Attn people from Canada, do you like your healthcare system??

Question

pros and cons please........and if you do or don't like it please give examples and/or reasons.........

Answer 1

it is flippin' EXCELLENT!

so.. even if we have to wait.. (and who doesn't, anywhere) it's GREAT. It's great knowing we aren't going to loose our house if our children get cancer.

Answer 2

i'm happy with our healthcare system. i work for a surgeon and about 90% of our patients have cancer. We do have a bed shortage but we NEVER cancel cancer patients and we always book them in urgently for CT scans and PET scans, they never have to wait longer than a week. If it's non life threatening there is a bit more of a wait because obviously the people who's lives are at risk get first priority. there's long waits in the ER for minor things but again, everyone is triaged by priority which is how it should be. we could do with a few more doctors but on the whole I think it's pretty good. And it's a lot more affordable than in the US. Not free like some people think though. We pay with our taxes and some provinces also have to pay a monthly fee whether or not you use any medical services.

Answer 3

I love it. I have never had a bad experience other than the occasional annoying wait at the hospital, but keeping in mind I was not in an emergency state, and those they let ahead of me were, I cannot be upset about that. I have four kids......Wouldn't I be about $20 large in the hole about now if I was american?

Answer 4

Overall, I am happy with our health care. At the moment I am having to wait 4 1/2 months to get in to see a dermatologist. That's crazy, but at least I only have a rash. My husband had to wait 3 months to see an orthopedic surgeon, and he was  on the high priority list.

However. We have had two serious car accidents in our family, and both times my kids received top notch service, from the nurses right up to the Neurosurgeon.

If there's an emergency, you're looked after. No complaints there.

I believe there's a problem with people abusing the system. When my daughter was admitted to emergency, along with 4 others who had been injured (the 2 girls critically) they took up most of the E.R. staff. A man had come in with a backache ( which he'd had for over a week) He bitched & complained, and demanded attention. The nurse explained to him, that all ER cases are done on a priority basis. He somehow thought that because he was there, he should get looked at. He carried on the entire time we were there.He ended up waiting over 3 hours, while the Dr's tried to save the girls. So the wait times in the ER can be long, but people have to sit back and say to themselves "is this an emergency?" Having a sore toe, or a sore throat, or a blister on your foot is not life threatning.

Answer 5

Overall its good.

Pros - everyone is covered, it's a big weight off your shoulders when you don't have to worry about paying medical bills.  

Cons - long wait times, it can take months to get access to critical lifesaving machines.  Wait times can be very long.  

However, when i rather wait and be covered then having to pay the crazy medical fees that are charged in the states.

Answer 6

I'm Canadian, and I'm safe.

When I got cancer, I lost my job, which had no benefits. I was the only wage earner in the family. I had brain surgery, nine weeks of complex radiation and 20+ MRIs and scans, so far.

No charge.

I'll always get treatment, and I'll never go bankrupt.

I know someone in the US who has the same disease. She can't get disability - Heaven knows why not, she's sick enough, - so she cannot get medicare and cannot afford an mri to see if the cancer is back!

I also met someone online who was present in the US when the mother of a brain tumor patient got a phone call  in the recovery room . The mother was told that due to the complexity of the surgery, they had run out of insurance and she needed to move her daughter to another hospital asap.

Love *my* healthcare system.

Answer 7

My husband likes that he's covered for health care. He doesn't however like that he had to wait 4 years for a knee surgery. From what my husband has been telling me about health care here is that the government covers almost everything but not 100%. Through his job he gets better coverage, things like the dentist and eye doctor are almost completely covered along with any prescriptions he needs. I'm American so I obviously only know about the private health care system. He does say that there is a doctor shortage though which is partially why there are long wait times.

Answer 8

What all those people before me said.