Wow! For all of the issues we complain about here, they're nothing like this. That sounds incredibly frustrating, not to mention dangerous.Linda_Runs wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 3:12 pmYou 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:Valentina327 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 8:07 amAnd 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.Linda_Runs wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 11:09 am
A free healthcare system is far from free, specially when the government is running it and in bed with the suppliers.
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?
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!
Thank you for taking the time to put together such a thorough, thoughtful response Linda.