All health care systems, including the US ration resources on some basis. The ironic thing about the health care debate focusing on Canada and Britain as alternative models is that we are familiar with them because of linguistic and cultural similarities but neither are particularly well funded compared to other forms of universal access and while I would prefer either of them to what we have now, they are not the best that is possible.
Also, because of the EU, Britons are now traveling to the Continent to get better care from other national health systems (Belgium is poplular) and the National Health Service has to pay for it. Though I am politically in sync with M Moore I do think he is an idiot, even if a funny one. Nonetheless, Fresh Air did an interview with a political scientist who is a health care expert to do a review of Sicko, and though he had some criticisms, he says Moore "gets alot right about the American health care system." If you want a very smart and informed treatment of these issues, Jonathon Cohn's "Sick" (also interviewed on Fresh Air) Oh yeah, just to stay on topic, computers! on Fresh Air). ----- Original Message ---- From: Marcio V. Pinheiro <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 4:47:21 PM Subject: [CGUYS] Canada >I lived in Canada for 4.5 years and all my in-laws live there still. > >Canada's health system is different than >ours. They have mandatory health insurance, but >the province administrates the health insurance >so it makes sure everyone can afford it. I do >not know how much it is but it is less expensive than ours is. Much less expensive and offers universal access >Doctors get paid the same way they do down here, >fee per procedure. However the rate of >reimbursement is lower, and it is negotiated >between the Doctors and the Provincial health insurance authority. Not much lower. Doctors are private, that is, not employees of the system and the canadians can choose them. A psychiatrist makes a little less but he doesn´t have to spend administrative costs that they spend in America dealing with managed care. >The biggest difference is with the >Hospitals. Hospitals in Canada are flat >funded. They do not get paid by stay or >procedure. Plus each hospital may have one or >two big machines to use (CT Scans, MRI's >etc.) My father-in-law had tot ravel 200 mils >for his angioplasty as the only hospital in his >region to perform that procedure was 00 mile >way. He must travel 60 miles or 90 miles for an >MRI as those are the closest machines. He has a >local hospital that is quite large but it has no >MRI machine as it has not been funded or it. Yes, Canandians sometimes have to travel to get the examinations but this is not the rule. >Canada limits it health spending by Rationing >health care and procedures. This sounds >terrible to us, but they have made it work. If >you are sick you will get treated,but they do >not do hip replacements on 90 years olds. In the USA things are also rationed. When I was a psychiatrist working in America managed care restricted a lot what I wanted to do for my patients in termos of lenght and frequency of sessions, hospitalizations, etc. It was terrible. >I know this first hand. My first child was born >in Canada. He was born with congenital heart >problems that necessitated his treatment both in >the local hospital and the Children's hospital >in Toronto. He never lacked for care. His >doctors were mainly US born and trained >Doctors. We never doubted that they did all >that they could for him. I also never saw a >bill!!! If I had been living in the states, I >would have been bankrupt with medical bills, >even though I had Med insurance. (I was in my >first placement after seminary making little or nothing.) Many in the US go bankrupt. The US is the only country or almost that doesn´t consider health care a right. >The biggest difference between many of these >countries and ours is that they have taken the >profit motive out of it, and made work, but >they also practice a form of rationing that we may not be comfortable with. I am not sure. When you talk about rationing it sounds like a bad thing. But in terms of dollars and cents the Canadian System has to make sure that the tax money is well spent. In the US the private sector has a lot of rationing by the insurance companies. And then there is the case of the ones who don´t have insurance and have to use the Emergency Rooms to have care when things go out of hand. Isn´t this a form of rationing? A perverse one? >We like our medical care when we want and it and >how we want it. That will not work in those type of systems. Well this only applies to a portion of the US population. Don´t forget that there are 45.000.000 uninsured Americans... > Regards Marcio ************************************************************************ * ==> QUICK LIST-COMMAND REFERENCE - Put the following commands in <== * ==> the body of an email & send 'em to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <== * Join the list: SUBSCRIBE COMPUTERGUYS-L Your Name * Too much mail? Try Daily Digests command: SET COMPUTERGUYS-L DIGEST * Tired of the List? 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