5 ms·

And health care in Canada is a joke. Unless you have terminal cancer or close to death, good luck getting any specialist’s attention. You’ll wait for a year on

• lbrito 4y ago
  The system has serious issues, but I think you're being a bit too harsh. Trust me - I come from a country with a barely functioning single payer system, so my dynamic range here is pretty good. Family doctor crisis is real, there are absurdly long wait times and people suffer as a result. But some things are also top notch. My wife just had our first son a few weeks ago and everything was really good - and parts of the process that were free would be very expensive in other places.
  • enw 4y ago
    It’s relative. I’ve been in countries where the care is both top-notch, and you can get specialist attention and full-body checkups in a matter of days.
    • gautamcgoel 4y ago
      Which places?
      • tverbeure 4y ago
        Not the person you're replying to, but: Belgium. I haven't lived there for more than 20 years, but until 2000, one of their big issues were medical overconsumption. As in: there were too many doctors and specialists, and it was considered too easy to get medical attention. But for those who needed it, it was fantastic. And the quality of care that I experienced there was on par or better with what I get in the US. I don't think much has changed. I just went back, had a very minor medical issue, and within 2 hours after making my first call, I had see a primary care physician, who wasn't 100% sure, so she called in the specialist next door as well.
      • asdfdsfasdf 4y ago
        South Korea
    • z5h 4y ago
      Proper triaging and optimal utilization of resources doesn't imply you should be seen quickly. You should be treated at a pace that data shows is "good enough" given the severity and nature of symptoms.
      • deepspace 4y ago
        Exactly. Specialist wait times in Canada are often exaggerated by special interest groups. A few years ago, my family doctor noticed something concerning. I was seen by a specialist within a week, and was in the operating room a few days later. It was a potentially serious situation but not immediately life-threatening, yet I still received fast and efficient treatment. There are longer wait times for high-demand procedures affecting 'quality of life', but that is the nature of triage. The important part is that the whole episode cost me nothing more than a few sleepless nights, while a friend in the US who went through a similar process and spent a similar time waiting for surgery ended up with substantial medical debt.
• spaetzleesser 4y ago
  Come to the US. Wait as long and be ready to pay a ton of money.
  • protomyth 4y ago
    That's what a fair number of Canadians judging by the parking lot of the hospital in Grand Forks, ND.
    • spaetzleesser 4y ago
      I assume they don't have to deal with US health insurance and finding an in-network specialist.
      • protomyth 4y ago
        I think they pay cash, which cuts a lot of cost.
• kmonsen 4y ago
  Why does Canada not have private healthcare? I kind of like systems like uk or Norway where there is a free system providing the floor and a private system if you want better treatment. Both the Canadian and the U.S. system is a bit weird to me.
  • msbarnett 4y ago
    Broadly speaking, this is opposed in Canada by some due to the perception that the existence of a private parallel system will be weaponized to undermine the public system, as many feel has happened to the NHS in the UK.
    • lbrito 4y ago
      I'd say they have a point. Brazil, where I've lived most of my life, has had its single payer public Healthcare modeled after the UK, and the private healthcare sector which is supposed to be a "complement" to the "universal" public system, is instead parallel to and competing with it. This competition probably is an erosive force. Public Healthcare absorves the heaviest blows: expensive surgeries, cancer treatment etc are mostly or only done by the single payer public system, while private Healthcare enjoys mostly low severity cases.
      • cnasc 4y ago
        > Public Healthcare absorves the heaviest blows: expensive surgeries, cancer treatment etc are mostly or only done by the single payer public system, while private Healthcare enjoys mostly low severity cases. If there was no private system, the public system would pay for all of that. What you’ve described actually seems like it goes easier on the public system by allowing it to specialize on certain kinds of issues
        • lbrito 4y ago
          Except it doesn't; the public system also handles basic stuff like vaccinations, free medicine, first response, "walk-ins" etc. It has to maintain a huge infrastructure to keep those services - Brazil is a huge and extremely diverse country. The basics are actually the thing it does best; covid vaccination for example went well once the political stuff was handled.
• mushbino 4y ago
  I've spent $50k out of pocket so far this year on medical expenses that weren't covered by insurance. That doesn't even include other copay expenses. Had to cash out some 401ks early. Also, 44,000 Americans die every year due to lack of access to healthcare. I would gladly wait for over a year in a heartbeat for a cheaper and more fair system.
  • novok 4y ago
    He is comparing Canada's healthcare to other developed countries healthcare systems, not the infamously dysfunctional US one.
    • mushbino 4y ago
      Ah, that makes more sense. I couldn't imagine anyone envying much about our system.
• deepspace 4y ago
  That is just not true in my experience. I have had to see specialists three or four times in the past 20 years, and the longest I have waited for an appointment is 6 weeks.