I think most of us get as worn out by this after a while as I do. Not that we don't like our system, and think you deserve one like it and so you need to know the truth about it. We just have day jobs. ;)
There are several threads at DU with tremendous resources in them.
Here's one compilation:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=117&topic_id=3831Well shit. I don't know what's wrong, but none of the links to DU threads in that post are working. Anybody?
Anyhow, here's what I always offer as a primer for USAmericans:
http://www.newrules.org/equity/CNhealthcare.htmlAnd this one, a Washington state / British Columbia cost of living comparison that includes health care expenses (see "Taxes, public spending and private costs" near the beginning):
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/bc/wa-bc.htmlThis is my anecdotal discussion of my dad's recent experiences in our health care system:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=32286&forum=DCForumID60The update is that he was admitted to hospital in late January 2003 on the day I wrote that post, immediately after the biopsy that was taking place on that day, when his blood oxygen levels did not stabilize. He was 73. He remained in hospital until early March. He was determined to have bone cancer, and to have breakages in a shoulder and hip. He had radiation therapy, scheduled on 2 days' notice. He would have had an MRI, also scheduled on 2 days' notice, but his pacemaker prevented it. He was seen daily by at least one of the internist, oncologist and orthopaedic surgeon handling his case.
It was hoped that his pain could be managed (he was on morphine) and he could be released, to have chemotherapy and live a few months. Ultimately, because the pain was unmanageable and worsening, he was scheduled on a Friday for hip surgery on the Sunday morning, but rejected from the OR because his overall condition (I assume cardiac and respiratory) made him a non-candidate for surgery. On the Wednesday night he was delivered to my sister's house 30 miles away by ambulance, and we cared for him (hospital bed, morphine and pump, visiting nurse, even disposable sponges on a stick for keeping his mouth moist, and the same with mouthwash) until he died on the Friday afternoon.
We were left with a lot of questions. We had not been prepared for the suddenness of his death, or the nature of it (he was in severe pain and distress, but only for minutes). The funeral director whom I asked to preserve the pacemaker (some nurse had mentioned a rumour that it was malfunctioning) contacted the coroner. The coroner contacted me and heard our concerns, and ordered a post mortem. It was found that my father had metastacized melanoma involving all his major organs (because he could not have an MRI, this could not have been diagnosed) -- but actually died of a blocked coronary artery he did not know he had, because he had been physically active (bicycling) until a few weeks before being hospitalized and never had a symptom. A bizarre coincidence, and one of those blessings in disguise.
Anyhow, the out-of-pocket cost of all of this to my family was: ZERO. Not one penny. Oh, except that the prescription for sublingual Atavan to help him in the last two days wasn't covered by the govt. senior citizens' drug plan (which peeved me, because he was not conscious and therefore could not swallow the form that was covered), so it cost me about $25. And hospital parking can be a bit pricey.
Me, I don't go to the doc much. I'm supposed to benefit from my dad's post mortem by now getting myself checked over because the condition is hereditary ... but haven't. See -- even when it's free, people don't even use it when they should. ;) And although I badly need new glasses (about 4 pairs, my bat-like shortsightedness having changed with age so I need a different strength for about every foot distance from my face), I failed to use the health plan to see my optometrist for the last 3 years, and now the new Ontario govt. has de-listed optometrist services for adults, so I'll have to pay. Last time I did that (when the previous govt decided to cover adults only every 2 years, and I wanted to go in the off year) it was about $50.
But I could tell you about my co-vivant, who was diagnosed with Type II diabetes 3 years ago, and the couldn't-be-better care he has received since: from the doctor at the neighbourhood community health centre and the nutritionist and food-care provider there, the opthalmologist and endocrynologist he sees regularly, the cardiologist he has been seen by, and of course all the lab and cardiac tests he has regularly. We pay for the drugs (no employer or other group supplemental insurance), but for the expensive ones the clinic doctor gives him samples (her low-income patients are generally on drug plans as part of their social assistance, so she has spares).
And my mum, now 74, who was a patient at one of those "world-class" medical centres, an eye institute, for her glaucoma, until this spring when she decided to go to someone locally where she moved 2 years ago instead of driving back to the old home town for her quarterly checkups, and got an appointment on a couple of months' notice. She's trying to decide whether to have shoulder replacement surgery (a horrible bicycle accident when she was in her 40s), and has been told that she can expect it to be scheduled within 2 weeks to 3 months from when she decides (in the 905 area, the region on the outskirts of Toronto). She has also just switched to a dermatologist there for her regular skin-cancer checkups and treatments. She pays $2 per prescription (annual $100 max) for any medications (this is separate from the health plan itself).
Just by the bye, she lives in a govt-owned senior cits' apartment building, where seniors pay about 1/3 of their income in rent. A senior on the lowest fixed income (i.e. no private pension, no employment-based public pension, with all available supplements) gets close to $1000/month.
So I should answer your question. What do I think of our healthcare system? Wanna guess? ;)
If you want to read critical comment on the system
from the left, have a look here:
http://www.healthcoalition.ca/