Reply #64: If I could chime in here?

[NanceGreggs]

I'm an American living in Canada, and am part of the universal health care system here.

Healthcare here is administered on a province by province basis. I am covered by OHIP, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan. The plans are the same across the country, and if I am travelling in B.C. and need a doctor or a hospital visit, I am still covered by OHIP - just as a B.C.er would be covered by their plan here.

I do not pay any "premiums". There are no restrictions on anything, such as pre-existing conditions, etc. You cannot be turned down for ANY REASON.

The thing I find truly laughable about those who don't want certain people covered at their expense (smokers, obese, etc.) is that they are paying for these people anyway if they are paying into an insurance company for their coverage.

I work in Federal Court, and we share a courtyard with a MAJOR multi-national insurance company. The courtyard is filled at any time of day with employees who work there. As employees, the have healthcare coverage with thier employer company as part of their benefits. Many of them are SMOKERS, many of them are OBESE - and that's just the 'adverse behaviour' that a lot of people complain about that can be SEEN at first glance. So if your coverage is with this insurance company - or any other - you are paying to cover these people as well as yourself.

A few years ago, some people started campaigning here to exclude smokers from the healthcare system, saying they were a "drain" on the system, because they were more likely to run up medical bills over the years.

And then an accountant got the published numbers and did some crunching - he found out that the taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products ALONE generated enough money to cover every man, woman and child in the country - three times over.

Excluding anyone, for any reason, is NOT universal healthcare.