought cancer for a number of years and slipped into a coma. He is in a Canadian hospital right now. Just as he slipped into his coma, my aunt suffered a heart attack at his bedside and was ambulated to a major hospital for heart surgery. My uncle no longer has any concept of food or clothing. Shelter is the hospital he is dying in but the most important thing for him at this moment is the healthcare that he is receiving. Ditto for my aunt. The support she will need after her surgery both mentally and physically will be there for her - and that is not a distant necessity.
A good friend of mine who just turned 59 had a colonoscopy last year. She thought she was out of the woods...but she was just diagnosed with cancer in both lungs. She is at home, pumped up full of meds. In asking these questions of her - she has no interest in food. Clothes mean nothing and she has shelter. The healthcare she receives cannot be severed from the other 3 life necessities, because the quality of life she has over the next few months has everything to do with that level of health care and very little else.
No one has ever said there should be a 'free' ride for anyone. The Canadian system is built on a number of systems. Your basic immediate healthcare is provided for through your tax dollars. All of the people above, worked all of their lives but at least now, they are not shackled by the fear of all consuming debt and worry from not having the money for their care. In the Canadian healthcare system, cosmetic surgery is not paid for. Lasik surgery would not be paid for. Your physical exams are. Your heart surgery is. Your emergency room care is. Your blood work is. Many employers offer private benefits in addition to wages as incentives and these benefits cover things like eye glasses, dental work, chiropractic care, medical massages and so on. If you don't have additional benefits then you pay for those things. If you are low income or senior or a child, then those things will be covered through our health care. Additionally, if you have the money, you can also seek private medical health outside the country if you choose. Additionally, the government of Canada in conjunction with the hospitals of some northern USA states, will set up a system whereby the US hospitals will take on some of the patients that require various surgeries. This accomplishes a number of things - it reduces the backlog of patients in Canada and provides more $$ for the USA hospitals.
sammieswife.
