Most used word in the debate: TAX

[Della]

I am Canadian so I know all about taxes.

What's your effective tax rate?

My effective tax rate ends up being about 28% after applied deductions. On top of that, we pay somewhere around $8,000 to $12,000 per year in health services tax and other taxes on products and services. The average Canadian pays about 45 percent of their entire gross income in all taxes throughout the year.

Incredible.

[Linda_Runs]

What's your effective tax rate?

My effective tax rate ends up being about 28% after applied deductions. On top of that, we pay somewhere around $8,000 to $12,000 per year in health services tax and other taxes on products and services. The average Canadian pays about 45 percent of their entire gross income in all taxes throughout the year.

Incredible.

A free healthcare system is far from free, specially when the government is running it and in bed with the suppliers.

[KnotaDinghy]

My effective tax rate ends up being about 28% after applied deductions. On top of that, we pay somewhere around $8,000 to $12,000 per year in health services tax and other taxes on products and services. The average Canadian pays about 45 percent of their entire gross income in all taxes throughout the year.

Incredible.

A free healthcare system is far from free, specially when the government is running it and in bed with the suppliers.

Thank you for sharing. It’s always interesting hearing from people from countries who have implemented plans we here in the US are contemplating.

[Della]

My effective tax rate ends up being about 28% after applied deductions. On top of that, we pay somewhere around $8,000 to $12,000 per year in health services tax and other taxes on products and services. The average Canadian pays about 45 percent of their entire gross income in all taxes throughout the year.

Incredible.

A free healthcare system is far from free, specially when the government is running it and in bed with the suppliers.

I would hope people would have the common sense to realize and understand that someone has to pay for it.

I can't stand that, but I think hospitals, too, wind up in bed with the suppliers.

It's a cluster.... and there are many times I wish the government hadn't gotten involved. Same with education and housing. Seems to me every time they get involved, it makes costs increase.

[Valentina327]

My effective tax rate ends up being about 28% after applied deductions. On top of that, we pay somewhere around $8,000 to $12,000 per year in health services tax and other taxes on products and services. The average Canadian pays about 45 percent of their entire gross income in all taxes throughout the year.

Incredible.

A free healthcare system is far from free, specially when the government is running it and in bed with the suppliers.

And why is this so difficult for the socialists to understand? Thank you for weighing in as a real person living these things Linda. I've always been told this from folks that have relocated from Canada but it's anecdotal when I repeat it.

I've also always heard from them that the care isn't the best, lots of waiting, being told you don't need a specialist for something, etc. Is that your same experience?

[Valentina327]

Incredible.

A free healthcare system is far from free, specially when the government is running it and in bed with the suppliers.

I would hope people would have the common sense to realize and understand that someone has to pay for it.

I can't stand that, but I think hospitals, too, wind up in bed with the suppliers.

It's a cluster.... and there are many times I wish the government hadn't gotten involved. Same with education and housing. Seems to me every time they get involved, it makes costs increase.

And things get shittier. They can't run the things they're supposed to properly. I definitely don't want them involved any deeper in something as important as my very life. Enough had been wrecked already with Obama care.

[Della]

A free healthcare system is far from free, specially when the government is running it and in bed with the suppliers.

I would hope people would have the common sense to realize and understand that someone has to pay for it.

I can't stand that, but I think hospitals, too, wind up in bed with the suppliers.

It's a cluster.... and there are many times I wish the government hadn't gotten involved. Same with education and housing. Seems to me every time they get involved, it makes costs increase.

And things get shittier. They can't run the things they're supposed to properly. I definitely don't want them involved any deeper in something as important as my very life. Enough had been wrecked already with Obama care.

They do a pretty good job with the military, except for those "$600" toilet seats and hammers. ;-/

But at the same time, we cannot allow the robber baron days to continue either.

[Valentina327]

I would hope people would have the common sense to realize and understand that someone has to pay for it.

I can't stand that, but I think hospitals, too, wind up in bed with the suppliers.

It's a cluster.... and there are many times I wish the government hadn't gotten involved. Same with education and housing. Seems to me every time they get involved, it makes costs increase.

And things get shittier. They can't run the things they're supposed to properly. I definitely don't want them involved any deeper in something as important as my very life. Enough had been wrecked already with Obama care.

They do a pretty good job with the military, except for those "$600" toilet seats and hammers. ;-/

But at the same time, we cannot allow the robber baron days to continue either.

True, but not all the way through for the military. When the soldiers come back, when they need medical care, that's not run very well at all. The VA is a mess. Maybe they can start there since they want to tinker in healthcare - improve things for our heros.

[Della]

And things get shittier. They can't run the things they're supposed to properly. I definitely don't want them involved any deeper in something as important as my very life. Enough had been wrecked already with Obama care.

They do a pretty good job with the military, except for those "$600" toilet seats and hammers. ;-/

But at the same time, we cannot allow the robber baron days to continue either.

True, but not all the way through for the military. When the soldiers come back, when they need medical care, that's not run very well at all. The VA is a mess. Maybe they can start there since they want to tinker in healthcare - improve things for our heros.

It honestly upsets me when those who were harmed during a conflict or a war are left waiting or don't receive proper care. I think the VA hospitals should only be for service connected disabilities. I was friends with a man who was a hella sniper during Vietnam. He was put through hell and came home with a lot of medical problems that led to other major problems. The VA gave him the run around for years, and just when he'd finally managed to get to 100% disability and receive his fully earned benefits, he started having heart attacks and passed away five months later.

But then I know guys who never left state side and think they should have more than just Tricare.

There has to be a separation between them, imo.

[Linda_Runs]

Incredible.

A free healthcare system is far from free, specially when the government is running it and in bed with the suppliers.

And why is this so difficult for the socialists to understand? Thank you for weighing in as a real person living these things Linda. I've always been told this from folks that have relocated from Canada but it's anecdotal when I repeat it.

I've also always heard from them that the care isn't the best, lots of waiting, being told you don't need a specialist for something, etc. Is that your same experience?

You about summarized Canadian healthcare. Healthcare in Canada is widely different from region to region with many of the systems, costs and benefits being different depending where you live. While nobody dies in an ER in Canada because they don't have health insurance, but the level of care, particularly continuing care and access to specialist in a reasonable amount of time, can be poor. What many people outside of Canada don't know is that once a patient is out of the hospital, many services such as prescription drugs, physiotherapy, prosthetic needs and so on are not covered under medicare. Statistically, 25 percent of Canadians do not fill their drug prescriptions because they can't afford to. Here are some examples from my own experience:

My mother-in-law spent two weeks in the hospital. At the end, while all her hospital services were paid by medicare, she received a bill for about $11,000 for the things that medicare would not pay for.

An MRI takes about three months to get unless it is an emergency and done at the hospital.

About 15% of Canadians do not have access to regular family healthcare.

As for ER wait times, it depends where you live and what statistic you read. The average wait time in Canada are about 4 hours, but that could be as high as 31 hours in Toronto or about 14 hours where I live.

Last week my neighbour went to the ER with debilitating stomach pains. He waited from 10 PM to 3:30 am to be seen, all the time in agony. They made sure he wasn't having a heart attack or appendicitis then discharged him as it was going to take up to three days to admit him because the wards were full.

I can go on!