5.2. Re: XVP: Re: Are you being cheated on Full Pay Video Poker?
Date: Sun Aug 12, 2007 2:50 pm ((PDT))In a message dated 8/12/2007 12:52:19 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
bornloser1537@yahoo.com writes:If you were seriously ill or opting for elective treatment, i believe that
you would not want to
be forced to use the health system that the Canadian government so
generously provides for
its citizens.I lived in Canada for thirteen years and I believe I got as good medical
treatment as I would have here in the US or better. I had a neurological
problem in an elbow and had two surgeries by the top neurologist in Canada (so
named in an article about a woman he saved at some point with a brain tumor and
a
baby on the way) and it cost me not one penny.If you have immediate problems, you can usually get immediate care.
This is consistent with most of the reports I've heard of medical care in Canada -- the problems in countries with socialized medicine are in the area of "elective" treatment. The waiting list for total joint replacements can be quite long. A friend in England with a non-emergent kidney stone was scheduled to have it removed, was "bumped" by emergency surgery, and had to wait another six months to get re-scheduled.
If we ever go "socialized" or "single payer" in the U.S., it will be interesting to see if Americans will appreciate health care for all and full access to "necessary" care enough to offset these inconveniences and delays. Most Americans right now would not consider a wait of a year or two for a total joint replacement to be acceptable.
Of course, in all these systems, there is an unapproved "private" health care system going on as well - in which you pay out of pocket and you don't wait (it's those in the public system who wait, while your doctor takes care of the private pay patients -- a necessity for financial success in medicine in these countries).
Many Canadians are cared for in U.S. border communities in the American health care system - for "elective" procedures. And physician shortages are worse in these countries than in the U.S. (surprise - the market works!), making access to non-urgent care even more difficult.
But again, as I hear it, urgent care is provided in a quality and timely manner.
And let's not forget the important thing, the thorough way in which they inspect their video poker machines!
--BG
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