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Originally Posted by blackestate
I have a question, If there are no long waiting lines in the canada system, and the service is good, why do many (even the small %) choose to pay from their pocket and use the usa services? That does not add up to my thinking.
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First, all healthcare systems have their issues. Second, there is a manipulation done regarding Canada's health system, and it's an easy one. Some procedures do have a waiting period. The conclusion some would like you to draw, and say as fact, is that all ill Canadians are languishing and dying from deadly diseases and conditions because some people have to wait for some things sometimes. The kinds of things Canadians have to wait for are quality of life things. Not things that without them you'll die. Things that without them, life may be burdened. Like incontinence for example. Surely it is a burden. I don't dismiss the lowering of quality of life caused by it. You can't die of incontinence though. So, in Canada, you have to wait for corrective surgery. Here in America, you have to potentially fight with your insurance company/HMO so they don't deem it elective, then pay a lot of money for the surgery. Some Canadians with the wherewithal to do it would rather spend the extra money to come here and get done what needs to be done to improve their quality of life. Not to save it.
The third is the most important. No one said Canada's system will be copied here. Canadians like their system. They are not among the sickest people in the world. They don't have high mortality rates. They don't have low treatment success rates. Good for them. Nobody has ever said we are going to do what Canada does.
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Also if you change the usa system, to be more like the canada system, why would anyone try and create the new services that people come to the usa for from all over the world? even the drug companies will loose the funding to develop and test new drugs because the drive of profit will be gone.
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I'm afraid you might be suffering from ignorance on this matter. The United States is not the only country engaged in medical research. There have been several advances in medicine from European, Canadian, and other doctors.
Second, medical research is not directly funded by premiums paid to insurance companies. It is funded from a variety of sources.
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I believe that if a change like this happens, then the greatest loss will not be to the people of the usa, but to the world, who will loose the usa system, and the advances that the "greed" drive.
I believe it is out of control, and needs some change. But I also believe that too big of a change too quickly may cause unforseen damage.
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One thing the rest of the world is definitely going to suffer from (assuming this change is in the bill) is that Americans will no longer subsidize foreigners' prescription medication. Every other country in the world negotiates prices with pharm companies. So when they cut France a deal on prescriptions, guess who picks up the monetary slack? Look in a mirror.
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My father's life was saved this year by a heart proceedure that is only a few years old. Just so you know where I am comming from.
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Glad to hear it. What procedure?