Doing very little in health care and pretending it's more... is a JOKE!

[glarius]

From where I sit it looks like what is happening with health care is that everyone is agreeing to as little as they possibly can, while trying to look as if they had really accomplished something. When all is said and done I wonder if you American people will actually have a worthwhile health plan. They are so afraid of becoming another Canada or Great Britain, where people are practically dying in the streets because of long waiting lists! What a joke!
In the first place they keep referring to our system as "government run". It is NOT run by the government! The doctors and hospitals and patients make all decisions and the government pays the bills! People are not waiting for serious or urgent operations.....Only for elective surgery.
Have you noticed you don't see Shona Holmes, the supposed victim of Canadian health care on TV anymore, spewing her lies. She was saying she would have died of a brain cancer if she waited for treatment here so she went to the Mayo Clinic and was saved.
In the first place she didn't have a brain tumor!. What she had (and the reason why she was given a few months to wait in Canada) was a condition called Rathke's Cleft Cyst, on her pituitary gland. "Rathke's Cleft Cysts are not true tumors or neoplasms; instead they are benign cysts." The medical community in Ontario, where she lives, knew this and scheduled other, urgent cases ahead of her for surgery....which is quite reasonable.
I have also read that she is allied with some group in Ontario that wants to get private health insurance going here.
The point I'm making is that your people deserve Universal Care like the rest of the civilized world.
Good Luck and God bless you!
P.S....My family has benefitted greatly from our Universal health. My husband with heart problems and cataract surgery. All taken care of. My brother who has been cured of colorectal cancer and has had leukemia in remission for years. All of this has cost my family NOTHING.
I know I've posted this message other times, but every time I see them on TV "fixing health care" I get worked up about it!

[redqueen]

1. "The point I'm making is that your people deserve Universal Care ..."

Damn right.

Sadly though, our country is run by the rich, for the rich... so it will take us a long time to get there, I think.

[Oregone]

2. As an American Werewolf in Canada...

I can't speak highly enough of the medical insurance system here. It does honestly make this whole reform in the US look like a debacle.

[Cleita]

3. You lucky Canucks you!

I actually have Medicare here in the USA that operates like yours does, but doesn't cover as much. However, I did get cataract surgery and colonoscopies when I needed them and I don't have to worry about going bankrupt if I really get sick. What we need is to extend that coverage that senior citizens get to everyone here. All working Americans pay into it with their FICA pay roll deductions. They should be able to have access to Medicare too. It isn't starting from scratch as has been claimed. It's already in place and operating. All that needs to be done is to expand coverage to everyone and maybe raise the p/r deductions a couple of points. Unfortunately, our politicians are owned by the health insurance industry so they have made something simple seem complicated and put a band aid on a wound that can't be covered by it.