4 ms·
Canadian here. Had a pain in my right side for about 3 weeks (thinking muscle pull). Called Doctor's office at 10am had appointment at 11am, had exam and refe
by canhe 9y ago
Canadian here. Had a pain in my right side for about 3 weeks (thinking muscle pull). Called Doctor's office at 10am had appointment at 11am, had exam and referred electronically to local hospital for X-Ray, had X-Ray at 11:45am, out the door at 12pm. Doctor called me personally the next day to say it's probably a muscle pull and call back in a couple of weeks if still sore.
$0 out of pocket, just showed my government issued card everywhere.
Couple of years ago my father was in an ICU for two weeks with Parkinson's related complications. That one had a $0 out of pocket bill as well. The ICU was in a world class university teaching hospital.
System works here. Sure people can cite edge cases, but they are relatively rare. The single payer, $0 out of pocket system also encourages pro-active care as opposed to waiting until the problem is severe, which in turn keeps costs down.
Wouldn't trade our single payer, socialized medicine for anything. There's reason why Tommy Douglas, the father of Canadian socialized medicare, was voted the greatest Canadian of all time by the public in a recent CBC poll.
(Shameless plug: software industry is booming in Toronto and there's lots of jobs. Just sayin'...)
- vkou 9y agoMy family lives in Canada. My grandfather had a heart attack when he was 84. My dad drove him to the ER, he got surgery, a stent implanted, a prescription, and follow-up appointments and care. $0 out of pocket for the hospital work, a small co-pay for the prescription. He also spent a few months on a waiting list for surgery. Cataracts surgery. They fixed him, he can now see better. Out of pocket cost? $0. The system works. If the trade-off for free life-saving treatment is waiting on non-critical surgery, it's a good trade-off. When you're ill, the last thing you want to weigh is whether you will put pay the heating bill, or the ER bill, or whether you should go to some other hospital, because this one will gouge you, even though you're in-network. The whole point of health insurance is that the healthy pay for the sick. We will all eventually be sick.
- refurb 9y agoSystem works here. Sure people can cite edge cases, but they are relatively rare. Not sure these are just "edge cases"... http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/patients-lives-ruined-as-hip-surgery-waits-grow-1.2976196 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/patients-live...
- toomanybeersies 9y agoKiwi here. Had a mate drop a ladder on my head and had to get my head stitched together. Total cost: $0, 9 stitches, and a lecture from the nurse on the dangers of drinking.