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You are not limited to one country, and can sent samples anywhere. You may not like hearing this, but Canada is quite frankly underdeveloped when it comes to m

You are not limited to one country, and can sent samples anywhere. You may not like hearing this, but Canada is quite frankly underdeveloped when it comes to medicine overall, and diagnostic equipment specifically. I've been told by physicians who practised in some Canadian health systems that healthcare in Canada is quite cash strapped. 2 years wait for hip surgery, 6 months wait for MRI. This is apparently with close to 50% of government budgets dedicated to healthcare. Yet they have fundraisers for MRI equipment in hospitals, google it.

klyrs 5y ago
One of the challenges that Canadian healthcare faces is a political environment not unlike the US. We got "universal" healthcare, but right-wing politicians gut it at every opportunity. As a result, their constituents hate the system, and don't want to fund it because it's broken. Doctors and nurses can get better pay in the US, so it's especially hard to retain them. I know some nurses in BC, and the union doesn't really work for them, it's largely concerned with self-preservation. The whole thing is a hot mess.
mthoms 5y ago
>you may not like hearing this, but Canada is quite frankly underdeveloped when it comes to medicine overall Compared to who? What statistic are you “quite frankly” basing this on? Imperfect and underfunded? Absolutely. Has major flaws? Yup. But underdeveloped is a pretty strong (and needlessly inflammatory) word. > 2 years wait for hip surgery, 6 months wait for MRI. This is apparently with close to 50% of government budgets dedicated to healthcare. Sounds like your “source” is right wing media. Talking points. > Yet they have fundraisers for MRI equipment in hospitals, google it. In 40 years I’ve never heard of this. Maybe it does exist in some rural areas(?) but I’ve never heard of it. You know what I see literally every day though? Calls for supporting some “GoFundMe” page so a child can get their life saving treatment. Guess where? You’d think it would be some “underdeveloped” country but you’d be wrong. Google it.
- inter_netuser 5y ago
  Bitters pills are hard to swallow, indeed. These are all facts. Fundraiser for an MRI in the economic hub of Canada, Greater Toronto Area: https://hospitalnews.com/second-mri-offers-flexibility-at-mackenzie-health/ https://hospitalnews.com/second-mri-offers-flexibility-at-ma... "In April 2012, the hospital leased a second temporary MRI, offering more flexibility." "Mackenzie Health Foundation has launched “Picture This,” a fundraising initiative for the second, permanent MRI. The campaign has reached $3.9M toward the $5M goal." This particular hospital is located in an affluent area with home valuations north of 1M, within GTA, the largest economic hub in Canada. Basically as far as you can imagine from a "rural area". Canada ranks second to last in high income countries: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canada-s-health-system-ranked-second-last-among-11-countries-report-1.5533045 https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canada-s-health-system-ranked-... Drug prices second-highest in the world: https://www.benefitscanada.com/news/bencan/canada-second-highest-spender-on-generic-drugs-among-oecd-countries-report/ https://www.benefitscanada.com/news/bencan/canada-second-hig... 200-300k Canadians seek healthcare in the US every year: "A policy brief — titled Flight of the Sick , by the Calgary-based think tank secondstreet.org — says 217,500 Canadians left the country for health care in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. If those travelling with the patients are included in the count, the total rises to 369,700 people." https://torontosun.com/news/national/canadians-continue-to-leave-the-country-for-health-care-says-new-report https://torontosun.com/news/national/canadians-continue-to-l... Price in Canada: "Out of Ontario's total budget for 2021, health-care spending comprises about 37.5 per cent. Spread among the province's 14,755,211 residents, it works out to approximately $4,730 per person." Ok, close to 40%, not 50%. My bad. 40% of provincial budget is healthcare. Add disability benefits and it's over 50%. so ~400 a month? https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10359211-budget-2021-ontario-s-health-care-spending-compared-to-other-provinces/ https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10359211-budget-2021-onta... Price in the US: "Obamacare promises you won't pay more than 9.78% of your income a year, or $4,647.46, for the second-lowest Silver plan." https://www.thebalance.com/how-much-will-obamacare-cost-me-3306054 https://www.thebalance.com/how-much-will-obamacare-cost-me-3... https://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-health-insurance-premiums/ https://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-health-insurance-premiu... Roughly just as expensive as the US. GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/s?q=canada%20surgery https://www.gofundme.com/s?q=canada%20surgery 3440 results. Let's summarize: 1) drug prices almost as bad as the US 2) ranks second last in high income countries 3) needs donations for a permanent MRI, in a hospital that's right in the middle of a fairly affluent area in a large metro area. 4) 200k Canadians travel to get help outside the country every year. Apparently, no US citizens travel to Canada. 5) Costs roughly the same as the US, or maybe only slightly cheaper. 6) 3400 Canadians are raising money for healthcare, in a supposedly "universal healthcare" country. It's really quite an impressive stunt to combine high US prices with much longer wait times and worse outcomes. Congratulations Canada, someone must be making a killing.
djbusby 5y ago
I did, you're not entirely wrong, but not right either. https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/sudbury-hospital-s-mri-fundraiser-a-success-with-2-25m-final-donation-1.5471330 https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/sudbury-hospital-s-mri-fu...
- Auracle 5y ago
  84 days for an MRI? I’ve needed a couple before in the USA and they happened literally the same day.
Marsymars 5y ago
> This is apparently with close to 50% of government budgets dedicated to healthcare. Much less than that: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/201127/dq201127a-eng.htm https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/201127/dq201... 23% in 2019.
- inter_netuser 5y ago
  Healthcare is delivered provincially. Ontario spends 37.5%. Close to 40% i guess instead of 50%. My bad. Still a huge number which puts per capita insurance cost on nearly same basis as the US. See my other comment below in the thread.
  - Marsymars 5y ago
    > Healthcare is delivered provincially. Ontario spends 37.5%. Close to 40% i guess instead of 50%. My bad. Yeah, I mean, I know how healthcare is delivered, but the headline number should really be 23%, as that’s what it is across the various levels of gevernment, unless you’re specifying that you’re only talking about a specific level of government.

klyrs 5y ago

One of the challenges that Canadian healthcare faces is a political environment not unlike the US. We got "universal" healthcare, but right-wing politicians gut it at every opportunity. As a result, their constituents hate the system, and don't want to fund it because it's broken. Doctors and nurses can get better pay in the US, so it's especially hard to retain them. I know some nurses in BC, and the union doesn't really work for them, it's largely concerned with self-preservation. The whole thing is a hot mess.

mthoms 5y ago

>you may not like hearing this, but Canada is quite frankly underdeveloped when it comes to medicine overall Compared to who? What statistic are you “quite frankly” basing this on? Imperfect and underfunded? Absolutely. Has major flaws? Yup. But underdeveloped is a pretty strong (and needlessly inflammatory) word. > 2 years wait for hip surgery, 6 months wait for MRI. This is apparently with close to 50% of government budgets dedicated to healthcare. Sounds like your “source” is right wing media. Talking points. > Yet they have fundraisers for MRI equipment in hospitals, google it. In 40 years I’ve never heard of this. Maybe it does exist in some rural areas(?) but I’ve never heard of it. You know what I see literally every day though? Calls for supporting some “GoFundMe” page so a child can get their life saving treatment. Guess where? You’d think it would be some “underdeveloped” country but you’d be wrong. Google it.

inter_netuser 5y ago
Bitters pills are hard to swallow, indeed. These are all facts. Fundraiser for an MRI in the economic hub of Canada, Greater Toronto Area: https://hospitalnews.com/second-mri-offers-flexibility-at-mackenzie-health/ https://hospitalnews.com/second-mri-offers-flexibility-at-ma... "In April 2012, the hospital leased a second temporary MRI, offering more flexibility." "Mackenzie Health Foundation has launched “Picture This,” a fundraising initiative for the second, permanent MRI. The campaign has reached $3.9M toward the $5M goal." This particular hospital is located in an affluent area with home valuations north of 1M, within GTA, the largest economic hub in Canada. Basically as far as you can imagine from a "rural area". Canada ranks second to last in high income countries: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canada-s-health-system-ranked-second-last-among-11-countries-report-1.5533045 https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canada-s-health-system-ranked-... Drug prices second-highest in the world: https://www.benefitscanada.com/news/bencan/canada-second-highest-spender-on-generic-drugs-among-oecd-countries-report/ https://www.benefitscanada.com/news/bencan/canada-second-hig... 200-300k Canadians seek healthcare in the US every year: "A policy brief — titled Flight of the Sick , by the Calgary-based think tank secondstreet.org — says 217,500 Canadians left the country for health care in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. If those travelling with the patients are included in the count, the total rises to 369,700 people." https://torontosun.com/news/national/canadians-continue-to-leave-the-country-for-health-care-says-new-report https://torontosun.com/news/national/canadians-continue-to-l... Price in Canada: "Out of Ontario's total budget for 2021, health-care spending comprises about 37.5 per cent. Spread among the province's 14,755,211 residents, it works out to approximately $4,730 per person." Ok, close to 40%, not 50%. My bad. 40% of provincial budget is healthcare. Add disability benefits and it's over 50%. so ~400 a month? https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10359211-budget-2021-ontario-s-health-care-spending-compared-to-other-provinces/ https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10359211-budget-2021-onta... Price in the US: "Obamacare promises you won't pay more than 9.78% of your income a year, or $4,647.46, for the second-lowest Silver plan." https://www.thebalance.com/how-much-will-obamacare-cost-me-3306054 https://www.thebalance.com/how-much-will-obamacare-cost-me-3... https://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-health-insurance-premiums/ https://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-health-insurance-premiu... Roughly just as expensive as the US. GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/s?q=canada%20surgery https://www.gofundme.com/s?q=canada%20surgery 3440 results. Let's summarize: 1) drug prices almost as bad as the US 2) ranks second last in high income countries 3) needs donations for a permanent MRI, in a hospital that's right in the middle of a fairly affluent area in a large metro area. 4) 200k Canadians travel to get help outside the country every year. Apparently, no US citizens travel to Canada. 5) Costs roughly the same as the US, or maybe only slightly cheaper. 6) 3400 Canadians are raising money for healthcare, in a supposedly "universal healthcare" country. It's really quite an impressive stunt to combine high US prices with much longer wait times and worse outcomes. Congratulations Canada, someone must be making a killing.

djbusby 5y ago

I did, you're not entirely wrong, but not right either. https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/sudbury-hospital-s-mri-fundraiser-a-success-with-2-25m-final-donation-1.5471330 https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/sudbury-hospital-s-mri-fu...

Auracle 5y ago
84 days for an MRI? I’ve needed a couple before in the USA and they happened literally the same day.

Marsymars 5y ago

> This is apparently with close to 50% of government budgets dedicated to healthcare. Much less than that: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/201127/dq201127a-eng.htm https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/201127/dq201... 23% in 2019.

inter_netuser 5y ago
Healthcare is delivered provincially. Ontario spends 37.5%. Close to 40% i guess instead of 50%. My bad. Still a huge number which puts per capita insurance cost on nearly same basis as the US. See my other comment below in the thread.
- Marsymars 5y ago
  > Healthcare is delivered provincially. Ontario spends 37.5%. Close to 40% i guess instead of 50%. My bad. Yeah, I mean, I know how healthcare is delivered, but the headline number should really be 23%, as that’s what it is across the various levels of gevernment, unless you’re specifying that you’re only talking about a specific level of government.