Why Canada Isn't So Bad After All...

The Other Guy

The Other Guy

Spam King
At least they're smart with their money.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten.../02/10/zak10.ART_ART_02-10-09_A9_5NCRNTT.html


The legendary editor of the New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a boring-headline contest and decided that the winner was "Worthwhile Canadian initiative." Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada's virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th.
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Thoughts?
 
The Other Guy said:
But they have jobs. And a safe place to put their money.
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While they may have jobs, they don't have a lot of them.....
Canada's GDP 1.27 Trillion (not even a comparison to the US which is around 14 and change Trillion)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/ca.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)

Canada's Average Income
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/060330/dq060330a-eng.htm
(Note the above is in Canadian Dollars)

While I have nothing against Canada comparing it to the financial system that dwarfs it does not make much sense. While som good ideas where presented in that article in regards of immigration the costs of health care are BS.

I will find the evidence to support this but, the main reason prescription drugs in the US are far more expensive then anywhere else in the world has to do with tariffs applied by other countries more less making the American Citizen purchasing drugs cover the R&D. Now with your major drug manufactures located in the USA that makes a lot of sense in regards to the cost of health care in the US
 
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The Other Guy said:
But they have jobs. And a safe place to put their money.
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I'm sitting on 80K right now in money.... each of my accounts are insured by the FDIC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for up to 100,000 dollars.

I don't see an issue at all.... my money is not going to be swiped or given away by the banks. And if my money is stolen I get my money back through the FDIC.
 
I dont' see what the problem is...

So taxes are higher. But when you add in health insurance here you get worse coverage for the same price. And unilke in the US you can't be turned down.
 
The Other Guy said:
I dont' see what the problem is...

So taxes are higher. But when you add in health insurance here you get worse coverage for the same price. And unilke in the US you can't be turned down.
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You can not be turned down in the US from anything life threatening, in fact it is illegal to be denied emergency care. Besides the legal issues any doctor, nurse, paramedic, EMT, etc. will most certainly lose all accreditation since the Oath taken upon receipt of the aforementioned certification requires you to state you will not deny care to anyone in need and you will not leave that person until someone of equal care or higher is present. (I paraphrased it a little, it has been awhile since I said it)

And if someone ever does deny you care, make sure to get there name and information and any witnesses present, it might even be a good idea to have the witness write a statement...

In between jobs without medical insurance, guess what most all states provide and have for some time coverage for that. Most people are just to lazy to bother and look into things themselves and need to have everything given and or explained to them. Last time I checked you need to know your rights in order to apply them.
 
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Donkey said:
You can not be turned down in the US from anything life threatening, in fact it is illegal to be denied emergency care. Besides the legal issues any doctor, nurse, paramedic, EMT, etc. will most certainly lose all accreditation since the Oath taken upon receipt of the aforementioned certification requires you to state you will not deny care to anyone in need and you will not leave that person until someone of equal care or higher is present. (I paraphrased it a little, it has been awhile since I said it)

And if someone ever does deny you care, make sure to get there name and information and any witnesses present, it might even be a good idea to have the witness write a statement...

In between jobs without medical insurance, guess what most all states provide and have for some time coverage for that. Most people are just to lazy to bother and look into things themselves and need to have everything given and or explained to them. Last time I checked you need to know your rights in order to apply them.
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Nice to know, but the rub is trying to find out what your rights are, as a non native I'm in limbo and tend to bounced from pillar to post, or end up following so many govt links that my PC has a breakdown, around about the same time I start cracking.
 
hmmm...interesting. Do you think that the US will ever have the same kind of health plans that Canada has?
 
so, again, it is all about money: "Que poderoso caballero, Don Dinero!"

Interesting that all money (*yours*) related threads have the most responses, especially compared to ideological/honor based threads that seem to get ingonered in comparison ...

My 2 (Euro) cents,

Rattler
 
Donkey said:
You can not be turned down in the US from anything life threatening, in fact it is illegal to be denied emergency care. Besides the legal issues any doctor, nurse, paramedic, EMT, etc. will most certainly lose all accreditation since the Oath taken upon receipt of the aforementioned certification requires you to state you will not deny care to anyone in need and you will not leave that person until someone of equal care or higher is present. (I paraphrased it a little, it has been awhile since I said it)

And if someone ever does deny you care, make sure to get there name and information and any witnesses present, it might even be a good idea to have the witness write a statement...

In between jobs without medical insurance, guess what most all states provide and have for some time coverage for that. Most people are just to lazy to bother and look into things themselves and need to have everything given and or explained to them. Last time I checked you need to know your rights in order to apply them.
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That's not completely correct. In a life threatening scenario Hospitals are only required to stabilize you, nothing more. In other words as long as you don't croak before they send you to a public hospital they have done what the law requires of them. Thats not the same as being "treated".

Compare to what other countries have ours is a pretty awful system. Basically if you don't have insurance and cannot afford to pay you are fuc*ed. That also goes for specialized care. If you need a true expert specialist you better have the $$$, otherwise your going to get Dr. Quack whose medical diploma came via the internet.

Right now there are 45 million Americans who are uninsured.
 
I remember when I was in the US the healthcare system was probably the worst part about the whole thing.
Insurance was expensive and next to worthless. If I went for three months without an injury, I'd be losing a LOT of money. So I figured that if I didn't get insurance and saved that money up and I got injured a few months down the line, it'd actually cost less. I was right.
Not to mention the wait times at the ER and the lousy "treatment" I got when my turn came.
Disaster...
The US Healthcare system is one of the things I don't miss about the USA.
 
the_13th_redneck said:
I remember when I was in the US the healthcare system was probably the worst part about the whole thing.
Insurance was expensive and next to worthless. If I went for three months without an injury, I'd be losing a LOT of money. So I figured that if I didn't get insurance and saved that money up and I got injured a few months down the line, it'd actually cost less. I was right.
Not to mention the wait times at the ER and the lousy "treatment" I got when my turn came.
Disaster...
The US Healthcare system is one of the things I don't miss about the USA.
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That's cause it's not about Health or Care it's about the bottom lines of Hospital/Medical Corporations and Insurance Companies. There are hospitals that run CATSCANS and MRI's for anything. Just to bump up the bill.
 
03USMC said:
That's cause it's not about Health or Care it's about the bottom lines of Hospital/Medical Corporations and Insurance Companies. There are hospitals that run CATSCANS and MRI's for anything. Just to bump up the bill.
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Well I am sure there is some of that as well, but 13th is right the problem is the insurance companies, aka the HMOs.

The problem with a HMO is that its a FOR-PROFIT business model. The insurance companies has EVERY incentive to either nickel and dime you or simply deny you care.

They also use dirty tricks like paying bonuses to doctors NOT to pay surgery. You might remember the doctor who testified in front of congress that she had denied essential care to a patient on the bahalf of a insurance company and that the man had died because of it.

I support a single payer plan, and kudos to any President who will has the political balls to introduce it. The HMOs and their minions cry "socialism" but I would rather live with a "socialist medicine" and get fixed up after being diagnosed with cancer than have some bean-counter in a Atlanta Office determine that my life is too expensive for the insurence company to actually save, and thus instruct the Doctors in the Emergency Room to let me slowly waste-way..all the while the while collecting my monthly premeium.
 
I looked at the conditions for the insurance and it looked like it would only cover an injury in very specific cases... almost felt like I had to plan my own injury in order for me to get any benefit from the insurance. Basically if I got injured, I had to be lucky enough that the way it happened would satisfy the terms and conditions of my insurance contract.
Why do I have to pay like over FIFTY bucks when the best I can get out of the damn thing is to have a small discount at the front counter when I go to the hospital?
They always say that the number of people uninsured in the US is a problem but the problem is not being uninsured, it's not having an insurance worth signing up for!
ARRGGHH!!!
 
Another part many people forget about why Canadian taxes are so high, is that we have a population roughly the same as California, spread across more area than the US. While we don't have as many roads etc. total as the US, it still comes down to 'people per kilometer (mile, sorry :) ) 'm in terms of our infrastructure. In short, we have fewer people looking after greater services per capita, and as a result, we have to pay more for living in a country with less density. In my opinion, it's not an issue, as I wouldn't trade the lifestyle I have in my country for anything I've seen elsewhere in the world through all my travels.

All that being said, there are certain aspects that I can appreciate with the American system too. A la carte options for health care are somewhat attractive. More toll highways with fewer fuel surcharges etc. I guess we can always spot some greener grass on the other side of the fence eh?
 
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