[Donny_Brasco]

bowens2 bowens2:

Is dental, vision, and prescriptions included?

Dental is covered for those under 18

Vision - checkups are covered, glasses and lenses are not. Medical care for your eyes generally is

Perscriptions - dugs are subsidised, some are covered. there generally is a fee.

bowens2 bowens2:

If you wanted to see a dermatologist what would you have to do? Would you need a referral? How long would it take you to get an appointment? Then would your health care pay for monthly follow ups?

Generally a referral - you can get in fast if you find a doctor who is available or it is an urgent matter.

bowens2 bowens2:

Pregnancy - Do you have to go to a clinic? Do you have monthly, then later term weekly appointments? When you go into labor does the hospital take you in immediately? What if you start having trouble like a stressed baby or double footling breach? Have any of you posters had recent experiences with this?

Clinic? We made appointments regularly with our doctor. The community health clinic holds pre-natal courses which were covered. We could go so our doctor or the nurse at the clinic anytime we needed.

Problems...24/7 service at the hospital covered.

bowens2 bowens2:

Do your children see regular pediatricians or do you have to go to a clinic for immunizations? That may sound stupid but it seems like a lot of you go to clinics for health care. Do you get the same doctor each time when you go to a clinic?

They can go to a clinic, our family doctor or I think they get them at school too.

We have a family doctor. There is also a community health clinic near our house where we go when we just want to ask the nurses some questions or get routine shots. there is another clinic on the reserve my wife works on and our kids get their shots there sometimes.

bowens2 bowens2:

Does your health care pay for abortions (early term, late term, or partial birth)?

I don't know. I think they are covered but we've always chosen life.

bowens2 bowens2:

Does your health care coverage pay for birth control pills or intrauterine devices?

Subsidised or free.

bowens2 bowens2:

How long would it take to get an MRI and then surgery for a tumor in most cases? My husband had a rare tumor in his spine if surgery would have been delayed he would have been crippled because the tumor was pushing his spinal cord. Due to a fantastic surgeon he has survived 10 years and counting when most people die within three years. He was diagnosed and had surgery in less than two weeks with another follow up surgery a month later to make sure they removed it all. Would this happen as quick in Canada?

I've had an MRI in an hour but that was for a hockey brain injury.

If it is an emergency they generally you can get in quickly. However there are stories of families who lost a loved one because they didn't get one fast enough. Not my family and I have never met anyone first hand who did lose someone.

bowens2 bowens2:

Why do you have a shortage of doctors, nurses, and hospitals? Do you think Canadian doctors migrate to the US? (seems like your actors do! just kidding)

Yes.

bowens2 bowens2:

If your spouse, children, or parents had cancer would you trust the Canadian Health care system to work efficiently and provide the best health care as humanly possible in an acceptable time frame?
)

Yes been there sone that. To add to that I feel better knowing that should something happen we just go see the doc or rush to emerg and not have to worry about insurance or debt.

bowens2 bowens2:

What is the minimum wage in Canada?)

Depends where you live.

bowens2 bowens2:

What are the taxes? Do you pay federal, province, city, and local taxes?

I think Saskatchewan is up to about 43%. I don;t know about every province but I bet someone has a chart.

[bowens2]

Well we didn't know he had need until he was diagnosed due to tingling in his arm. And yes I can tell you Canada is too cold for me in the winter because I hate to pass Columbus Ohio in the winter because it is too cold there. Besides I wasn't serious. I have heard it is gorgeous up there. Chill out.

[Canadaka]

Canadian sales taxes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provincial ... ales_Taxes

In my Province of BC the minimum wage is $8/hr

Residents of Canada generally pay two kinds of tax: federal and provincial income tax, and federal and provincial sales taxes on purchases. Revenue is used by government to pay for public programs including health care, education, highway maintenance, social safety net, public utilities, and arts and cultural events.

http://www.sbr.gov.bc.ca/individuals/In ... s/2008.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_taxes_in_Canada
The Federal income tax ranges from 0% to 29% depending on how much you earn.
In BC the provincial income tax ranges from 5.24% to 14.70%

So if you made say $60,000 your income taxes would be 29.98%.

Donny_Brasco how is Saskatchewan 43%? the provincial income tax is 11-15%.

Also to note, i'm pretty sure Corporate tax rates are lower in Canada.

[bowens2]

Thank you Scarecrow and Donny those were the answers I was looking for.

I am not bragging because we pay $3000 a month in health care. We HAVE to pay $3000 a month in healthcare due to my husbands cancer. He has a 90% chance of a recurrence. He has a rare type of cancer. There are only about 100 cases a year diagnosed in the US so health care is a big deal to me.

We are self-employed and the company pays our healthcare until next month then we will go 50-50 due to the rising costs. I have about 36 part-time employees and there are 4 full time employees including myself and my husband that are full time. I would like to hire one or two more full times employees so to do that we have to split the cost of health care because our healthcare is so expensive.

And Lily, I have never know anyone that has been turned away from a hospital here. You may be sent to the University Hospital (which has excellent doctors) which is about 10 miles farther than the nearest hospital if it is not life threatening but if it was life threatening they would accept you also. I know my brother has no insurance and has been never been turned away from any hospital in this area and the last few years he has been in the emergency room several times.

We have at least 7 hospitals in a about a 25 mile radius. I live in what people around here would say is in the sticks just east of Cincinnati, Ohio but I could get to the nearest hospital in less than 20 minutes if needed.

I also have a friend that has had more tests than most people have in a life time and she has not paid a dime in taxes or health care in the 11 years I have know her. She has been in intensive care 3 times in about 4 years (and the funny thing is they never really find anything wrong with her).

Looks like universal health care is coming where I like it or not and our government _ _ cks up everything it gets involved in so I am really leery of it.

[Brenda]

euhmmm, dental is not covered... I paid $ 300 for a cavity in one of my daughters teeth

[bowens2]

That's about what you would pay here. But my dental insurance would pay 50% up to a maximum of $1000 a year.

[Brenda]

You can insure extra for evertything you like. Lots of things are paid for by a benefitplan you can get through your employer, if he has one. We have no benefits.

(I guess that was the it then, Lily)

[ShepherdsDog]

Here's a comparison. My wife had a root canal and crown done in Winnipeg a few years ago, and even with the shitty dental plan provided by her employer, it came to $ 800. She had a root canal and crown done here last year, and it came to
$ 230, under national medical insurance.

[ShepherdsDog]

lily lily:

Lots of people go to Thailand for crowns - and then come back to Canada to have their own dentist check to make sure they're ok. Usually they are, but not always. The same could probably be said for dental work here too.

Medical tourism is big there for all types of procedures. Our dentist practiced in Syracuse for 18 years so we are fairly confident in his abilities. It's more expensive here than it is in Thailand, but I think the Taiwanese doctors are better trained.

[Donny_Brasco]

Canadaka Canadaka:

So if you made say $60,000 your income taxes would be 29.98%.

Donny_Brasco how is Saskatchewan 43%? the provincial income tax is 11-15%.

I think the figure I read included all the GST, PST and the other hidden taxes.

I'm trying to find it

AND I am reading the posts in cronoligical order in case someone already found the info.

[Donny_Brasco]

Brenda Brenda:

euhmmm, dental is not covered... I paid $ 300 for a cavity in one of my daughters teeth

Looks like things vary from province to province.

Also looks like I stand corrected. Saskatchewan has coverage for all youth from the mid 70's to the late 80's when the devine government ended the children's dental health program.

It was re-intordiced a few years ago but then quashed by the new Saskatchewan tory government.

[Dax426]

One the reasons we have a doctor/nurse shortage (in Quebec) is because the doctors federation and possibly others put pressure on the provincial government to reduce the number of graduates in the province.

That way they could have better control over the governement and demand what they want. In essence, that way they hold the government by the balls. The doctor/nurse shortage is an artificial creation.
I unfortunatly dont have any sources on this... this was said to me by a teacher and i failed to ask him where he found that info... but i bet theres info on it out there. If anyone would be able to suggest some links ... please do !

[Scape]

You would think with all the multinational pharmaceuticals headquartered in Quebec they would be overrun with doctors trying out all the new drugs. You are right though and this is an artificial shortage. There are more than enough trained Doctors out there they are just not letting them practice.

[Brenda]

All the "trained" doctors should do, like mechanics, who immigrate, or bookkeepers, is get their asses back in school and obtain the Canadian Diploma's. Shouldn't be that hard if they are so good as they claim to be, right?

If immigrants would do their homework a bit better, they would have known this. It is their own choice to come to Canada, don't bitch about the system you should have known about before hand. It is not a decision you make in 2 weeks, and pack up and leave. They have years to figure it out. I did, why didn't they?

[damngrumpy]

I would not want to have the American system that is for sure. And I don't mind paying for what we have at all.
People always get upset about taxes, but cheap taxes or tax reductions are not a good thing at all. The reason, eventually we have to pay for the services that were cut previously.
All the tax cuts from the eighties and after are now proving to be a problem
Roads, bridges, hospitals and other infastructure problems are showing up in
2008 dollars instead of doing things as we go.
I say pay the price at the time and keep our structures in good shape, that way
we don't pay extra later