I read it a few years ago, waste of my time.
Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
- Thread starter buster
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I read it a few years ago, waste of my time.
A number of Canadians come to the US for medical care. Just recently BC allowed some of their citizens to drive down to get radiation treatment.
You probably know Americans go to Canada as well. My father went to Quebec for prostrate cancer after his Doctors here could not help. Canada saved his life; the medicine they gave him is now available here. Dad lived another 20+ years.
We have government paid health care, from the taxes we pay here in Canada.
But its very very slow.
There are also private medical places where we can pay ourselves to get stuff done, and its much quicker.
I didn't want to wait 2 years for a knee replacement, so paid myself to have it done. My heart surgery I paid for as well.
The public health system in Canada is a dumpster fire.
Many also come to Canada to buy their prescription meds, as they can be a lot cheaper.
I had my lasik eye surgery done in Mexico, as have many others I know.
Half the cost, and the Doc and nurse I had are both from Canada, who moved to Mexico for more freedom.
They did lasik surgery in Canada for years, before moving to Mexico.
The private insurance system in the US is as well.
True…. But government involvement has not helped anything either….
Remember….. you can’t involve 3rd party insurance and or Medicare or Medicaid and NOT expect prices to go much, much, much higher…
They will. All the time. Which has been the unexpected course over the past 60 years.
They can charge 3rd party insurance whether it be govt or private insurance way, way, way, way, way more money than they ever could an individual person.
And supposedl profit margin for health insurance companies is 2 to 4 percent… Not huge margins.
You pay 30-50 percent evil profit margins for fresh produce, meats, deli bakery, and frozen foods in your grocery store.
And that grocery store overall profit margin is 1.5 to 3 percent for a fiscal year.
No business is in business to break even or lose money.
And if you want to take your referee out of the match… total state control/ run will mean you have zero say.
I remember quite well when HMO care was getting quite ridiculous and guess what ??? People got their government elected officials involved to address that.
Which was good.
But if you allow total state control then you have removed your referee.
And if anyone thinks that process will change quickly…. Then I have Pacific Ocean front property for sale in Flagstaff AZ too.
Our (Canada's) health care is slow for non-urgent stuff (my friend waited years for a hip replacement) but quite good for acute stuff.
My argument in favour of a dual public/private system has long been that those who can afford to skip the long waits by paying for surgery in the U.S. or Mexico or Europe; why not keep the money here?
I'm not surprised you feel that way reading your posts.
So the system that many in America desire really is ....those wealthy enough get faster treatment...regular people wait and wait...who'd have thought that.
All Americans should have the same health care coverage as Congress....in fact they should have the same indemnity for sexual harassment...the same info for 'insider trading etc...etc...etc...I'm surprised so many here are OK that our 'public servants' have become our 'public masters'.
I agree to a great degree...government has done some good things but has also exacerbated many problems (the government has played a big part in the single parent family problem we face by rewarding woman without husbands).
Another example is sometimes minimum wage mandates have opposite effects than desired because of other gov't dictates...for example I read that when Seattle made a higher minimum wage mandatory a few years ago...many workers cut their hours back (from 40 to 30 a week for instance) so as not to lose their gov't benefits....nice.
As someone who just went on Medicare (which may be short-lived because NYC is trying to pawn off retirees into a Medicare Advantage plan to save money) I'm perplexed as to how the federal gov't is happy to pay private companies to take over their obligations....and that the private companies can make a profit doing it. The same goes for Social Security....how does the gov't run in the red from a program that collects money from workers all of their lives?....it's like a bookmaker losing money.
What alternative would you suggest? Obviously gov't can't handle it as I pointed out they are happy to give it over to private companies.
Thank you for this, Sometimes I am the odd one out on health care in other countries vs the USA as you can see by my posts.
I knew first hand some years ago but less than 10 years.
Motorcycle accident of someone I loosely knew up in Canada, cant remember the details all recovered still a nagging issue, they wanted to do an MRI. I was aghast that he was scheduled something like 4 or 6 months out. I thought I was being lied to or something but it was true.
I love the heath care system in the USA, private just plain works and this baloney you hear even in the UK, the wealthy go outside the system for medical care, dental care ect.
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6 month wait for an mri is normal in Canada.
But there are also private medical facilities where the user pays, and can get an mri in a week or two.
If a Canadian can afford to pay for treatment then it makes sense to. We don't generally have to travel to another country, most things can be done here, its just expensive is all.
But at least its a tax write off afterwards.
And importantly to, it shortens the wait times a little in the public health system because that person is now off the wait list.
I spent $17,000 of my own money to get my knee replacement surgery. But since it was a tax write off, come year end i paid less taxes at least.
Since I was on the wait list for a knee through the public system, when I chose to get my knee done at my own expense instead of waiting 2 years, I then called them and told them to take me off the list, which bumped everyone behind me up some, so it was a win win.
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Yeah, I think that was some of the posts made in here about health care outside the USA.
There is no need to go outside the system here, pretty much everyone has the same access and all get done in a relatively speedy time.
You confirm (dont know if you know that) part of the conversation here that people who can afford to go outside the national care systems in other countries but there is no need to in the USA, yet I get tired (I think you can understand) people in my own country talk about how great national systems are, yet yours seems typical and they do not understand that. Also thank you (sincerely) confirming the MRI comment I made.
In the USA I could have a million dollars in medical bills and my maximum exposure would be $4,500 USD.
Here are my bills for 2022 all USD
My cost for the year was $823 plus $72 for drugs, meaning this is what I paid out of my own pocket. Out of a "retail" cost of over $123,000
But my plan also included dental check up, cleanings, fluoride(no charge), vision (paid $300 for contacts not in above figures), gym membership (paid $1200 not in above numbers and over the counter items paid $400 not in above numbers) ALL no cost to me.
All procedures were done in a speedy time frame and with any specialist and hospital that I wanted. No one would have received treatment faster.
My plan is a bit better than my wife's company plan but still as good, she gets all the above but would have to pay up to $3000 for what I had and she would not got as much free stuff.
It is true if you dont have health insurance you would be liable for the retail cost in my case $122,752.17 USD
work/life balance and social safety nets and universal healthcare
Two different ways to run a country. I like ours where the opportunity for a Jeff Bezos to get rich while at the same time making life easier for the masses still exists.
Two different ways to run a country. I like ours where the opportunity for a Jeff Bezos to get rich while at the same time making life easier for the masses still exists.
same in Finland
How can a gym membership cost $1200? It really has to be a cool gym. That's almost double what I pay for unlimited sailplane flights and winch launches on my clubs fleet.
Yes, very cool, Orange Theory. You wear a heart rate monitor and goal is to run up to your age appropriate heart rate which is 220 minus (your age)
Two one hour HIIT classes a week 8 sessions a month, it's actually $1440 a year $120 a month. Ive been able to get up to 185 BPM as a peak, very rarely but wont say my age, but incredible for my age. My Typical is the 160s as a peak. I try to keep it lower but I get carried away. *LOL*
Very rare for a insurance company to pay for this gym
Group Fitness Classes & Heart –Rate-Based Interval Training
Join the Best Group Fitness Classes with Orangetheory — Workout Classes Designed to Give a Full Body Workout in a Supportive Environment. Try Us for Free Today!
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What I don't get is the people who drive to the gym.
Walk, run, or pedal to the gym in the fresh air, then maybe lift weights for 20 minutes in smelly gym air, and walk, run or pedal home, that i can understand.
But better yet is buy some home weights, or say a bowflex machine.
Go outdoors for a run, come home and do weights.
Walk, run, or pedal to the gym in the fresh air, then maybe lift weights for 20 minutes in smelly gym air, and walk, run or pedal home, that i can understand.
But better yet is buy some home weights, or say a bowflex machine.
Go outdoors for a run, come home and do weights.
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