There are issues with the Canadian system. At the age of seventy-something, my mother does not have a primary doctor. A clinic is available but she doesn't go because she doesn't want to sit in a room full of flu patients. She's reasonably healthy but she's seventy-something and she has high blood pressure and arthritis. She should have a doctor.
When I spent a summer in Montreal, health care was available if the kids got sick, but a clinic visit was an all-mornign event. Nonetheless, primary care happened, I got a referral to the hospital when I needed specialist care, and though it was not glamorous or convenient it worked. Most of the horror stories you hear come out of Ontario, where the provincial revenues have been cut but a neo-con former premier and the infrastructure is pretty frayed. Most especially you hear them from places outside of Toronto, where the specialist hospitals and a lot of the equipment is. My mother lives in Ottawa and fits the pattern. Nonetheless. There are still clinics, you can still go to a hospital as I did when I fell off a neighbor's porch in Sault Ste Marie, and you will see a doctor. You might not get the tests you are used to getting in the US where they practice defensive medicine, but you will see a doctor. I had to get quite emphatic before I got an Xray and even threated to drive over the dridge to Michigan and tell the border patrol that I needed medical care, but they weren't sure how to treat me as I was not in the Ontario plan or any other plan either. It is important to note though that I did get the Xray and the doctor was right -- there was nothing wrong with the bone, just a huge hematoma. my .02 Dana On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 1:37 PM, Vivec <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > You know, I talk to Americans who are against any sort of universal health > care. > > However when I ask, "How do you treat with people that can't afford > health care.." > > They never have a good answer. Some are actually quite honest, and > what they say boils down to if you didn't prepare yourself > for your own healthcare...then you just fucking die. > > And hey, in a cold and capitalist society like the US, that's probably > an acceptable answer for the majority of the population. > > But, if you're answer isn't " Then they just fucking die.."....what is > your answer for dealing with those people that can't afford health > care? > > 2008/6/27 sam morris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > Canadian Health Care We So Envy Lies In Ruins, Its Architect Admits > > http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=299282509335931 > > > > What would drive a man like Castonguay to reconsider his long-held > beliefs? Try a health care system so overburdened that hundreds of thousands > in need of medical attention wait for care, any care; a system where people > in towns like Norwalk, Ontario, participate in lotteries to win appointments > with the local family doctor. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:263027 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
