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As far as I am aware, we do not ration health care in Canada I was feeling weird about a year ago, visited my doctor, and requested a metabolic panel and some

by rdouble 17y ago

As far as I am aware, we do not ration health care in Canada I was feeling weird about a year ago, visited my doctor, and requested a metabolic panel and some blood sugar tests. A few weeks later, and about $10 out of pocket, I had my test results. (I paid about $200/m for health insurance at the time) My Canadian friends tell me this isn't possible in Canada. The doctor simply won't order the tests for you because tests are expensive. I'm curious as to whether this is widespread. If so, the Canadian health care system seems like the opposite of the American health care system. In the USA drugs are expensive but your insurance will pay for any sort of test. Indeed, doctors will over test you, or comply with any patient test request because insurance will readily reimburse them. From what I know about Canadian health care, drugs are cheap, but doctors are discouraged from doing tests due to the cost. I'm curious as to whether this is an accurate assessment of the Canadian system...

sh1mmer 17y ago
To play devil's advocate. Are you a doctor? Are you qualified to know if a metabolic panel is required? While I have to admit since I moved to the US (from the UK) my physician seem more free conduct things like blood tests than the NHS they don't any more free about it than BUPA my private health insurance in the UK. The main difference I see is that with my PPO insurance I'm free to willfully ignore my doctor's advice and take other actions if it suited me with the insurance footing a large part of the bill. That definitely isn't true in the UK (or on Kaiser actually). While I feel I'm an informed consumer of health care, I'd still rather be in a system where I don't need to go outside the system because the system is capable of looking after me adequately. And this is the crux, while it seems universal health care countries seem constrictive they provide for everyone. The real cost of being able to pick and choose your treatments, or take needlessly expensive treatment is insurance/medical costs that are beyond the budgets of 1/6th of the American population.
- rdouble 17y ago
  I'm not a doctor but I went to university and took chemistry, biology, mathematics and whatnot. I'm also an informed person who knows how to google "what is a metabolic panel" and understand the information presented. Considering this, I'm qualified to request a metabolic panel for myself. It's just a series of diagnostics and there's no reason not to have it done. The tests did indeed show the beginnings of a problem that is correctable but is harder to fix if I would have waited until actual clinical symptoms showed up. One problem with health care that is that the model of doctor as gatekeeper is not scalable. This problem will not go away with any sort of health care reform. There are simply too many humans in the world for there to be a reasonable patient to doctor ratio. You should be able to go into a booth at Wal-Mart and get a metabolic panel, celiac test, blood-born STD, and whatever else for between $50-$100. If something weird shows up you can schedule an appointment with a GP. The system now is the opposite, and is a waste of time for everyone involved.

by rdouble 17y ago

sh1mmer 17y ago

To play devil's advocate. Are you a doctor? Are you qualified to know if a metabolic panel is required? While I have to admit since I moved to the US (from the UK) my physician seem more free conduct things like blood tests than the NHS they don't any more free about it than BUPA my private health insurance in the UK. The main difference I see is that with my PPO insurance I'm free to willfully ignore my doctor's advice and take other actions if it suited me with the insurance footing a large part of the bill. That definitely isn't true in the UK (or on Kaiser actually). While I feel I'm an informed consumer of health care, I'd still rather be in a system where I don't need to go outside the system because the system is capable of looking after me adequately. And this is the crux, while it seems universal health care countries seem constrictive they provide for everyone. The real cost of being able to pick and choose your treatments, or take needlessly expensive treatment is insurance/medical costs that are beyond the budgets of 1/6th of the American population.

rdouble 17y ago
I'm not a doctor but I went to university and took chemistry, biology, mathematics and whatnot. I'm also an informed person who knows how to google "what is a metabolic panel" and understand the information presented. Considering this, I'm qualified to request a metabolic panel for myself. It's just a series of diagnostics and there's no reason not to have it done. The tests did indeed show the beginnings of a problem that is correctable but is harder to fix if I would have waited until actual clinical symptoms showed up. One problem with health care that is that the model of doctor as gatekeeper is not scalable. This problem will not go away with any sort of health care reform. There are simply too many humans in the world for there to be a reasonable patient to doctor ratio. You should be able to go into a booth at Wal-Mart and get a metabolic panel, celiac test, blood-born STD, and whatever else for between $50-$100. If something weird shows up you can schedule an appointment with a GP. The system now is the opposite, and is a waste of time for everyone involved.