http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26794291/
In an earlier thread, I talked about my Aunt who worked in the UK National Health system and dreaded ever having to be treated in it.
This story above is an example of why we have to be darn careful of simple solutions for the US ... that could fail miserably. We should never point to the UK system as the role model.
Z
A good description of the problems with "National Health Care" in the UK
Re: A good description of the problems with "National Hea ... (szhosain)
That description is not all that suprising to me. Although my wife is Canadian so I've been exposed first hand to a free universal health care system.
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szh
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Re: A good description of the problems with "National Hea ... (APEXi240)
Curiosity: how would you compare what this story says about the UK to what you experience in Canada?
Z
Z
Re: A good description of the problems with "National Hea ... (szhosain)
Luckily I've never been to the emergency room or to a doctor's office for anything myself.
I have however gone with my wife to several appointments.
They have a generous amount of what we would consider clinics here. Walk-in clinics have a very long wait, overcrowded waiting rooms, plenty of patients that do not need to be at the doctors. It could be equated to a walk-in clinic in a medium- large city. Even with an appointment and getting there early, I would say our average wait was roughly 1 1/2 to 2 hours. This is just to see a general practitioner.
That really isn't all that severe, however my brother in-law needed an MRI of his shoulder, after waiting over a month to see an orthopedic surgeon, he was given an estimated wait time of over 3 months to receive an MRI. Because it was a sports related injury, and he plays professionally, he had to drive over 6 hours to the neighboring province to get a private MRI which he then had to pay for. This was several years ago.
Long wait times for non-life threatening surgeries and other treatments generally take a very long time to receive.
In addition, things like medications, optical and dental are not covered under their health care system. You need additional health care coverage for those things, often provided by some employers similarly to how it is done here. Nor do you have any coverage for emergency situations when outside of your country, unless of course you have additional, private, coverage.
These are only my personal experiences and knowledge as experienced by myself and related to me by my family. I am by no means making any blanket generalizations of universal Canadian health care.
I have however gone with my wife to several appointments.
They have a generous amount of what we would consider clinics here. Walk-in clinics have a very long wait, overcrowded waiting rooms, plenty of patients that do not need to be at the doctors. It could be equated to a walk-in clinic in a medium- large city. Even with an appointment and getting there early, I would say our average wait was roughly 1 1/2 to 2 hours. This is just to see a general practitioner.
That really isn't all that severe, however my brother in-law needed an MRI of his shoulder, after waiting over a month to see an orthopedic surgeon, he was given an estimated wait time of over 3 months to receive an MRI. Because it was a sports related injury, and he plays professionally, he had to drive over 6 hours to the neighboring province to get a private MRI which he then had to pay for. This was several years ago.
Long wait times for non-life threatening surgeries and other treatments generally take a very long time to receive.
In addition, things like medications, optical and dental are not covered under their health care system. You need additional health care coverage for those things, often provided by some employers similarly to how it is done here. Nor do you have any coverage for emergency situations when outside of your country, unless of course you have additional, private, coverage.
These are only my personal experiences and knowledge as experienced by myself and related to me by my family. I am by no means making any blanket generalizations of universal Canadian health care.
