Posted by Captin Cannuck on January 30, 2008 at 18:59:44:

In Reply to: Re: Universal Health Coverage needed posted by Barb (Seattle) on January 30, 2008 at 14:17:32:

Thanks for your reply. You have some valid points there. Certainly, Canada's system is not perfect.

WAITING.. YES, BUT NOT STRESSING WHILE I WAIT
I recently got a MMA operation, and I did have to wait for a while to get it. That was somewhat frustrating. It is not an ideal situation. I agree. Nevertheless, the only good thing is that I did not have to fight insurance companies for it. In Canada, there is a law which says we are guaranteed "whatever is medically necessary". As soon as my doctor said that I needed it, it was determined that I would be getting it. Then I began waiting. If you look at the other side of the forum, you will see that lots of my American brothers (and I love them btw - that is why I am writing this..) had to go through the whole game of the insurance company denying them, then they had to appeal, then fight... That takes lots of time. Many fight for a year or more anyway (same as the wait in Canada). It also takes lots of emotional energy to fight while you are sick. For me, I had sleep apnea. I can only imagine having cancer. I would have to fight the disease, worry about how I would make ends meet (Moore showed ordinary people who were bankrupted by illness), then fight the guy in the insurance company for the for the drugs I needed, or the operation that I needed. Imagine the conversations... "Sorry, Mr. X, we won't pay for treatment X, and will only pay for tretment y.. blah, blah, blah".. I wouldn't have the emotional energy to do that. No thanks!

UNIVERSAL SYSTEM MEANS MORE WAITING, BUT *WHY*?
As to the point you made about the longer lines, the counter-argument is that under a universal system, longer lines are only natural. If everybody (all citizens, rich and poor) is insured, then they they are all in the line. Of course, the line is going to be longer than if only 3/5ths of the citizens are in the line.

ABOUT WAITING IN CANADA
One more thing; About Canada, you have to understand that it is more complex than it might seem. In Canada, we have a shortage of doctors and surgeons now which exaserbates the waiting. Many Canadian doctors (my brother included) go to USA because of the opportunity to make a lot more money than they would in Canada. Instead of making about 150,000 dollars, if they go to USA, they can make perhaps double the amount. Their credentials are taken as equal, so all they have to do is pass board exams (doctors from countries other than Canada must redo much of their education). So, this makes the situation worse in Canada than it would be otherwise. In Europe, there is no such doctor shortage. A doctor in France will not make so much more money by going to Belgium, because Belgium also has a universal system. For this reason there is not so much strain on their system. If you want to draw conclusions, I suggest you look at European countries as a model.

GOOD FOR THE "AVERAGE JOE"
Another point that the film made is that the majority of people from all of the countries who had a universal system are healthier and living longer than Americans are. When the WHO evaluated nations with health care systems, the USA came in 37th. It seems that even the richest of Americans is not doing so well. Moore cited a British study that showed that all Britons, including even the poorest class were living longer than the richest class in USA. The same is true of the other countries. Their citizens can go to the doctor whenever they need to. Money is no obstacle for them to getting medical care. The point I am trying to make is that the universal system serves the silent majority of people much better than the private system does.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Universal Health Coverage needed BreathingEZ 16:50 1/31/08 (3)
  • Re: Universal Health Coverage needed Barb (Seattle) 12:00 2/01/08 (0)
  • Re: Universal Health Coverage needed Bird Watcher 07:43 2/01/08 (1)
    • Re: Universal Health Coverage needed Barb (Seattle) 12:04 2/01/08 (0)

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