Angela, a bit curious if this post had anything to do with Michael Moore's latest film (Sicko)? He asks the same "what if" question throughout in his examination of the US "health" system in comparison to those of Britain, Europe, and Cuba. I guess you guys are looking again at the possibilities for pushing change with the political landscape that's about to be rewritten there. Good luck with the election; and may the leaders be granted wisdom enough to make the tough decisions that need to be made. I'm from Australia and thanks to the vision of two left of centre Federal governments back in 1973 and 1983 we have what was essentially a universal health scheme when it was conceived http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(Australia) What we have now in fact (I think in no small part due to pressures from outside by huge transnational pharmaceutical and HMO companies; and pressures within from a decade long, now passed, era of highly conservative government) is a mixed system that is neither fish nor fowl; but I'd say, from what I've read and heard in the media; one that's still a hell of lot more equitable than the "user-pays" variety you guys have in the States. Sorry if this comment causes offense ; but that's how things seem looking from this distance at least.
Our system is still far from perfect though! There are long wait lists in for some procedures (eg THR, TKR). Sadly health outcomes for the original owners and custodians of this land, it's indigenous peoples, are a long way from where they should be. Most medications ARE within the reach of people on social security benefits (we call these newstart and aged care pensions), so our older folks don't have to drive to other countries to get their pain medication prescriptions filled! We do pay relatively more in income tax (now around 30% PAYE) to support this "socialist paradise" LOL. It would have made a lot of sense for Dental services to be included when the scheme was drawn up- given the strong correlation between dental problems and poor health outcomes for folks at the lower end of the income spectrum. There are still wide discrepancies in rural and urban health outcomes as a result of differences in equity of access to services. We do not do enough in the areas of Public Health, Service integration, and preventative health. Mental Health services (where my partner works) are poorly funded in comparison to other OECD nations. Fundamentally though, it's probably fair to say that the citizens of this country feel that health is such an important area that the government must have a critical central role to play in both the provision and regulation of services. I can't see a national government getting any kind of change to this principle up anytime soon, as it would spell certain electoral suicide. Soooo, the big health companies can go on and on about how the private sector is the only way to get innovation; and people here will just go "so what? we DON'T want to end up like America". It's pretty much that black and white (except maybe for right wing think tanks/extremely hard line economic rationalists) Anyway to get back to practicalities, a story by way of illustration: when my partner broke her ankle last year there were no out of pocket expenses for the high quality care she received. Not necessary for us to use private health insurance as all her medical, nursing, and allied health services were obtained though a local public hospital - we had to wait about 30 minutes to be seen at Emergency and that was on a moderately busy night. In fact the only cost was the yearly ambulance subscription we pay ($110/yr for family cover) as that guarantees no out of pocket expenses for any ambulance call outs including (and I hope we never need it!) air ambulance. She was seen by an outpatients PT for gait retraining and once the plaster was off - ranging exercises on 6 different occasions - all part of the care package. Hope this helps, happy to talk more about any of this - as it's a fascinating exercise to compare and contrast. all the best, David Harraway angela jones wrote: > Hello, > > Are there any therapists on this list from Canada or other areas where > universal healthcare is in place? > > My coworkers and I were tossing the issue around today at lunch and wondering > how the therapy world might change if the U.S. ever takes such a leap. > > Any info. and would be great and thanks in advance. > > Angie MOTR/L > _________________________________________________________________ > Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we give. > http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=text_hotmail_join > -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
