Its not Canadas fault you live in the middle of no where. Typical maritimer, always wanting others to foot the bill for their lifestyle. When my conservative friend talks about the freeloading atlantic provinces I always defended them. You sir have just made me change my mind on that. I guess you are a bunch of ungrateful whiners. Is it canadas fault there's no more fish too?
I for one am glad that my taxes arent buying hospitals for 700 person rural hamlets on the other side of the country. Why should I fund that?
"I actually got a job in the US 'just' to get health insurance. Where I live the closet Canadian hospital is over an hour and fifteen minutes away, there is 1 medical center in my area, open 2 days a week"
Its not Canadas fault you live in the middle of no where. Typical maritimer, always wanting others to foot the bill for their lifestyle. When my conservative friend talks about the freeloading atlantic provinces I always defended them. You sir have just made me change my mind on that. I guess you are a bunch of ungrateful whiners. Is it canadas fault there's no more fish too?
I for one am glad that my taxes arent buying hospitals for 700 person rural hamlets on the other side of the country. Why should I fund that?
You sir are ignorant and uncouth at best. I would suggest you take your remarks for your fellow Canadians and place it firmly where the sun doesn't shine.
I see you refer to them as your 'conservative' friends hrmm? I'm guessing that would make you a more liberal minded individual? What happened to you folks being the compassionate and caring ones? I guess your just the exception to the rule? Or perhaps your just the SOP. You put on a good face for everyone to see, but when it comes to brass tacs you bare your teeth just like the rest of us. At least I'm not pretending to be something I'm not.
Oh and in regards to the last question of funding... you don't have a choice! That's the brilliance of Socialized Medicine, like it OR NOT your dollars are coming down here and paying for the care of individuals in this area. Wouldn't it be nice if you could have a say in that?
But then it wouldn't be socialized... guess it sucks when your opinion isn't heard eh? But if it makes you feel any better... I work on the American side of the boarder atm. I have American insurance... I assure you that exactly $0 of your hard earned cash is paying for ANYTHING that has to do with my health and well being. Just the way it should be.
See, I believe in freedom of choice. You shouldn't have to be paying for the medical care of people in my area... privatization would solve the issue. Logic Prevails again.
Not sure this is a true story. I have a relative in Thunderbay (smaller city in northern Canada) who did have an emergency issue and was having a possible heart attack. He went to emerge and was immediately helicoptered to a hospital in Hamilton (larger city in southern ontario) to get a heart by-pass surgery. So, everything went OK. He had his surgey and he's alive. All for free. So, as you can see, there are stories from both sides regarding the health care system here in Canada. Usually, from what I see, if you REALLY need medical attention, you WILL GET IT IMMEDIATELY.
I agree, there/are/ good stories in regards to Socalized Medicine. I find if something is an emergency... they tend to take care of it. But in my case where I needed diagnostic testing and the cause of my problem wasn't immediately available? There was a massive waiting list.
Also, a few years ago, my Grandmother was having heart issues. She was rushed from one hospital to another several hours away. Because the proper paper work wasn't filled out and she wasn't a resident in there service area... she was refused care with an extensive amount of paper work to be filled out. We spent the better part of 5 or 6 hours filling out forms before they would even put her in the Que for the ER...
So as you can see there are flip sides to the story. I just find in my experience and in my area there negatives are far greater than the positives.
Because the nearest Hospital for me is actually in the US. The nearest US Hospital is 45 Minutes away, as compared to an hour and fifteen minutes for the Canadian hospital. When you Heart is acting up? You don't screw around w/ lines on a map.
I contacted Canadian medicare and was told that the closest appointment they could give me was EIGHT MONTHS away. It would be another SIX MONTHS after the consult to have any testing I needed done then another SIX MONTHS to see the doctor for my results.
This whole post reeks of US FUD.
First off: you don't contact "Canadian medicare", there is no such thing. You contact your doctor who schedules you with a specialist.
Fact:I went to my doctor on a scheduled check up and because of some minor thing he wanted me to see a cardiologist. It wasn't an emergency and I was there in about 2.5 weeks. An emergency (your "ASAP" situation) certainly would have gotten you in faster.
Ok perhaps that wasn't the best terminology for this. I contacted the nearest Canadian Hospital in my area. The reason I contacted them? I don't actually have a family doctor on the Canadian side, because they're too over burdened with Patients.
Secondly, it's base on where you live in Canada. If you live in a major city center, or in one of the richer provinces, you WILL get better care than those of us who live in rural areas or provinces that have less resources. Larger populace in the area means you have more funding available means you have more hospitals in the area.
Where I live, I had a friend that waited six weeks to get an x-ray done.
Also I/AM/ Canadian... don't know how exactly I can prove it to you. Our current (and just re-elected) PM is Steven Harper. We have a LT Govern not a Vice President. LaCross is our nation sport, not Hockey as is the common misconception. The Royal Canadian Air Farce is having it's final season this year and I'm pissed... it happens to be my favorite show. TSN bought the rights to the Hockey Night In Canada theme, from the CBC. The Toronto Maple Leafs where just rated the most valuable Franchise in Hockey. Winnipeg used to have a Hockey Team (The Jets), who are now in Pheonix. I could go on... but well hopefully that proves the point.
This topic is one close to my heart... in several ways. I have very personal experience with Socialized Medicine. You see, I'm Canadian, for those of you not familiar with your neighbours to the north, we have a Socialized Medicine system. I've lived under it's jack boots all my life. I have too many stories to cover in this one post. In Canada socialized medicine is an unmitigated disaster.
Unless you live in a large population center or in one of the richer areas in Canada you won't get good care. Myself I live in a rural area in New Brunswick, and the 'health care' that Canada offers hear is unacceptable. I actually got a job in the US 'just' to get health insurance. Where I live the closet Canadian hospital is over an hour and fifteen minutes away, there is 1 medical center in my area, open 2 days a week. Only one of those days does a doctor actually operate out of the clinic.
I'll give you my own most recent experiences with that system. I was rushed to the near by US Hospital (thank you US Health Insurance), with heart issues a while back. Treated and released for my condition (Aterial Fib as it's called) a day later. I was instructed to see a Cardiologist ASAP to figure out what causes the issue. I contacted Canadian medicare and was told that the closest appointment they could give me was EIGHT MONTHS away. It would be another SIX MONTHS after the consult to have any testing I needed done then another SIX MONTHS to see the doctor for my results. Realize at this point I had no idea what was wrong with me... I could've been dead the next day from it. I promptly hung up the phone and contacted the nearest Cardiologist in the US. This was a Thursday... I was scheduled for the following Monday @ 8:30. I was taken care of and all prudent testing was done over the span of that week, and the week following. My condition identified and treatment was rendered.
I encourage people to debate me on Socialized Medicine, I'm all too well versed in it's use.
Frankly I can see how on the surface Socialized Medicine would look appealing to people, but once you get underneath to the meat of the matter... it becomes a scary reality.
The simple fact of the matter is in a socialist health care system you are at the mercy of the government in terms of your overall health care. I know too many friends and family that have been mistreated, and some killed by negligence on the part of the state in these matters. It is NOT a good system, in practice.
Slashdot Mirror
Its not Canadas fault you live in the middle of no where. Typical maritimer, always wanting others to foot the bill for their lifestyle. When my conservative friend talks about the freeloading atlantic provinces I always defended them. You sir have just made me change my mind on that. I guess you are a bunch of ungrateful whiners. Is it canadas fault there's no more fish too?
I for one am glad that my taxes arent buying hospitals for 700 person rural hamlets on the other side of the country. Why should I fund that?
Its not Canadas fault you live in the middle of no where. Typical maritimer, always wanting others to foot the bill for their lifestyle. When my conservative friend talks about the freeloading atlantic provinces I always defended them. You sir have just made me change my mind on that. I guess you are a bunch of ungrateful whiners. Is it canadas fault there's no more fish too?
I for one am glad that my taxes arent buying hospitals for 700 person rural hamlets on the other side of the country. Why should I fund that?
You sir are ignorant and uncouth at best. I would suggest you take your remarks for your fellow Canadians and place it firmly where the sun doesn't shine. I see you refer to them as your 'conservative' friends hrmm? I'm guessing that would make you a more liberal minded individual? What happened to you folks being the compassionate and caring ones? I guess your just the exception to the rule? Or perhaps your just the SOP. You put on a good face for everyone to see, but when it comes to brass tacs you bare your teeth just like the rest of us. At least I'm not pretending to be something I'm not. Oh and in regards to the last question of funding... you don't have a choice! That's the brilliance of Socialized Medicine, like it OR NOT your dollars are coming down here and paying for the care of individuals in this area. Wouldn't it be nice if you could have a say in that? But then it wouldn't be socialized... guess it sucks when your opinion isn't heard eh? But if it makes you feel any better... I work on the American side of the boarder atm. I have American insurance... I assure you that exactly $0 of your hard earned cash is paying for ANYTHING that has to do with my health and well being. Just the way it should be. See, I believe in freedom of choice. You shouldn't have to be paying for the medical care of people in my area... privatization would solve the issue. Logic Prevails again.
Not sure this is a true story. I have a relative in Thunderbay (smaller city in northern Canada) who did have an emergency issue and was having a possible heart attack. He went to emerge and was immediately helicoptered to a hospital in Hamilton (larger city in southern ontario) to get a heart by-pass surgery. So, everything went OK. He had his surgey and he's alive. All for free. So, as you can see, there are stories from both sides regarding the health care system here in Canada. Usually, from what I see, if you REALLY need medical attention, you WILL GET IT IMMEDIATELY.
I agree, there /are/ good stories in regards to Socalized Medicine. I find if something is an emergency... they tend to take care of it. But in my case where I needed diagnostic testing and the cause of my problem wasn't immediately available? There was a massive waiting list.
Also, a few years ago, my Grandmother was having heart issues. She was rushed from one hospital to another several hours away. Because the proper paper work wasn't filled out and she wasn't a resident in there service area... she was refused care with an extensive amount of paper work to be filled out. We spent the better part of 5 or 6 hours filling out forms before they would even put her in the Que for the ER...
So as you can see there are flip sides to the story. I just find in my experience and in my area there negatives are far greater than the positives.
Because the nearest Hospital for me is actually in the US. The nearest US Hospital is 45 Minutes away, as compared to an hour and fifteen minutes for the Canadian hospital. When you Heart is acting up? You don't screw around w/ lines on a map.
I contacted Canadian medicare and was told that the closest appointment they could give me was EIGHT MONTHS away. It would be another SIX MONTHS after the consult to have any testing I needed done then another SIX MONTHS to see the doctor for my results. This whole post reeks of US FUD. First off: you don't contact "Canadian medicare", there is no such thing. You contact your doctor who schedules you with a specialist. Fact:I went to my doctor on a scheduled check up and because of some minor thing he wanted me to see a cardiologist. It wasn't an emergency and I was there in about 2.5 weeks. An emergency (your "ASAP" situation) certainly would have gotten you in faster.
Ok perhaps that wasn't the best terminology for this. I contacted the nearest Canadian Hospital in my area. The reason I contacted them? I don't actually have a family doctor on the Canadian side, because they're too over burdened with Patients. Secondly, it's base on where you live in Canada. If you live in a major city center, or in one of the richer provinces, you WILL get better care than those of us who live in rural areas or provinces that have less resources. Larger populace in the area means you have more funding available means you have more hospitals in the area. Where I live, I had a friend that waited six weeks to get an x-ray done. Also I /AM/ Canadian... don't know how exactly I can prove it to you. Our current (and just re-elected) PM is Steven Harper. We have a LT Govern not a Vice President. LaCross is our nation sport, not Hockey as is the common misconception. The Royal Canadian Air Farce is having it's final season this year and I'm pissed... it happens to be my favorite show. TSN bought the rights to the Hockey Night In Canada theme, from the CBC. The Toronto Maple Leafs where just rated the most valuable Franchise in Hockey. Winnipeg used to have a Hockey Team (The Jets), who are now in Pheonix. I could go on... but well hopefully that proves the point.
This topic is one close to my heart... in several ways. I have very personal experience with Socialized Medicine. You see, I'm Canadian, for those of you not familiar with your neighbours to the north, we have a Socialized Medicine system. I've lived under it's jack boots all my life. I have too many stories to cover in this one post. In Canada socialized medicine is an unmitigated disaster. Unless you live in a large population center or in one of the richer areas in Canada you won't get good care. Myself I live in a rural area in New Brunswick, and the 'health care' that Canada offers hear is unacceptable. I actually got a job in the US 'just' to get health insurance. Where I live the closet Canadian hospital is over an hour and fifteen minutes away, there is 1 medical center in my area, open 2 days a week. Only one of those days does a doctor actually operate out of the clinic. I'll give you my own most recent experiences with that system. I was rushed to the near by US Hospital (thank you US Health Insurance), with heart issues a while back. Treated and released for my condition (Aterial Fib as it's called) a day later. I was instructed to see a Cardiologist ASAP to figure out what causes the issue. I contacted Canadian medicare and was told that the closest appointment they could give me was EIGHT MONTHS away. It would be another SIX MONTHS after the consult to have any testing I needed done then another SIX MONTHS to see the doctor for my results. Realize at this point I had no idea what was wrong with me... I could've been dead the next day from it. I promptly hung up the phone and contacted the nearest Cardiologist in the US. This was a Thursday... I was scheduled for the following Monday @ 8:30. I was taken care of and all prudent testing was done over the span of that week, and the week following. My condition identified and treatment was rendered. I encourage people to debate me on Socialized Medicine, I'm all too well versed in it's use. Frankly I can see how on the surface Socialized Medicine would look appealing to people, but once you get underneath to the meat of the matter... it becomes a scary reality. The simple fact of the matter is in a socialist health care system you are at the mercy of the government in terms of your overall health care. I know too many friends and family that have been mistreated, and some killed by negligence on the part of the state in these matters. It is NOT a good system, in practice.