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FYI the above is american-focused healthcare language. There are no annual checkups in most other countries outside of certain age or risk groups. You might ho

by Jommi 4y ago

FYI the above is american-focused healthcare language. There are no annual checkups in most other countries outside of certain age or risk groups. You might however get a health checkup from occupational healthcare sometimes! Just putting this a note here for non-american readers so they don't get confused.

toomuchtodo 4y ago
Tangentially, it’s common for your employer’s health insurance provider to provide a discount if get an annual physical. Edit: (US specific)
- samsari 4y ago
  Again, this is very USA-specific.
throwaway1777 4y ago
That being said most people in America don’t get annual checkups unless they have issues either. And there’s also a school of thought that more preventative medicine would be a good thing, so maybe other countries should consider it.
roncesvalles 4y ago
My family doctor in Canada does an annual check-up (BMI, basic physical, blood and urine) that's covered by provincial healthcare. In addition, those over 50 get a colon cancer check every two years that used to be a full colonoscopy but now it's a new poop sample test. I'm surprised other countries with free government healthcare don't do that. I would assume it's more economical to detect signs of serious issues early.
- Semaphor 4y ago
  > I would assume So would I (Germany), yet it’s only one blood test every 3 years from the age of 35 on.
- digianarchist 4y ago
  Which province? I've never been offered this from my doctor in Ontario, in fact when I requested blood tests it was denied so I had to drive to the US to get my own.
  - roncesvalles 4y ago
    Yes, Ontario. You might need to shop around until you find a family doctor who "believes" in annual checkups. OHIP doesn't seem to object to it (except Vitamin D, which is now out-of-pocket).
- Jommi 4y ago
  You can look into the health benefits of annual checkups, there's a bunch of research showing that it's pretty much useless before say 50-60yo
mijoharas 4y ago
Yep, I had to Google PCP (I know one acronym PCP, and I was _fairly_ sure that wasn't what the commenter was referring to). Primary Care Physician for anyone else wondering (equivalent to a GP in England I think)
floor2 4y ago
That's kind of shocking to me. The normal narrative is about how much better the European model is for healthcare, but then you're saying it's missing one of the most fundamental and effective aspects of healthcare (preventative care & early intervention)? Do you go to the dentist for regular cleaning & exams or only go if you have a toothache? Annual checkups seem so critical to overall health outcomes- it's far better to catch cancer at stage 1 than stage 4, or to address blood pressure before having a stroke or heart attack rather than after, I'd have thought they'd be strongly prioritized and incentivized my government-controlled healthcare systems.
- OJFord 4y ago
  How many cancers are you going to catch at stage 1 with an annual BMI & bloods check-up?

by Jommi 4y ago

toomuchtodo 4y ago

Tangentially, it’s common for your employer’s health insurance provider to provide a discount if get an annual physical. Edit: (US specific)

samsari 4y ago
Again, this is very USA-specific.

throwaway1777 4y ago

That being said most people in America don’t get annual checkups unless they have issues either. And there’s also a school of thought that more preventative medicine would be a good thing, so maybe other countries should consider it.

roncesvalles 4y ago

My family doctor in Canada does an annual check-up (BMI, basic physical, blood and urine) that's covered by provincial healthcare. In addition, those over 50 get a colon cancer check every two years that used to be a full colonoscopy but now it's a new poop sample test. I'm surprised other countries with free government healthcare don't do that. I would assume it's more economical to detect signs of serious issues early.

Semaphor 4y ago
> I would assume So would I (Germany), yet it’s only one blood test every 3 years from the age of 35 on.
digianarchist 4y ago
Which province? I've never been offered this from my doctor in Ontario, in fact when I requested blood tests it was denied so I had to drive to the US to get my own.
- roncesvalles 4y ago
  Yes, Ontario. You might need to shop around until you find a family doctor who "believes" in annual checkups. OHIP doesn't seem to object to it (except Vitamin D, which is now out-of-pocket).
Jommi 4y ago
You can look into the health benefits of annual checkups, there's a bunch of research showing that it's pretty much useless before say 50-60yo

mijoharas 4y ago

Yep, I had to Google PCP (I know one acronym PCP, and I was _fairly_ sure that wasn't what the commenter was referring to). Primary Care Physician for anyone else wondering (equivalent to a GP in England I think)

floor2 4y ago

That's kind of shocking to me. The normal narrative is about how much better the European model is for healthcare, but then you're saying it's missing one of the most fundamental and effective aspects of healthcare (preventative care & early intervention)? Do you go to the dentist for regular cleaning & exams or only go if you have a toothache? Annual checkups seem so critical to overall health outcomes- it's far better to catch cancer at stage 1 than stage 4, or to address blood pressure before having a stroke or heart attack rather than after, I'd have thought they'd be strongly prioritized and incentivized my government-controlled healthcare systems.

OJFord 4y ago
How many cancers are you going to catch at stage 1 with an annual BMI & bloods check-up?