Notes about Canadian Healthcare

[pyat]

The Canadian woman appearing in recent ad campaigns warning US viewers about the evils of Canadian healthcare may well be lying:

http://www.acreativerevolution.ca/node/1944

http://bouquetsofgray.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-on-shona-holmes.html

I am not terribly surprised.

Comments

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

Aww, that's cute. That mean mean evil socialist health care, a pox on it. :P

My mom lost an eye to cancer, which might or might not have been curable had the phone nurse not brushed her off when she first started to get fuzzy vision. But that's the kind of thing that happens in a public health system, and it's fair because it happens to everyone, not just the people without money. Honestly the biggest danger to social health care is not the misdiagnosing phone nurses, but the people who exaggerate their symptoms to get in faster and thus indirectly encourage these nurses to misdiagnose. (If I say I've had delibirating back pain for a week, I probably mean I've been feeling a few twinges in my back for a day or two, right?)


-Alexandra

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

I maintain that the biggest fear being peddled is this:
You might not be able to spend your way to the front of the line. You might have to wait your turn, like the Great Unwashed.

[zenten.livejournal.com]

What I can't quite get is how that fear leads to enough people getting elected. Most people would be more afraid of someone cutting ahead in line because they could afford to, right?

[madmanofprague.livejournal.com]

No, because one of the primary religious tenet of Americanism is that with enough gumption and holiness* you will be that rich asshole. Take away that right, and with what shall the country reward you for your faith?

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

What madmanofprague said, plus:
The whole point of having money, to some, is not having to be treated like Other People.

[melstra.livejournal.com]

True. I just spent a week being subjected to Fox News at my parents' place and the reporters were all fearmongering about how "If all these people suddenly have health care, there won't be enough doctors, so they're going to have to ration care!! Oh no! You won't be able to see a doctor!" Which totally makes no sense. First, they're basically admitting they DON'T want everyone to have access to care, and second, they're ignoring the basics of the free economy which would mean that if there is demand for more doctors, there will suddenly be -- dare I say-- JOBS created for the health industry!

*shakes head*

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

I will admit that it can be a slow stone to get rolling - things haven't exactly gone off without a hitch here when they introduced a guarantee for within-three-month start-of-treatment here - but that doesn't mean some people should not get health care just so that Wealthy Person can pay for what should, in my opinion, be a basic human right.

Most of the people who have to wait are those having elective surgery, faik. And even then it depends; a guy I knew with serious body image issues got IMO completely unneccesary plastic surgery because his physician stated his "condition" was so adversely affecting his mental/emotional health. (As embarrassed as he was about this "condition", I honestly never noticed it, even after he confessed with much shame that he had it, so I maintain that most of it was in his head.)


-Alexandra

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

The thing is, misdiagnosis happens EVERYWHERE. I have no reason to think it's any more common in Canada than in the U.S.

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

This is Sweden. ;)

And I agree, misdiagnosis happens everywhere. The problem is who is doing it. My doctor's office won't give you an appointment if the nurse answering the phone doesn't think you should have one. In the US, where they make money off of patients, I'd imagine the phone nurse would be more inclined to encourage you to make an appointment "to make sure". Which resulted in me walking around for two months with severe back pain, and then, when I finally got to the doctor, being asked why I hadn't come earlier.

What gets to me about that kind of situation is that most likely, the nurse's judgement is, at least subconsciously, in part based on the assumption that everyone calling is exaggerating in order to get in faster.


-Alexandra

Faux News Runs Faux Brain Tumor Ads

[ankhorite.livejournal.com]

I cannot thank you enough.

[hillarygayle.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that the US media (especially the conservative-leaning bits of it) will find ANYONE in Canada who will say they don't like their medical system. It doesn't matter if there is one of you out of every million who have a problem with it--that portion of our media is going to find that person and hold them up and go "SEE? SEE? IT'S NOT AWESOME AFTER ALL!"

e________e <--epic eyeroll

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

Wow. The media picking one person out of a million and using them as though they spoke for everyone. That never happens. ;)

[relee.livejournal.com]

There are multiple advertisement campaigns happening in the United States warning viewers that Canadian Healthcare is EVIL!?


That's HORRIBLE!

By chance, monday I came across a news clip from CNN where they were telling americans that our health care system is kinda good, and maybe the U.S. should adopt it... But it's been removed from YouTube citing terms of use violations. o.o;;