Canadians Only Answer This

[BigPapaDean]

 

Damage I understand your intentions are good but this leaves an open confrontation even if just the Canadians vote or respond. Every one has their own idealogies and while this for the most part is a good system for Canada I am sure there are those who would want to say whay they vote the way they vote! I will refrain from my opinion as I am not in the know on this subject!

arent you in the smallest bit curious living here after hearing the arguments we hear about this to just ask out freinds who live and experience this  for there honest insight.who best to ask

Sure I am interested! 

[Joe Canadian]

 

 

Damage I understand your intentions are good but this leaves an open confrontation even if just the Canadians vote or respond. Every one has their own idealogies and while this for the most part is a good system for Canada I am sure there are those who would want to say whay they vote the way they vote! I will refrain from my opinion as I am not in the know on this subject!

arent you in the smallest bit curious living here after hearing the arguments we hear about this to just ask out freinds who live and experience this  for there honest insight.who best to ask

Sure I am interested! 

 

 

Dean, I don't think any Canadian in his right mind would take Damage's question as an offence. quite the contrary...curiosity is the mother of innovation, or invention :-)

[Joe Canadian]

This is probably not directly related to universal healthcare but I wanted to say that when the system works in the USA, whether is private or government funded is excellent, sometimes even more advanced and fair than the Canadian system/health care programs we have in place here. Just to give you an example, I have a friend who lives in Florida and whose 10 year old son has Autism and ADHD but who has a really high IQ. The kid has problems interacting with kids his own age and has no social life. However, he loves math and physics and is intellectually more advanced than a 16 year old.  He speaks English, Portuguese, Chinese and is about to start studying German. The US government has awarded him a grant that will pay for his studies and other everyday expenses until he graduates, whether he wants to finish high school or get a PhD in any field. He also gets to see a counselor and a bunch of professionals who specialize in Autism and ADHD, everything funded by the US government. 

I have another friend who lives here, in Canada. His 13 year old son has the exact same diagnoses: Autism and ADHD  with a low IQ. The kid has a lot of trouble at school and interacting with people in general.  He goes to school every day but stays in the cafeteria playing video games or doing other activities. He doesn't get any support from the Canadian government besides a disability tax credit, that allows his parents to deduct roughly $10,000 of their income for income tax purposes. He sees a social worker once a month and a child psychologist, who doesn't do all that much for him. The future for this kid looks quite grim compared to the 11 year old who happens to live in the USA.   The moral of the story is quite simple, nothing is absolute, there are always exceptions to our general perceptions of each other. Our countries are quite different, but we both have our own strength and deficiencies. 

 

Cheers

[Guybrush]

If uncle sam didn't have me tied down, I'd move to canada simply for the health care...and the bacon...

 

 

oh and for John Candy....because FUCKIN JOHN CANDY.

Edited March 13, 2013 by flashadvocate

[PimpedOutPete]

Bacon!!!! Lol..

[Joe Canadian]

Bacon!!!! Lol..

 

[little_old_man]

 

This is probably not directly related to universal healthcare but I wanted to say that when the system works in the USA, whether is private or government funded is excellent, sometimes even more advanced and fair than the Canadian system/health care programs we have in place here. Just to give you an example, I have a friend who lives in Florida and whose 10 year old son has Autism and ADHD but who has a really high IQ. The kid has problems interacting with kids his own age and has no social life. However, he loves math and physics and is intellectually more advanced than a 16 year old.  He speaks English, Portuguese, Chinese and is about to start studying German. The US government has awarded him a grant that will pay for his studies and other everyday expenses until he graduates, whether he wants to finish high school or get a PhD in any field. He also gets to see a counselor and a bunch of professionals who specialize in Autism and ADHD, everything funded by the US government. 

I have another friend who lives here, in Canada. His 13 year old son has the exact same diagnoses: Autism and ADHD  with a low IQ. The kid has a lot of trouble at school and interacting with people in general.  He goes to school every day but stays in the cafeteria playing video games or doing other activities. He doesn't get any support from the Canadian government besides a disability tax credit, that allows his parents to deduct roughly $10,000 of their income for income tax purposes. He sees a social worker once a month and a child psychologist, who doesn't do all that much for him. The future for this kid looks quite grim compared to the 11 year old who happens to live in the USA.   The moral of the story is quite simple, nothing is absolute, there are always exceptions to our general perceptions of each other. Our countries are quite different, but we both have our own strength and deficiencies. 

 

Cheers

I know it sounds like a great deal Joe, but the reason the kid with the high IQ getting everything paid for is because the CIA is probably grooming him to be a code breaker or some other kind of high tech guru.   Most of the time peope with disabilities in the US are treated the same as what you described in Canada.

[Damage_inc-]

thanks

[Shamu]

It seems the issue is money as most services are.

 

If I can afford it I'll stick with the stateside system.

 

If ever I can't maybe I will move to Canada or Sweden.

[KRG Lightning]

My dad thinks Canadian health care is awfull, he seems to see the negative side of it (the wait times) and not the positive side. I was born a premie (not sure how thats spelled) and was in the hospital incubator for a few weeks so the doctors could make shure that i was ok, such as breathing properly etc. My mother had a c section for both me and my sister who was born 2 years later as well as operations to get my adenoids removed due to me haveing snoreing problems as well as ear invections.

 

 Hospitals are a welcome and unwelcome sight sometimes...

[Evil-Monkey]

i quess my big question is does everybody pay taxes in canada. see here in the states we have quite a few of our population how lives off those of us who pay taxes . so how would that work here in the states . and if everybody does pay taxes in canada. how do we do that here? .....lol. by the way i fiqured the health care was not as bad as most think here in the states im glad it works for you all ..way to work things out.   go canada

[Bogleg]

Everyone pays taxes in the U.S. Just not everyone pays income taxes or property taxes. But everyone pays some kind of tax every day if the purchase anything at all.

[Evil-Monkey]

@@Bogleg ok ya they do. but about 1/3 of this country gets all if not more back at the end of the year. this is what i am talking about. sorry for the confussion.

[my_slave]

 

This is probably not directly related to universal healthcare but I wanted to say that when the system works in the USA, whether is private or government funded is excellent, sometimes even more advanced and fair than the Canadian system/health care programs we have in place here. Just to give you an example, I have a friend who lives in Florida and whose 10 year old son has Autism and ADHD but who has a really high IQ. The kid has problems interacting with kids his own age and has no social life. However, he loves math and physics and is intellectually more advanced than a 16 year old.  He speaks English, Portuguese, Chinese and is about to start studying German. The US government has awarded him a grant that will pay for his studies and other everyday expenses until he graduates, whether he wants to finish high school or get a PhD in any field. He also gets to see a counselor and a bunch of professionals who specialize in Autism and ADHD, everything funded by the US government. 

I have another friend who lives here, in Canada. His 13 year old son has the exact same diagnoses: Autism and ADHD  with a low IQ. The kid has a lot of trouble at school and interacting with people in general.  He goes to school every day but stays in the cafeteria playing video games or doing other activities. He doesn't get any support from the Canadian government besides a disability tax credit, that allows his parents to deduct roughly $10,000 of their income for income tax purposes. He sees a social worker once a month and a child psychologist, who doesn't do all that much for him. The future for this kid looks quite grim compared to the 11 year old who happens to live in the USA.   The moral of the story is quite simple, nothing is absolute, there are always exceptions to our general perceptions of each other. Our countries are quite different, but we both have our own strength and deficiencies. 

 

Cheers

There is one difference one major difference between those two kids one has high iq and the other one low... so you cant really compare them

 

I lived in canada all my life until 2-3 years ago now i am in california and trust me i miss my darn health care badly.. at least in canada i wasnt worried each time i was sick .. here when i feel sick i will for sure pray that it goes away on its own last time i was sick i was feeling really really tired and depressed so i went to see my doctor and he said ok lets do blood test to see if you are ok... then i took the darn blood test that cost me from pocket 500$ my darn deductible.. yup i go see the doc about once a year and guess what it ends up i need to pay each year that 500$ at least in canada when i am sick i simply go see the doctor and actually wait as long as here and see my doctor and we try out some stuff to figure out what is wrong or simply fix the issue without me thinking ok how the heck will i pay for that bill plus the pills or whatever is needed.. i do love my old health care and wish really really bad i had i t here too...

 

Now my mom is sick for about 5 years now she has a blader cancer and guess what if she would be in cali hmmm i couldnt get her treated for it she would of been dead by now... but guess what she is alive and has her treatments and i am really happy with that...  Ok we have huge taxes where i come from lol i am from quebec in canada and that means we pay about 18% taxes at least that is what it was last summer lol it is incredibly high but all our sick people have the chance to live as long as it is possible and all that in good health..

 

So yup that was my opinion

[LordOfChaos]

Great topic Damage! 

 

And yes from me too... the system in Canada is not perfect, but it's free to everyone.  Some started talking user fees a while back and that got killed even before it had a chance.  We Love our Health care system, but there is one thing we love better ... and that we love to BITCH about how un-perfect it is.  Nothing in this world is perfect.  That's never gonna happen.  but we in Canada do believe free health care is a right.  No matter what income.

 

 I got hurt at work a while ago, and i was on what we call workmen's compensation (another great Canadian Social Program  which paid me approx. 90% of my wages while off work, and all my medication, my doctor/hospital bills were all taken care of.  They actually also paid to get me into one of our "privately run" clinics, where they operated on me, and I was released the same day.  That whole process took about 3-4 weeks.  They didn't want me sitting around needlessly at home waiting to get surgery  instead they paid to have me jump the cue... interesting description someone here gave is that they "co-exist" and do not compete.  In Vancouver we are a fairly international city, with many who are rich visitors, and they all access the "private" clinics, as they are less congested, and cost approx. the same or a bit more.

 

Go Canada eh?

 

Thanks for asking Damage!

Edited March 16, 2013 by LordOfChaos

[KingStinger!]

 

 

This is probably not directly related to universal healthcare but I wanted to say that when the system works in the USA, whether is private or government funded is excellent, sometimes even more advanced and fair than the Canadian system/health care programs we have in place here. Just to give you an example, I have a friend who lives in Florida and whose 10 year old son has Autism and ADHD but who has a really high IQ. The kid has problems interacting with kids his own age and has no social life. However, he loves math and physics and is intellectually more advanced than a 16 year old.  He speaks English, Portuguese, Chinese and is about to start studying German. The US government has awarded him a grant that will pay for his studies and other everyday expenses until he graduates, whether he wants to finish high school or get a PhD in any field. He also gets to see a counselor and a bunch of professionals who specialize in Autism and ADHD, everything funded by the US government. 

I have another friend who lives here, in Canada. His 13 year old son has the exact same diagnoses: Autism and ADHD  with a low IQ. The kid has a lot of trouble at school and interacting with people in general.  He goes to school every day but stays in the cafeteria playing video games or doing other activities. He doesn't get any support from the Canadian government besides a disability tax credit, that allows his parents to deduct roughly $10,000 of their income for income tax purposes. He sees a social worker once a month and a child psychologist, who doesn't do all that much for him. The future for this kid looks quite grim compared to the 11 year old who happens to live in the USA.   The moral of the story is quite simple, nothing is absolute, there are always exceptions to our general perceptions of each other. Our countries are quite different, but we both have our own strength and deficiencies. 

 

Cheers

There is one difference one major difference between those two kids one has high iq and the other one low... so you cant really compare them

 

I lived in canada all my life until 2-3 years ago now i am in california and trust me i miss my darn health care badly.. at least in canada i wasnt worried each time i was sick .. here when i feel sick i will for sure pray that it goes away on its own last time i was sick i was feeling really really tired and depressed so i went to see my doctor and he said ok lets do blood test to see if you are ok... then i took the darn blood test that cost me from pocket 500$ my darn deductible.. yup i go see the doc about once a year and guess what it ends up i need to pay each year that 500$ at least in canada when i am sick i simply go see the doctor and actually wait as long as here and see my doctor and we try out some stuff to figure out what is wrong or simply fix the issue without me thinking ok how the heck will i pay for that bill plus the pills or whatever is needed.. i do love my old health care and wish really really bad i had i t here too...

 

Now my mom is sick for about 5 years now she has a blader cancer and guess what if she would be in cali hmmm i couldnt get her treated for it she would of been dead by now... but guess what she is alive and has her treatments and i am really happy with that...  Ok we have huge taxes where i come from lol i am from quebec in canada and that means we pay about 18% taxes at least that is what it was last summer lol it is incredibly high but all our sick people have the chance to live as long as it is possible and all that in good health..

 

So yup that was my opinion

Well said, Kinda nice to hear from someone who has lives both countries health system. Statements like this are what continue my faith in the Canadian system.

Edited March 16, 2013 by KingStinger!

[Joe Canadian]

 

 

This is probably not directly related to universal healthcare but I wanted to say that when the system works in the USA, whether is private or government funded is excellent, sometimes even more advanced and fair than the Canadian system/health care programs we have in place here. Just to give you an example, I have a friend who lives in Florida and whose 10 year old son has Autism and ADHD but who has a really high IQ. The kid has problems interacting with kids his own age and has no social life. However, he loves math and physics and is intellectually more advanced than a 16 year old.  He speaks English, Portuguese, Chinese and is about to start studying German. The US government has awarded him a grant that will pay for his studies and other everyday expenses until he graduates, whether he wants to finish high school or get a PhD in any field. He also gets to see a counselor and a bunch of professionals who specialize in Autism and ADHD, everything funded by the US government. 

I have another friend who lives here, in Canada. His 13 year old son has the exact same diagnoses: Autism and ADHD  with a low IQ. The kid has a lot of trouble at school and interacting with people in general.  He goes to school every day but stays in the cafeteria playing video games or doing other activities. He doesn't get any support from the Canadian government besides a disability tax credit, that allows his parents to deduct roughly $10,000 of their income for income tax purposes. He sees a social worker once a month and a child psychologist, who doesn't do all that much for him. The future for this kid looks quite grim compared to the 11 year old who happens to live in the USA.   The moral of the story is quite simple, nothing is absolute, there are always exceptions to our general perceptions of each other. Our countries are quite different, but we both have our own strength and deficiencies. 

 

Cheers

There is one difference one major difference between those two kids one has high iq and the other one low... so you cant really compare them

 

I lived in canada all my life until 2-3 years ago now i am in california and trust me i miss my darn health care badly.. at least in canada i wasnt worried each time i was sick .. here when i feel sick i will for sure pray that it goes away on its own last time i was sick i was feeling really really tired and depressed so i went to see my doctor and he said ok lets do blood test to see if you are ok... then i took the darn blood test that cost me from pocket 500$ my darn deductible.. yup i go see the doc about once a year and guess what it ends up i need to pay each year that 500$ at least in canada when i am sick i simply go see the doctor and actually wait as long as here and see my doctor and we try out some stuff to figure out what is wrong or simply fix the issue without me thinking ok how the heck will i pay for that bill plus the pills or whatever is needed.. i do love my old health care and wish really really bad i had i t here too...

 

Now my mom is sick for about 5 years now she has a blader cancer and guess what if she would be in cali hmmm i couldnt get her treated for it she would of been dead by now... but guess what she is alive and has her treatments and i am really happy with that...  Ok we have huge taxes where i come from lol i am from quebec in canada and that means we pay about 18% taxes at least that is what it was last summer lol it is incredibly high but all our sick people have the chance to live as long as it is possible and all that in good health..

 

So yup that was my opinion

 

 

 

I should've said "average or below average"  IQ rather than "low" IQ, because that's the actual result of the standard IQ test he did at school. I still think the comparison is valid.  Both kids are Autistic and have ADHD, the difference is that

the kid living in Florida went through a lengthy evaluation process and a battery of tests to determine what was the true nature of his disability and if there were any strengths associated with them. Standard IQ testing for ADHD or

Autistic kids doesn’t show the whole picture, at least that's what I've heard. After the evaluation it was determined that the American kid was excellent with numbers and languages, so he was sent to a specialized school that has helped

him immensely.

 

 

The Canadian kid also did some testing but it wasn't as specialized and lengthy as the previous example.  They just "scratched" the surface to obtain a diagnosis. The kid was not referred for further testing as his parents wouldn't be able to afford it. He stayed in the conventional school system, his possible strengths were never assessed and his is basically just getting by.  

 

[little_old_man]

Unitl around 25 years ago, the US healthcare system ran like a well oiled machine. You could buy a health plan with a 2 million dollar maximum benefit and no deductible and low or no copayment for under $100 per month even if you were middle aged. 

 

Then came big advances in technology and drugs. All of a sudden every kid that wasn't perfectly behaved had ADHD and needed to be on meds. In Vitro fertilization allowed couples who could never have children to get pregnant, not with one but with complete fucking litters. Each of these miracle babies was generally born pre-mature and requred long stays in the hospital which averaged around a million bucks each. When insurance companies initially didn't want to pay for these new things, lawmakers made sure that those heartless corporations paid for everything thrown their way up to and including Viagra and birth control pills, and any time they wanted to increase their premiums they needed goverment approval.

 

In the mean time, health care providers have zero restrictions on how much they can charge. Politicians own stock in corporations that own hospitals, drug manufactures, and all kinds of medical equipment. Why? Because where else can you go to Washington a middle class nobody, make investments based on insider information that's not available to the general public, and become a millionare?

 

Canada did it right decades ago and their system works for them. They regulate how much drug companies can charge for their products, and the cost of health care in general. Unless we kill off all the politicians, start from scratch and make political coruption/crony capitalism an offense punishable by death, our only alternative is to go deeper into debt as a nation. Nothing will change unless we force it upon the politicians and regulate the shit out of health care, not health insurance.  

[Joe Canadian]

I hear you LOM,  the system is abused in Canada as well. The end result is people with legitimate health concerns and impairments getting overlooked and condemned to a miserable existence. ADHD, Autism, Aspergues and others are  true psychological/psychiatric disorders. ADHD responds well to medication, Autism requires very specific life changes and accommodations. My point was that you, in the US, as miserable as you might feel, are sometimes more advanced and have more resources in place to help people with unconventional, or if you want "silent" or "invisible" health problems than here in Canada. I don't wanna get into Politics , but there's also corruption here LOM and please don't kill Politicians, get rid of Pete lol, that should do.... this last part was just a (bad) joke 

 

cheers

[bullwink]

All should realize we do pay higher taxes on all our goods and services to pay for health care, i for one do get pissed of paying more for things than the USA but in the long run well worth it.