[kwoollis]

Ok, from an U.S-ian.. (what should US Citizens call our selves? Obviously we donÂ’t have a monopoly on the American thingÂ…. ) heading to Ontario, do Ontarians have to pay outright for health care? Were the amounts quote previously direct insurance payments, or were they figured from taxes?

I personally don't mind paying higher taxes if I know I can get care when I need it. I have heard of long waits and limited coverage, when it comes to Canada's health care system. How true is this for Ontario?

In the US, most states have subsidized health care of some form for lower income people, but there are far too many people without insurance at all. Even when one does get coverage from these government sources, one has to wait months for a simple dental exam.

I really disagree with the appropriateness of running health care as a business. Same thing with schools. When these are seen as a business, then the individual gets lots to the dollar, and everyone suffers.

Ken

[RoyalHighlander]

Depends on how old you are , if you are going to be covered under the head of the house or by your self.. After resideing for a certain length of time you go to any hospital and you fill in thge forms and apply for your OHIP card... Then you are covered, but many also have a separate Bl;ue Cross policy for the extras such as prescriptions and semi private rooms etc...

[TheFixer]

Really employee benifits only cover such things as, eyeglasses usally 200 a year and things like that. But as RH said you apply for a Ontario Health Card wich is a card with a number and your photo. The health card covers any and all doctors visits and emergency room visits etc... Really the only thing that I have ever been billed for by a hospital was for an ambulance ride, it's forty bucks (8 years ago) usally your employee benifits would cover such costs.

Dental visits are all seperate from the health card system and you are billed for such services. Again if you have employee benfits you usally get 80% covered.

All and all I could not ever imagine any other health care system could be better than what we have here in Ontario. I personally think the high taxes are mostly justified conssidering if I need an operation I dont worry about going broke over it.

What happens in the U.S. if you were to need emergency surgery? Obviously they are going to preform the operation if you need it, but what I am wondering is how do you pay for it after? Monthly billing ? Does your credit history suffer if you cant pay for it ?
Are some hospitals cheaper than others ?

[kwoollis]

$1:

What happens in the U.S. if you were to need emergency surgery? Obviously they are going to preform the operation if you need it, but what I am wondering is how do you pay for it after? Monthly billing ? Does your credit history suffer if you cant pay for it ?
Are some hospitals cheaper than others ?

What ends up happening is you get billed for the costs, and these bills if not paid will affect your credit standing negatively. Many a family has had to declare bankruptcy because they could not pay medical bills for a major operation or a chronic illness. A medical bill is like any other bill, it has to be paid or you loose your good credit, and in general if you do not obtain coverage of some sort before the event, no one will pay for it after the fact.

I don't know of anyone who specifically looks for cheaper hospitals. Most folks just go to the closest and hope for the best. Sometimes one has to travel to other hospitals if specialized care is needed.

Ken

[Wheels]

Maybe cause we have decent health care???

[Rev_Blair]

What really drove the short-falls of the US medical system home for me was seeing the Allison family sell off their belongings while Bobby fell apart on TNN trying to be a NASCAR announcer to keep the wolf away from the door. These people were rich before their kids died and became very poor very quickly while mourning the loss of two sons over a short period of time.

In the end they had to sell the trophies their dead sons had won in order to keep a roof over their heads. Nice system.

[jerrysb]

my first reply on this site. Thought it was important enough.

Both governments spend the spend amount percentage wise of their budgets,about 7%. US spends about 14% of gpd on health care while we "only" spend around 10%. This difference in amount spent between the two countries is what the average yank spends, either through insurance or through their company. What makes the canadian system so much better is thatwe get more bang for our buck. Whether you have one giant insurance syastem, ie the government, or X number of insurance companies liek in the states, the end result is the same. In the states though, since you have X number of insurance companies, thats X number of people to employ, X number of computer and so on. Of the money the us spends on health care, a huge amount goes to overhead costs.

[RoyalHighlander]

There was an interesting interview the other day with an American Dr who stated that there are 41 million Americans that DONT have health care/insurance... Thats more than the population of canada.. Usual cost it seems is about 6-7,000.00 a year... Ask Buford about that.. He pays 245.00 a month where he is in case he gats sick....

[electricbuford]

Just to clarify RH's above post. I pay $ 245.00 a month for COBRA coverage. That's a medical insurance program people can sign up for if they are laid off from their job PROVIDED their company participates in a group medical insurance plan.My health coverage was paid for by the company (SBA network services inc.). A couple of years ago , my family doctor diagnosed me with high blood pressure - treatable only with medication because she determined I had it due to heredity, despite being in excellent shape and health -and a non smoker.
Now the bitch of it is , I am now being treated for a health condition. If I drop my health coverage ever , then anything cardiac related that might ever happen to me for the rest of my life won't be covered - even if I get insurance again at some point. I can get cheaper rates without using COBRA , but the rules are that you have to exhaust COBRA up (18 months) before you can go to a cheaper policy. I got laid off in July of 2002. Starting in Sept 2002 , when my former company health insurance benefits ceased , I've paid out $245.00 per month , when I could get rates as low as $125.00 a month for the same coverage thru Blue cross/blue shield. I've got another 6 months before I can apply for any cheaper coverage.
With the extremely shitty economy down here, it's unlikely I'll find a company that offers decent health benefits because it's cost prohibitive for most companies to be able to offer company paid health insurance anymore. And the bottom line is that I can never allow myself to be without health insurance for the rest of my life.
It's unfortunate that the most powerful and richest nation on earth finds itself in this situation, not to mention the millions of elderly who must decide whether to spend what little money they have on food or the perscription medication they need.I'm one of the lucky ones - At least I've got coverage -- 40+ million people in the U.S. do not.

[ABSOLUT_SS]

Depends where you are, right BUF? Many States have diffent rules. I was surprised when I first worked in Michigan, I had to prove I had (private) workman's compensation in order to be hired. The union covered it after three months on-the-job, but I always thought it was a given. Suprise! You get hurt, you're rate goes up. Three weeks ago, an apprentice ironworker, brand new hire, took a minor eye wound. The little prick cried Mary (this is in Ontario), I saw it happen, its happened to me, & I DO mean minor. He went to the hospital, got his eye cleaned out, and sent back to work the same afternoon. Question: If THAT fucking faggot had to pay for his own comp, would he have gone? He went through all the motions, jumped up the rate my company pays to comp, just a little, over a bullshit "cost-of-doing-business" injury. THIS is the type of shit that costs so much in Canada. BTW, ****** got his ass fired two weeks to the day after my union put hin on that site. PS, the little bastard started @ $22.83 an-hour!

[Rev_Blair]

Umm, the guy fot something in his eye, thought it might be serious, and went to the doctor. Shame on him for wanting to keep his vision.

[ABSOLUT_SS]

C'mon rev, by the sounds of it you used to work for a living. Poor *******, Dr. *** diagnosed him as ok, but he didn't believe me. We're talking DUST here, rev, not a re-bar in the eye! Dog-fucker had the best chance of his (short) life (23) to make it or break it. He's out! He'll work for 12 bucks-an-hour for the rest of his life. Stats show the less income, the lower the life expectancy, and health expectancy. Ever waste your time time trying to explain THAT to a young fucker? By-the-way, you really are a self-righteous bastard, aren't you?

[ABSOLUT_SS]

!!!

[Rev_Blair]

I still work for a living, Absolut. I've also worn an eye-patch for a couple of weeks because I knew I had something in my eye but thought it was just dirt. The doc said if I'd ignored it for much longer I could have done some really serious permanent damage...as in reduced vision.

Now I was grinding rust off my truck when that happened so there were no comp issues, but the cost of not going to the doctor (comp or not) was much higher than going. If I had gone sooner it would have cost the taxpayers even less, it wouldn't have been nearly as uncomfortable, and the patch would have been off sooner.

You aren't talking about a kid stepping on a nail and taking a week off because of it, you're talking about him getting something in his eye and having it removed, then going back to work.

[ABSOLUT_SS]

...just wrote a great answer to your questions & comments, but it didn't post. I'll get back to ya Rev, ...