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And this is in Canada, where the author's surgery and other medical care was covered in full by universal health care. Without that, her situation likely would

And this is in Canada, where the author's surgery and other medical care was covered in full by universal health care. Without that, her situation likely would have been far worse, and yet we can still do so much better.

microcolonel 8y ago
To be fair, this person would likely qualify for Medicaid in the U.S. Also, in Ontario there's a healthcare-specific tax which is not eligible for credits like normal income tax, but instead uses a standard deduction like the U.S. Federal income tax.
- scarface74 8y ago
  I use to work for a company that facilitated in home nurse care for special needs children. The majority of our reimbursements were from the government.
- bryondowd 8y ago
  The bar for Medicaid for a two person household in most states was $22,715. Pretty good chance she was over that.
SlowRobotAhead 8y ago
I was under the impression that Canada’s health system does have a yearly deductible for perceptions at least. $750 I thought. Edit: Yes, this was for BC or Alberta and is still the case in at least one of those.
- pcdoyle 8y ago
  It's different in every province. The Federal Government has a very narrow jurisdiction in Canada, and healthcare is not in it. In BC I pay for my prescriptions but it's heavily subsidized for most of them.
- hackermailman 8y ago
  Every province has their own system, some provinces extort their population with all kinds of fees/deductibles and some don't depending on how shady the regional ruling regime is. This article is about Ontario's system but there's much worse, such as looking up the FVRD's policy of ordering hospital beds be turned faster by using a taxi to dump patients, sometimes in different jurisdictions https://globalnews.ca/news/5033260/chilliwack-mayor-fraser-health-homeless/ https://globalnews.ca/news/5033260/chilliwack-mayor-fraser-h...
malvosenior 8y ago
If you are poor in the US your healthcare costs will mostly or entirely be covered. This includes major surgery.
- Spooky23 8y ago
  Not really, and it varies by state. When you show up with an emergent condition, you get treated and kicked out. We probably spend more money on Medicaid for babies addicted to opioids than it would cost to privately insure mothers.
  - rayiner 8y ago
    Every state covers mothers under Medicaid.
    - kaitai 8y ago
      Every state covers mothers who are poor (133% or less of poverty line) or mothers who are "medically needy" under Medicaid. You need to prove you're poor or medically needy to get Medicaid coverage.
    - Spooky23 8y ago
      Some states make it more difficult to enroll in Medicaid, and have reimbursement rates that exclude many from getting care.
- chimi 8y ago
  Which I never understood. USA provides free healthcare for people who are poor because they don't work and healthcare for people who are retired and don't work. But the USA does not provide healthcare for people who work and keep machine turning. Hmm... I wonder if it's a political lobbying by healthcare industry to get more money for people who wouldn't provide it on their own by extracting it from the tax payers who do work and can (barely) afford insurance, etc.
  - throwaway2048 8y ago
mabbo 8y ago
The smug Canadian "well, we don't have these problems here" look on my face dropped into a shocked one when I read that she lives in the same city as me. Probably one of my neighbors. Going to go make a donation to North York Harvest now. Seems like I don't understand poverty enough to say that it's not needed.
- jamiek88 8y ago
  Thank you. This was a real eye opener to me too which sounds fucking stupid in hindsight.
- throwaway2048 8y ago
  Canada definitely isn't mirror universe America where everything is good instead of bad, we have a ton of our own chronic social issues (such as housing affordability).
- durge 8y ago
  I lived in Vancouver, BC for three years having moved from Ames, Iowa. It was my first longish-term experience in a big city in which poor people are 'atomized' by their inability to make due in their current circumstances.The USA and Canada are big places, and I think that problems are more regional (varying widely intrastate/intraprovince) than the huge nets we draw around nation-states. My only takeaway from Van and Ontario are that Canada has a housing/employment location problem that needs addressing!
  - nojvek 8y ago
    I walked near East Hastings everyday in Vancouver. Most people were friendly, even poor ones. Not sure what they saw on my face, I’d get drug offers all the time (probably eye contact and a smile). I used to politely decline and they left me alone. This was different to my life in Australia. I was mugged and beaten a couple of times in Parramatta, NSW.
dominotw 8y ago
I recently lost my job. I have some savings to keep me going and work on side projects but COBRA is killing me with ~600/month. I only have a couple of months before I need to find a job, any job. I feel like this discourages ppl from working on their own thing and makes labor market less flexible by forcing ppl into less that ideal positions.

microcolonel 8y ago

To be fair, this person would likely qualify for Medicaid in the U.S. Also, in Ontario there's a healthcare-specific tax which is not eligible for credits like normal income tax, but instead uses a standard deduction like the U.S. Federal income tax.

scarface74 8y ago
I use to work for a company that facilitated in home nurse care for special needs children. The majority of our reimbursements were from the government.
bryondowd 8y ago
The bar for Medicaid for a two person household in most states was $22,715. Pretty good chance she was over that.

SlowRobotAhead 8y ago

I was under the impression that Canada’s health system does have a yearly deductible for perceptions at least. $750 I thought. Edit: Yes, this was for BC or Alberta and is still the case in at least one of those.

pcdoyle 8y ago
It's different in every province. The Federal Government has a very narrow jurisdiction in Canada, and healthcare is not in it. In BC I pay for my prescriptions but it's heavily subsidized for most of them.
hackermailman 8y ago
Every province has their own system, some provinces extort their population with all kinds of fees/deductibles and some don't depending on how shady the regional ruling regime is. This article is about Ontario's system but there's much worse, such as looking up the FVRD's policy of ordering hospital beds be turned faster by using a taxi to dump patients, sometimes in different jurisdictions https://globalnews.ca/news/5033260/chilliwack-mayor-fraser-health-homeless/ https://globalnews.ca/news/5033260/chilliwack-mayor-fraser-h...

malvosenior 8y ago

If you are poor in the US your healthcare costs will mostly or entirely be covered. This includes major surgery.

Spooky23 8y ago
Not really, and it varies by state. When you show up with an emergent condition, you get treated and kicked out. We probably spend more money on Medicaid for babies addicted to opioids than it would cost to privately insure mothers.
- rayiner 8y ago
  Every state covers mothers under Medicaid.
  - kaitai 8y ago
    Every state covers mothers who are poor (133% or less of poverty line) or mothers who are "medically needy" under Medicaid. You need to prove you're poor or medically needy to get Medicaid coverage.
  - Spooky23 8y ago
    Some states make it more difficult to enroll in Medicaid, and have reimbursement rates that exclude many from getting care.
chimi 8y ago
Which I never understood. USA provides free healthcare for people who are poor because they don't work and healthcare for people who are retired and don't work. But the USA does not provide healthcare for people who work and keep machine turning. Hmm... I wonder if it's a political lobbying by healthcare industry to get more money for people who wouldn't provide it on their own by extracting it from the tax payers who do work and can (barely) afford insurance, etc.
- throwaway2048 8y ago

mabbo 8y ago

The smug Canadian "well, we don't have these problems here" look on my face dropped into a shocked one when I read that she lives in the same city as me. Probably one of my neighbors. Going to go make a donation to North York Harvest now. Seems like I don't understand poverty enough to say that it's not needed.

jamiek88 8y ago
Thank you. This was a real eye opener to me too which sounds fucking stupid in hindsight.
throwaway2048 8y ago
Canada definitely isn't mirror universe America where everything is good instead of bad, we have a ton of our own chronic social issues (such as housing affordability).
durge 8y ago
I lived in Vancouver, BC for three years having moved from Ames, Iowa. It was my first longish-term experience in a big city in which poor people are 'atomized' by their inability to make due in their current circumstances.The USA and Canada are big places, and I think that problems are more regional (varying widely intrastate/intraprovince) than the huge nets we draw around nation-states. My only takeaway from Van and Ontario are that Canada has a housing/employment location problem that needs addressing!
- nojvek 8y ago
  I walked near East Hastings everyday in Vancouver. Most people were friendly, even poor ones. Not sure what they saw on my face, I’d get drug offers all the time (probably eye contact and a smile). I used to politely decline and they left me alone. This was different to my life in Australia. I was mugged and beaten a couple of times in Parramatta, NSW.

dominotw 8y ago

I recently lost my job. I have some savings to keep me going and work on side projects but COBRA is killing me with ~600/month. I only have a couple of months before I need to find a job, any job. I feel like this discourages ppl from working on their own thing and makes labor market less flexible by forcing ppl into less that ideal positions.