Health Care Costs

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Question for our Canadian members...........

How do you like YOUR Healthcare System?
Do you get good healthcare...services/timely appointments/good doctors-nurses/hospitals run efficiently etc?
How much does this healthcare cost..taxes/fees?
Do you have co-pays/deductibles?

Ours is obliviously NOT working

I can only speak for myself and the experiences of my extended family, eg parents, aunts, uncles, nieces cousins etc. For us we have had few complaints. Everything from Cancer to Heart to hips and knees, liver problems etc etc. Once it was determined that my Mom needed a new hip she was put on a 170 day waiting list to get it. However it actually ended up being just over three months. I have had a few other family members in similar situations. I waited almost three weeks for an MRI but it was a low priority so I was at the bottom of the list. Waits for low priority lists can be weeks long depending on priority (seriousness) however if hospitalized, MRI's or any other tests are done immediately. Its all triaged and I don't pretend to know the system.

I'm not sure I understand the term co-pay. No money changes hands. Doesn't matter if its a quadruple by pass or a stubbed tow. One produces their provincial health card and that's it. The provincial health card works anywhere in Canada although some provinces have different rules for hospitalization coverage outside of your province etc. (Pay first) Each Province has their own monthly fee. Anywhere from 50 per month for one person to 120 for a family depending on the Province. At least one province is free, but this changes depending on the provincial government.

The only thing I can think of that you mean by co-pay is if we go to the drugstore to buy a prescription. In this case many Canadians have whats known as supplemental insurance which covers things like teeth, eyeglasses, prescriptions etc. For example I just got a two month supply of Nexium and seems to me it was around 80 bucks but my portion was 11 dollars. Is that Co-pay? Our supplemental insurance costs us around 55 per month for the two of us. Once you are declared Pallative by a doctor all meds are free.

Re doctors appointments, I don't know, If I want to see my Family doctor I have to book a week or two out. If I just need to see a doctor I go to any walk in clinic, flash my health card and its usually 20 to 30 minutes as long as its not Monday morning or Friday Morning. I see my Family doctor once a year.

The system seems to work for the most part as Canadians live an average of three years longer than Americans and our life spans are getting longer. Americans live three years shorter and the lifespans are getting shorter. (depending on what you read)

By no means is the Canadian health care system perfect and it is our national sport to bash it and ourselves. No doubt we have our share of dumb dumb doctors and epic system failures. But many Canadians wouldn't have it any other way. It is interesting though that the most horrific stories we hear about the Canadian health care system seem to come from foreigners. Generally speaking I don't know much about the American or any other foreign health care system (with the exception of the Spanish system as we will be future snowbirds of that country once we are fully retired) so I don't comment.

All this of course JMHO.