Health Care

[black francis]

I keep seeing conservative sites going on about universal health care and point to the UK and Canada as what's wrong with the system. I'm curious what our UK and Canadian friends think about it.

For example:

Here I walked in to the doctor's office with bad low stomach pains and walked out minus an appendix. No wait at all.

I tore the cartilage in my knee and had an MRI a week later and started seeing a sports specialist a week after that.

If I need to see my doctor the wait is about 1-4 weeks.

Admittedly I've always been lucky with insurance as my former employer of seven years chose an amazing company for us and now that I'm married the missus' insurance plan is almost as good.

I'm not looking to talk shit or anything but I'm wondering about the real world situations you guys deal with.

[tonywojo]

ask red shes an expert

[crystal daze]

Until a couple of years ago I got through life without needing anything more serious than my wisdom teeth taking out in the 80's. They were not cutting through at the right angle, and were threatening to go through some nerves. The waiting list at that time was horrendous and I had to suffer for a year. Eventually I had 3 day stay in hospital in a wee room at the back of the A&E ward, where it was impossible to sleep at night with the arrival of the evenings drunken casualties. I think a lot of the horror stories of the NHS stem from that time period.

In the last couple of years I've had to attend outpatients very regularly, and the situation has improved vastly.
My main consultant regularly recommends checks and tests at other departments in the hospital. Whenever he recommended eg, scan, x-ray, heart monitor, the appointments usually come through within 2 to 4 weeks. For one of the major tests they got me the appointment within 4 days. All meds that I've needed have been provided free by the hospital's on-site pharmacy

Sometimes I visit an online group for people with similar problems. From there it seems the US members have a lot more worries about the financial burden of their treatment. Some have to get their insurance company to agree to pay before they agree to treatment, some have to share the cost and pay half with their company paying the rest, and it really adds to the stress of their condition.
However, I do think the US has more choice about visiting consultants in other areas than we do in UK. The US members frequently recommend specialists and experts to each other. With the UK NHS you are more or less allotted to your local hospital, and can't decide eg. that you prefer the clinic 50 miles away.

For routine GP appointments there are 5 doctors in the local practice. I can get an appointment within 1-4 days, but sometimes it can take a week if I'm being fussy and hold out to get a particular doctor.

I hope that's the sort of info you're looking for.

[Kounelaki]

It has been possible to see a doctor (GP) the next day in Canada, the UK and France. Have never had to wait for a particularly long time for surgery. My parents are retired and they pay an annual C$100 flat fee that covers all their prescriptions.

[JackT]

What bf is trying to ask is can he get his sex change in Canada.

[withahip]

It has been possible to see a doctor (GP) the next day in Canada, the UK and France. Have never had to wait for a particularly long time for surgery.

I just got back from dinner with four Canadians. They tell me a completely different story. As does a friend I know from Toronto. The wait times are often months to see a GP. There are regs on how soon cat scans can be given and other examples I can't recall off hand.

Mandate health insurance like they do car insurance and find private insurers to pick up those who need subsidies, strengthen antitrust enforcement, reduce wasteful testing, break up the cabals that the doctors and hospitals are forced to act as for insurers.

I thought I was for gov provided care but it is a train wreck in Mass, NY and Cali. It will simply be an extension of such on the national level.

[withahip]

What bf is trying to ask is can he get his sex change in Canada.

I think his man boobs look just fine.

[JackT]

I just got back from dinner with four Canadians. They tell me a completely different story. As does a friend I know from Toronto. The wait times are often months to see a GP. There are regs on how soon cat scans can be given and other examples I can't recall off hand.

Mandate health insurance like they do car insurance and find private insurers to pick up those who need subsidies, strengthen antitrust enforcement, reduce wasteful testing, break up the cabals that the doctors and hospitals are forced to act as for insurers.

I thought I was for gov provided care but it is a train wreck in Mass, NY and Cali. It will simply be an extension of such on the national level.

That is the worst joke I ever heard.

[withahip]

That is the worst joke I ever heard.

That's because nazis don't have a sense of humour.

[black francis]

What bf is trying to ask is can he get his sex change in Canada.

I already found a lovely kitchen in Mexico to have the work done and on the cheap.

[Kounelaki]

The wait times are often months to see a GP.

I find that really hard to believe. Where do they live?

[withahip]

I find that really hard to believe. Where do they live?

Toronto. Someone did say, though, the doctor is well known and very popular.

The Canadian emergency room stories, though, reminded me of when I went to the ER in the U.S. without insurance.

Three of the four have dual citizenship and simply say they are much happier with the service they get in the U.S. Their words, not mine.

[Kounelaki]

So if you have insurance in the States, you have a shorter wait in ER?

[Mr. Brian]

I think a lot of this just depends on the hospital system or insurance system you have and you can’t compare a Brooklyn hospital experience to one in Lincoln, Nebraska. Your ER experience and quality of care will also differ wildly from area to area even within the same city and will vary throughout the year and time of day, etc.

I do think that the unemployed, working poor and the middle class who don’t qualify for any kind of assistance because they are not poor enough need to have a viable affordable alternative.

[withahip]

I do think that the unemployed, working poor and the middle class who don’t qualify for any kind of assistance because they are not poor enough need to have a viable affordable alternative.

Exactly. Mandate as car insurance is. The subsidies will still hurt the gov's bottom line but competition stays intact. If there is a nat'l health care system, insurers, doctors, hospitals and so on will need to work together to beat a gov subsidized lower price. This is a violation of antitrust laws.

As far as Koun's question - the primary care of the uninsured is currently the ER. As one with insurance and a car, I have greater choice as to which ER I can go to or avoid the ER altogether and go to a primary car physician. When I was a college student my uni provided health care (gov provided) was too restrictive and covered too little for me to gamble on using it.