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I am type 2, but here in Canada my cost to buy Insulin is way lower, I have no medical plan and buy OTC about 4 months supply for $60 CDN. Also since I am diab

I am type 2, but here in Canada my cost to buy Insulin is way lower, I have no medical plan and buy OTC about 4 months supply for $60 CDN. Also since I am diabetic I have to have a yearly eye examination but it is free. So also for my visits to the Diabetic Clinic every three months where they monitor me. All my doctor visits are free, I have a general (family) doctor, heart doctor, urologist, kidney doctor all free to make appointments with. I do not know how I could afford medical help if I had to pay directly for it all. Yes, I have higher taxes, but I am 62. I have been paying taxes for decades. However, I have relatives in the US with low taxes but are now near bankrupt or are running out of health insurance.

UnFleshedOne 7y ago
The funny thing is, you probably are not paying that much more in taxes [0]: "The OECD analyzes the tax burdens of 35 countries, including the United States and Canada. According to its data, in terms of total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP, in 2010, the U.S. collected a slightly lower than average amount of taxes from its citizens ($11,365 USD per capita). Canada collected a slightly higher than average amount ($14,693 USD)." This is taxes per GDP, but marginal taxes are not that different either. [0] - https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/07/canadians-may-pay-more-taxes-than-americans-but-theres-a-catch.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/07/canadians-may-pay-more-taxes...
- gamblor956 7y ago
  A $3300 difference is a huge difference on a per capita basis. It's literally a 30% increase in tax burden on a per capita basis.
  - yellingdog 7y ago
    Though it is less than the $4k I pay per year to health insurance for a Bronze HDHP as a healthy 25-year-old.
    - xenospn 7y ago
      Not to mention your copay.
  - temp1831 7y ago
    Agreed, especially given that U.S. income per capita is higher, making it true that taxes are even lower for two people of equal income. The double-edged sword: when income per capita is higher, the price for healthcare rises too (demand for healthcare is extremely inelastic).
- xenospn 7y ago
  When I lived in Israel, I used to pay about $100/month in health tax in one of the highest tax brackets, and after that, the only expensive is hospital parking, which is usually reimbursed.
- cmurf 7y ago
  And even that's misleading because of the high deductibles of all U.S. plans let alone if you happen to get a so-called high deductible plan (that qualifies for a Health Savings Account). To see a paid for benefit, other than those PPACA requires they be provided at no addition cost from the get go, you pay the annual "tax" in the form of a premium and then you pay the deductible, and then depending on the insurance and provider it will pay 50% to 90%. I estimate I'd have to spend ~$10,000 out of pocket before the first dollar "insurance" would pay. Per year, as the deductible resets. Americans are consistently paying obscene amounts of money for no better results and in some cases, like the up thread type 1 diabetes example, vastly inferior.
docker_up 7y ago
Having employer-sponsored medical insurance is generally better than Canadian health care. I'm Canadian living in the US. Of course, having Canadian public health care is better when you don't have much money. I needed an MRI. I got one the next day through Kaiser. My friend had a suspected gallstone. It took her 4 months to get an MRI scheduled. She had to live with pain during those 4 months. Her children are both diagnosed with autism. It took 2.5 years to get therapy paid for by the government. The only other option besides waiting was to pay for therapy herself which was $80,000/year. She couldn't afford it so her children had to wait without therapy during the most crucial times for therapy. Recently, the Ford government decided upon spending cuts that will limit her youngest son with severe autism to 2 more years of care and then they get nothing. With Kaiser, they have a top standard autism program where children get instantly put into. My friend is a medical doctor specializing in this and he said the Kaiser program was great. When I told him that my friend had to wait 2.5 years in Canada, he was shocked and saddened for the children. Before the younger son could get diagnosed with autism, he had to undergo an MRI to ensure there wasn't anything specifically wrong with his brain. They waited 3.5 months, and then when they got to the MRI appointment, they were told their appointment was cancelled, and they had to wait another month. My aunt was scheduled for gall stone surgery in Toronto but it was also months in advance. One weekend she went to emergency because was vomiting from pain. They put her in a bed and scheduled her for surgery at the hospital. If she left, she would have to wait for the scheduled surgery but if she took an emergency room spot, she could get surgery sooner. She had occupy that bed for 1.5 weeks until they finally scheduled her for surgery, taking the place of other patients. We asked if we could move her to another hospital that didn't have the wait and they said no, she had to stay in that hospital otherwise she would lose her place. These are experiences just with people I know. I've lived much of my life with Canadian health care and I trust it. But what you don't pay with money you pay with time. I've found that most people in the US want government health care, but they also want a private option, which is untenable for such a large country, and illegal in Canada. They have a 2 party health care system in Australia but the quality difference is vast. With public and private, you can criticism that only rich people get the best health care but with a single public system, everyone waits. So there's no great way.
- lotsofpulp 7y ago

UnFleshedOne 7y ago

The funny thing is, you probably are not paying that much more in taxes [0]: "The OECD analyzes the tax burdens of 35 countries, including the United States and Canada. According to its data, in terms of total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP, in 2010, the U.S. collected a slightly lower than average amount of taxes from its citizens ($11,365 USD per capita). Canada collected a slightly higher than average amount ($14,693 USD)." This is taxes per GDP, but marginal taxes are not that different either. [0] - https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/07/canadians-may-pay-more-taxes-than-americans-but-theres-a-catch.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/07/canadians-may-pay-more-taxes...

gamblor956 7y ago
A $3300 difference is a huge difference on a per capita basis. It's literally a 30% increase in tax burden on a per capita basis.
- yellingdog 7y ago
  Though it is less than the $4k I pay per year to health insurance for a Bronze HDHP as a healthy 25-year-old.
  - xenospn 7y ago
    Not to mention your copay.
- temp1831 7y ago
  Agreed, especially given that U.S. income per capita is higher, making it true that taxes are even lower for two people of equal income. The double-edged sword: when income per capita is higher, the price for healthcare rises too (demand for healthcare is extremely inelastic).
xenospn 7y ago
When I lived in Israel, I used to pay about $100/month in health tax in one of the highest tax brackets, and after that, the only expensive is hospital parking, which is usually reimbursed.
cmurf 7y ago
And even that's misleading because of the high deductibles of all U.S. plans let alone if you happen to get a so-called high deductible plan (that qualifies for a Health Savings Account). To see a paid for benefit, other than those PPACA requires they be provided at no addition cost from the get go, you pay the annual "tax" in the form of a premium and then you pay the deductible, and then depending on the insurance and provider it will pay 50% to 90%. I estimate I'd have to spend ~$10,000 out of pocket before the first dollar "insurance" would pay. Per year, as the deductible resets. Americans are consistently paying obscene amounts of money for no better results and in some cases, like the up thread type 1 diabetes example, vastly inferior.

docker_up 7y ago

Having employer-sponsored medical insurance is generally better than Canadian health care. I'm Canadian living in the US. Of course, having Canadian public health care is better when you don't have much money. I needed an MRI. I got one the next day through Kaiser. My friend had a suspected gallstone. It took her 4 months to get an MRI scheduled. She had to live with pain during those 4 months. Her children are both diagnosed with autism. It took 2.5 years to get therapy paid for by the government. The only other option besides waiting was to pay for therapy herself which was $80,000/year. She couldn't afford it so her children had to wait without therapy during the most crucial times for therapy. Recently, the Ford government decided upon spending cuts that will limit her youngest son with severe autism to 2 more years of care and then they get nothing. With Kaiser, they have a top standard autism program where children get instantly put into. My friend is a medical doctor specializing in this and he said the Kaiser program was great. When I told him that my friend had to wait 2.5 years in Canada, he was shocked and saddened for the children. Before the younger son could get diagnosed with autism, he had to undergo an MRI to ensure there wasn't anything specifically wrong with his brain. They waited 3.5 months, and then when they got to the MRI appointment, they were told their appointment was cancelled, and they had to wait another month. My aunt was scheduled for gall stone surgery in Toronto but it was also months in advance. One weekend she went to emergency because was vomiting from pain. They put her in a bed and scheduled her for surgery at the hospital. If she left, she would have to wait for the scheduled surgery but if she took an emergency room spot, she could get surgery sooner. She had occupy that bed for 1.5 weeks until they finally scheduled her for surgery, taking the place of other patients. We asked if we could move her to another hospital that didn't have the wait and they said no, she had to stay in that hospital otherwise she would lose her place. These are experiences just with people I know. I've lived much of my life with Canadian health care and I trust it. But what you don't pay with money you pay with time. I've found that most people in the US want government health care, but they also want a private option, which is untenable for such a large country, and illegal in Canada. They have a 2 party health care system in Australia but the quality difference is vast. With public and private, you can criticism that only rich people get the best health care but with a single public system, everyone waits. So there's no great way.

lotsofpulp 7y ago