http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/09/ ... alcomments

GO HARPER

What an idiot.
Ahmadinejad, not Harper.

Not only Canada.

nathanielandbartimaeus wrote:Not only Canada.

I laughed when I saw this on the news; the French, Canadian, and American delegates just looked so pissed.

Also, did you hear what Muammar Gaddafi said?

I suppose not.
-waits for link-
Didn't know until today that Canada has nationalized healthcare.
Of course, it comes to me in the worst way possible - brain tumor-afflicted had to come to the states for treatment.
Gee, aren't trying to twist anything there, are ya?
Still think it's stupid, but I'm done with bias.

Dansariki wrote:I suppose not.
-waits for link-
Didn't know until today that Canada has nationalized healthcare.
Of course, it comes to me in the worst way possible - brain tumor-afflicted had to come to the states for treatment.
Gee, aren't trying to twist anything there, are ya?
Still think it's stupid, but I'm done with bias.

This is surprising.

But yes. The waiting list for many surgeries is unfortunately fatally long. Plus our ERs make us wait like the drink vendor lines at Wonderland during a record hot summer day.

Otherwise our healthcare is superior to most, though certainly not perfect. It seems however that too many Canadians don't want changes to it...

Nero wrote:

Dansariki wrote:I suppose not.
-waits for link-
Didn't know until today that Canada has nationalized healthcare.
Of course, it comes to me in the worst way possible - brain tumor-afflicted had to come to the states for treatment.
Gee, aren't trying to twist anything there, are ya?
Still think it's stupid, but I'm done with bias.

This is surprising.

But yes. The waiting list for many surgeries is unfortunately fatally long. Plus our ERs make us wait like the drink vendor lines at Wonderland during a record hot summer day.

Otherwise our healthcare is superior to most, though certainly not perfect. It seems however that too many Canadians don't want changes to it...

Better a long wait for treatment than not being able to afford it at all, hmm?

Nobody's pretending nationalised healthcare a la the UK's NHS or single-payer a la Canada's system is perfect, but hey, it better than a significant fraction of your country not being able to afford any.

Yes, read that again. Canada does not have nationalised healthcare. Read this. If it seems like it's treating you like a moron, it is, because the vast majority of people have shown a staggering failure to grasp this.

Nero wrote:But yes. The waiting list for many surgeries is unfortunately fatally long. Plus our ERs make us wait like the drink vendor lines at Wonderland during a record hot summer day.

Otherwise our healthcare is superior to most, though certainly not perfect. It seems however that too many Canadians don't want changes to it...

Um... Not really, if you really need a surgery you will often get it quickly. Unless, they can't find an organ match or something. Last fall my grandma found out she had uterian cancer; it was only stage one (the least dangerous), but she went in for surgery 5 days later, and this is in a city where people are constantly complaining of a lack of doctors. And patients with serious, ''need to get to it now'' problems usually don't have to wait, it's just for those complaining of a migrane or something that can be dealt with later. Also, can someone explain exactly how the universal healthcare makes lines so much longer? I seem to remember reading a story about how a woman in an ER in New York was forced to wait for over 24 hours and finally died before they could get to her. I agree wholeheartedly with those last two sentences though.

Another thing related to the healthcare topic: about 50% of health issues are related to obesity, heart disease or diabetes. Taking out the maybe 10% of those issues that aren't preventable, things would be so much easier if people would just eat right and exersize. That really bothers me.

Sentynel wrote:Yes, read that again. Canada does not have nationalised healthcare. Read this. If it seems like it's treating you like a moron, it is, because the vast majority of people have shown a staggering failure to grasp this.

Oops.

idk where you live, but the hospital emergency lines here are awful. My neighbor, who is 70+ wasn't feeling well (something with her heart) so she went down to emergency and she was pretty much there for 6ish hours with no food or anything. There was supposed to be a nurse watching her, but she went on lunch and never came back.

But that might be an isolated incident, haven't been to emergency recently

Emergency takes ages; my brother fell off a dirt bike, broke his leg and spent 6 hours in emergency. That was but the short end of wait times.

Luciene wrote:idk where you live, but the hospital emergency lines here are awful. My neighbor, who is 70+ wasn't feeling well (something with her heart) so she went down to emergency and she was pretty much there for 6ish hours with no food or anything. There was supposed to be a nurse watching her, but she went on lunch and never came back.

But that might be an isolated incident, haven't been to emergency recently

I had to wait about five hours for when I jammed my finger. And my meeting with the doctor was less than a minute.

The nurse thing shouldn't have happened though...

Well, at least you guys have a health care system in your countries.
But American health care is definitely amongst the worst in the developed countries. It has one of the highest infant mortality rates & many people in the country come to Thailand, India & other countries for cheaper medical services as it is damn costly there. Health should be left in the hands of the governments. Listen to Obama!:D

The US infant mortality rate isn't too bad - 36th or 46th. Out of the entire planet, I'll take the top fifth.

And, thanks for the link Sent, that was the link I'm waiting for.
It's still Gov't sponsored and paid-for healthcare.
I actually thought that was how the UK system worked, now I don't like it even further.

Dansariki wrote:The US infant mortality rate isn't too bad - 36th or 46th. Out of the entire planet, I'll take the top fifth.

And, thanks for the link Sent, that was the link I'm waiting for.
It's still Gov't sponsored and paid-for healthcare.
I actually thought that was how the UK system worked, now I don't like it even further.

So you prefer the system you have now in comparison to Canada's...

Notice Dansariki, that's really high on the list for a developed country. Also, the factbook one says: "This rate is often used as an indicator of the level of health in a country."

To the FiveThirtyEight article: Poutine isn't gross!

Our healthcare system also doesn't pay for everything. Like a lot of dental work and prescriptions. It does bug me when there's a push to have the system pay for something it really shouldn't pay for, like gastric bypass or sex changes.

I like our system, though.

List of countries by infant mortality rate. Just take a look at some of the nations you're behind. Cuba? How does one of the richest and most powerful nations in the world, as you frequently remind us, end up a fifth of the way down the list?

I guess I just fail to understand how anybody can support a system that will leave its own citizens unable to afford vital medical treatment. Things like being disallowed health insurance for pre-existing conditions, for example, make lots of sense from a business perspective, but these are people's lives!

@FuzzyLob: A punch of podiatric stuff is not covered by OHIP. I had to have foot surgery a bit over a year ago, and it cost quite a bit.

Oh don't get quite so sensationalist.
How do I often remind you of the US' traits, real or otherwise?

I don't really like our system, but I see it as the lesser of two evils.
My defense - It's easier to care for 11.5 million, like Cuba, than 300 or so.
Pfft. That's less than the LA metro area. Or, what, the UK minus Britain?

Sensationalist? It's a fact! Was it 46 million Americans with no health insurance? It's fair to estimate that almost all of those will have no health insurance because they can't afford it or can't get it due to pre-existing conditions, and if they can't afford health insurance then they've got problems if they suddenly find themselves owing loads due to a serious accident or illness. I've spoken to people who struggle to afford simple checkups for their children, never mind anything more serious. Is that right, really?

The UK minus Britain = Northern Ireland = 1.75 million, approximately. So, no.
Having more people to deal with would only make healthcare harder if you had the same amount of money for both sets, which is clearly not going to be the case, even discounting that the US' GDP (PPP) per capita is eighty places higher in the world rankings than Cuba's.