On 1/09/07 10:59 PM, "David Savage", <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> What makes the American public health system, so much better than any > other countries? It is actually not so much of that. Truth is; Canada has a universal health care system and all health care is essentially free. Federal government has been very sensitive to maintaining this system. They tightly watch anyone who might try to charge any sort of fee for special service or extra service etc, as it would be considered the opening of avalanche of private medical services that would charge what they want. Universal health care is nice, as you do not have to worry about any money regardless of the magnitude of care, i.e., even if you have to have an open heart surgery, you do not have to worry about money and anyone, even the poorest of the poor can receive the same service free. Flip side of this is, depending on the type of care, you may have to wait for a long time. For example, several years ago, MRI scan had a long waiting list up to 6 months etc simply because of insufficient number. While some private sectors saw this as an opportunity and applied for a private MRI clinics. The Government did not allow this. As a result, a bunch of Canadians flocked to U.S. Where you can choose and fit your own preference for immediate availability. This was the main reason. Re the quality of health care, Canada is also at the top class when it comes to medical services and technologies. A lot of new treatments originated in Canada. However, in U.S., private health care is flourishing and they can invest whatever amount of money they wish in order to have the best equipment and best talents, but it is not universal. Only the wealthy who can "buy" such service can afford it even in U.S. Also, organ in-plant is another such example. If you don't want to wait in Canada, pay money in U.S. And you get it. So, what's really happening is everyone who flocks to U.S. From Canada for health care for whatever reason is "all" wealthy people who can afford the U.S. Service which is awfully expensive, or in desperate need of some specialized service fast and money is not of consideration. For ordinary soul like us, getting injured or sick while in U.S. might kill you financially, so a lot of people buy an insurance specifically designed for those travel in U.S. In U.S., you have so much better survivability if you are rich, while if you are poor, any major health problem would become literally a killer. Again, this is not to denigrate the U.S. health care system. It is just both systems have its own advantages and disadvantages, but when there is any disparity, just like water flows from high point to low, people flock. Ken -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
