I received two back to back emails from two Canadian Women in Texas. 1. I know you have received hundreds of emails regarding this topic and you have said your last piece on it, but there was one thing that was missed during this discussion. I am a Canadian who has only been in the States for 2 years. During my PostDoc I was at a big ten university with an awesome PPO plan that was incredibly cheap. I am now at a small company where I had to wait 4 months for my health benefits to kick in. I could complain about that for a while, however, I live in Houston, Texas where it is estimated that over one million residents have insufficient or no health care. I am sure that they would be more than happy to complain about their doctors - if only given the chance. This is the simple reason why health care in Canada is better. =================== david ingram replies: I have received a lot of horror stories about bad medicine on both sides of the border. Universal Health Care is simply fairer than a system where they turn a customer down because of pre-existing conditions. I favour our existing system and allowing anyone to pay for an operation themselves if they need it and can afford it. On the other hand, I also see people who will pay $2,000 to fine tune their Mercedes, not pay to see a psychologist because it is not covered by the Provincial health plan. They think their car is worth more than their own head. 2. this is the second one I am a Registered Nurse that was educated in Canada and "flew" South in 1987 because Canada had a 'surplus' of nurses. Naturalized in 2002 (in fact it was the first naturalization after 9/11/01). Anyhoo... My mother had a stroke and I was quite flabbergasted when I learned they gave her an aspirin and sent her home. She called me the next day, slurring her words! This is not health care-this is pure luck! She could have died! They didn't even determine if it was a bleed or clot. Luckily it was probably a clot, because if it was a bleed, the aspirin would have probably killed her! No MRI, No CAT scan. Now this is where the US excels, I know, because I have nursed in Canada and US> Another example of poor health care is my good friends sister...she developed a tumor on her jaw, and there wasn't any surgeon, neurologist that would do this surgery-this was in Saskatchewan. She was put on a list to go to Ontario, I believe it was Toronto, but of course all the Ontario people would come before her, so she waited and waited until the tumor started affecting her swallowing, and of course the esophagus is right beside the trachea, which affects breathing. To me this is just too close for comfort. The best story (worst actually) was a man that had a wife diagnosed with cancer, and she was put on a 'list'. Well when they called the husband to tell him her surgical date, which was 12 months later, the husband informed them she died months ago. (Check this article out-printed in the Moose Jaw Times Herald within the past year). Health care isn't a waiting game...it's a NOW necessity. Especially when it comes to cancer. Myself, I will gladly pay my 20% to get top notch health care. Rather than 0% of poor health care. Here in Texas ================================= david ingram replies: But, I have heard of the same misdiagnosis in every hospital in the US. 30% of the population of the US does not have the option of waiting for the surgery. In Canada, if anyone wants to pay for it, they can by going to Japan, Mexico, the US, Britain, etc. At least, in Canada everyone - rich or poor - can see a doctor and everyone will get health coverage without being disqualified for a pre-existing condition. da --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.788 / Virus Database: 533 - Release Date: 11/1/04 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.centa.com/CEN-TAPEDE/centapede/attachments/20041109/35280de0/attachment.htm
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