Canadians! John Stossel is talking about you!
MrsHK
member
I love John Stossel, usually love his 'Gimme a break' pieces on 20/20.
He's talking about the Canadian health care system. Canadian specialists and drs are trashing the Canadian health care system. They are talking about the unavailable services and long waits. Yet, I hear from Canadians here all the time that swear up and down that those are myths.
He's quoting the average wait time in a Canadian ER as 23 hours. Stossel is highlighting Norwood, Ontario where the county clerk holds a lottery each year to pull 4 new families who can have access to a family physician. Then there's the mother of quads who was told there would be no neonatal units available so she was sent to Montana.
So what are the facts?
Here's a link I found to a summary, seems tonight's airing expanded a little more on this article. "Better" Health Care?
Re: Canadians! John Stossel is talking about you!
I'm originally from Canada and am totally against a Gov't run health care system. it works if you never have anything wrong with you....
Just great. I so hope this doesn't p go through here or we're all in trouble...
23 hours wait in the ER? Excuse me? That's just laughable. I waited ten times longer with my husband at the ER in NYC than I ever did at home. If you have a cut on your finger you will wait anywhere, they do prioritize.
And I do believe there is a shortage of family physicians in the more remote places, but come on, what exactly are the details here?
The US media and opponents of centralized medicine are going to search high and low to find and pick only the worst stories and then go on about them as if they are the norm. Believe me, if we picked out the worst stories from the US it would paint a much bleaker picture.
Yes, the Canadian system has problems, but IMO the US system is FAR FAR worse.
The helicopter thing cracks me up. You cannot be serious. So...there are no small or rural towns in the US who can't afford and/or don't have a need, for a medical helicopter? Wow. The US is pretty darn awesome then.
I recently brought Abigail to the ER here in our butthole town and we were in and out within 3 hrs of the time we arrived. I went in a few times for complications with my pregnancy with Evan, and also was seen ASAP.
My brother was in a car crash about 5 yrs ago, and he's received nothing but top notch care through our healthcare system throughout his entire ordeal (he was paralyzed because of his accident).
I have never heard of a 23 hr ER wait, from anyone, in my life. I have a few family members who had/have cancer or other life-threatening illnesses, and they have received care in the blink of an eye.
And you know what's been the very best part? It's available to everyone, regardless of income or class or employment status.
Is it a perfect system? No of course not. But I will take our system, with all of its flaws, over a healthcare system run by greedy insurance companies - without any hesitation.
My friends and family have never had any real problems with the Canadian health care system - it has served us very well. ?This past year, my father was put on a lung transplant list and received a transplant 2 days after being put on the list, and received top knotch care. ?My husband has also had to visit the ER a few times over the past few years for minor ailments and while he had to wait 2-6 hours each visit, I don't think the wait was unreasonable given his stable condition.?