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Canada beats the US in just about every metric you can imagine... From infant mortality to overall patient (and doctor) satisfaction.

fleitz 9y ago
The US is dead last in the G20, Canada is 2nd last. Our system still sucks.
jedberg 9y ago
That's true on average. But if you split the US into wealthy and non-wealthy, the wealthy get excellent care and have better outcomes than almost any other country, whereas the poor fare significantly worse than even many 3rd world countries. That's why people get upset when we talk about this. Some wealthy people point out that their care is far better than Canada's (which is true) while other wealthy people who care about other humans point out that while their care is better than Canada, not everyone's is. And then of course the poor in America just want to not die of totally treatable diseases.
- fleitz 9y ago
  Exactly, so if you are a median Canadian you're getting very shitty healthcare compared to the median American. In Canada you still get really shitty outcomes for any chronic illness. Basically if any idiot can identify what problem you have heart failure, broken arm, profuse bleeding you get treated for free, and in a reasonably efficient manner. If you have anything that requires tests, scans, diagnostics, a specialist, or isn't going to kill you in the next week plan on spending 5 to 10 years on a waiting list / various waiting lists. My friend has been waiting 4 years for knee surgery that prevents her from working. One of the best things about having a private Dr in Canada is that they know how to work the system and will basically harass the list keepers to bump you up so that the keepers of the lists can go back to doing nothing. Also, most clinics have some sort of consult that you can opt for which makes the waiting list magically disappear. Get a out of pocket brain scan? Voila, brain specialist is available in 2 weeks instead of 2 years.
adventured 9y ago
Canada beats the US on infant mortality to such a degree because it's an anti-diversity nation that has historically been against allowing in poor, unskilled immigrants. Which is why Canada is only ~1.3% hispanic and only ~2.5% black. Let Canada take in ten million poor people from Latin America over the next two decades and let's see what happens to their infant mortality numbers and let's see what happens to their healthcare system (both in terms of wait times / rationing and cost). Right now people are getting upset in Canada about the tiny number of refugees trying to enter the nation across the US border. Now, multiply that by 30 or 50 fold for decades and watch the Canadian healthcare system implode.
- sctb 9y ago
  This is so not the kind of conversation we're trying to have here. Please comment civilly and substantively—don't start flamewars by making baseless inflammatory claims. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

fleitz 9y ago

The US is dead last in the G20, Canada is 2nd last. Our system still sucks.

jedberg 9y ago

That's true on average. But if you split the US into wealthy and non-wealthy, the wealthy get excellent care and have better outcomes than almost any other country, whereas the poor fare significantly worse than even many 3rd world countries. That's why people get upset when we talk about this. Some wealthy people point out that their care is far better than Canada's (which is true) while other wealthy people who care about other humans point out that while their care is better than Canada, not everyone's is. And then of course the poor in America just want to not die of totally treatable diseases.

fleitz 9y ago
Exactly, so if you are a median Canadian you're getting very shitty healthcare compared to the median American. In Canada you still get really shitty outcomes for any chronic illness. Basically if any idiot can identify what problem you have heart failure, broken arm, profuse bleeding you get treated for free, and in a reasonably efficient manner. If you have anything that requires tests, scans, diagnostics, a specialist, or isn't going to kill you in the next week plan on spending 5 to 10 years on a waiting list / various waiting lists. My friend has been waiting 4 years for knee surgery that prevents her from working. One of the best things about having a private Dr in Canada is that they know how to work the system and will basically harass the list keepers to bump you up so that the keepers of the lists can go back to doing nothing. Also, most clinics have some sort of consult that you can opt for which makes the waiting list magically disappear. Get a out of pocket brain scan? Voila, brain specialist is available in 2 weeks instead of 2 years.

adventured 9y ago

Canada beats the US on infant mortality to such a degree because it's an anti-diversity nation that has historically been against allowing in poor, unskilled immigrants. Which is why Canada is only ~1.3% hispanic and only ~2.5% black. Let Canada take in ten million poor people from Latin America over the next two decades and let's see what happens to their infant mortality numbers and let's see what happens to their healthcare system (both in terms of wait times / rationing and cost). Right now people are getting upset in Canada about the tiny number of refugees trying to enter the nation across the US border. Now, multiply that by 30 or 50 fold for decades and watch the Canadian healthcare system implode.

sctb 9y ago
This is so not the kind of conversation we're trying to have here. Please comment civilly and substantively—don't start flamewars by making baseless inflammatory claims. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html