Bass

hello all

we are having a discussion regarding heath insurance

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showt...&#entry16761385

and some say that you Canadians you have awful heath care, wait for days on end to see a doctor and get poor service.

I don

M1nk

I think it would difficult to comment on this as we dont have other health cares to compare with.

My family doctor only works 3-4 days a week with 6h per day. 10 yrs ago I could call up and go see the doctor that day. Now days you have to wait at least 2 days. Its not their fault though imo. They dont get much more $ if they work more and most doctors are doctors not because they wanted to help people, so if they dont feel like its worth to put more hours into their job.

As for Poor service, We have a choice on our family doctors and if need be, you can switch any time you want. I personally havnt had any problems with my doctor but it might be because i rarely see my family doctor

Matt

The Gent

I'm a very good hospital client (Snowboard, skateboard, mountain bike, hockey, fights). Let's just say that after several head commotions, dislocations of shoulder, cuts, mono, operations for tonsil and misc other stuff. The service was always very good. What I mean by good is; I always got a good/quick diagnosis and the services that follow.

I know some people have trouble finding a family doctor or getting an appointment but this can be resolved by semi-private clinic -- Not too expensive if you're in a rush. My parents once estimated how much it would of cost me for 1 year of hospital service and we where over 100 000$. I love the health care and I can't complain about the service.

My record is 6 hospital trips in 3 months (injuries). At one point in my life, I thought I had a curse because of frequent visits. I once dislocated my shoulder while sleeping and another time I got 6 stitches for trying to kick my gym towel off the treadmill (while running).

Fongu

Really depends on your perspective.

When you get injured or seriously ill, there is no worries about getting emergency care. Do I have insurance? Can I afford it? Not an issue. "Elective" non-critical gets pushed down on priority so there are waits for that sort of stuff.

This would be "bad" care if you're a rich/covered American that wants immediate service for anything. This is "incredible" care if you're poor or unlucky enough to lose your job/insurance. Boils down to if you think that if you think that every citizen has a right to a minimum baseline of care or that any particular citizen has the freedom to get the best care that they can afford.

Bass

Thanks for your feedback everyone!!

all we hear down here is it's so awful up in Canada - a government official will stand between you and your doctor etc etc

we do need reform down here because health care is so expensive many go bankrupt just from hospital bills

IanO

I've talked to quite a few friends south of the border about our health care. The conclusion seems to be that the minor delays that we face are nothing compared to the nightmares many people in the US have when dealing with HMOs and crap like that.

Unfortunately, I've spent a lot of time in hospitals here (not for myself). The care has always been excellent and when timing was critical the resources were made available in no time.

DDonovan

Funny this guy posted the same question in the BC forum...,