Question for those who have already settled....

[HBeach78]

As an IT professional US in the place to be!!!
May i ask, what prompted your move from US to Canada?

My husband is a Canadian citizen, we met 3 years ago.... At some point one of us needed to make the move, it was just easier for me since I don't have much for family, and all that really kept me in the USA was the fact that I needed to work to pay my bills... My husband runs his own business and has family he is close with up n Canada...

 

[commonwealth]

Hope things work out in Canada- Best of luck

 

[toby]

I agree with a lot of what Leon says.

Many doctors resent the fact that they started off as private-practice physicians years ago, but gradually the government transformed them into public servants. Now they can only charge $70 per patient visit, which does not allow for much serious treatment.

Some doctors compensate for this by spending a lot of time with a few serious cases, at a mere $70 a pop, and "monitoring" a great number of patients, for a few minutes each, at $70 a pop. it all evens out i their view.

Then you get a few greedy ones who only want to "monitor" -- a euphemism for "do nothing, or at least do the minimum, for a maximum number of patients."

Having recourse to private clinics would allow patients a choice. Sure, private health care would be more expensive, but it would probably be of higher quality, certainly faster, and if the rich went there it would take pressure off the public system, shortening waiting lines.

Some in Canada fear that allowing a private medical system to co-exist would undermine the public system. They fear that doctors would desert the public system, but in England doctors are obliged to spend about half their time in the public system, and they seem to provide good service (getting a bad reputation would jeopardize their private practices).

What’s the point? Next time there is a public debate on reforming health care, don’t be too quick to dismiss the private-system option. And maybe also support small user fees to keep the hypochondriacs out of the doctors’ offices, freeing up space for the truly-ill.

 

[commonwealth]

Fascinating to see two North American neighbors-- with very different Health care systems, converging to private/public combination, let's see which system actually works.
I would stay away from class system...

Both augments from Leon and Karl have significance, it all depends on you!

 

[rk2009]

As a new immigrant in process, the healthcare topic in canada worries me a bit. This is not the first time I am hearing it though . Coming from a third world country, private practice still gets the job done and in most cases immediately. You pay through your pocket but then there is a good chance that in exchange you will be provided world class healthcare.

I really hope that I do not get a fused shoulder or a hurt knee in Canada as it sounds that I will have to wait for months or years to get it sorted out.

 

[Karlshammar]

Waiting lists for specialists in Sweden are notoriously bad. The situation is pretty much the same over there; you have to see a doctor to get anything done, it takes forever (at least in Canada you can usually see a GP pretty quickly), and then they tell you to take a pill or something.

Sorry to dash your hopes of a socialist paradise, but the Swedish health care system is a piece of crap with no redeeming features.

 

[toby]

If you get a fused shoulder, fly to Costa Rica and pay for private health care -- immediate and excellent attention at a reasonable price.

 

[commonwealth]

Chances of fused shoulder is less then < 1% so why even bother- If you want to get best care and willing to pay big bucks then you can always drive into US and get it done ---- but then pay debt for few months or way a little longer and wait for your turn.

 

[jes_ON]

Nobody who really wants a job will ever end up without a job for a long time unless they live in the wilderness. If you are willing to work (and by that I mean even in a job which may not be what you want), you can pretty much always find a job. Yes, even in recessions.

That's not really true - sure, there's always a need for pizza delivery, but you can't pay the rent on that. And if finding a job means that you have to move to another place that you don't like very much, it kind of defeats the purpose of moving here.

Health care is more expensive in Sweden than in Canada as you are expected to pay a certain amount yourself (though with a limit) whereas it is completely free here in Canada, and we pay less in taxes for it as well.

OECD data show that Canada spends more than Sweden on health care, both as a percentage of GDP and on a per capita basis. Data also show higher per capita PRIVATE expenditures for Canada than for Sweden.

http://www.oecd.org/

It is NOT "completely free" in Canada, that's the biggest myth. How much an individual pays depends greatly on which province they live in and what kind of supplemental coverage they get through their employer. If you have no employer/supplemental coverage in Ontario, for example, you have to pay for all prescriptions out of pocket - many unemployed persons simply stop taking their medications. And I have to pay $600 every year to Ontario for my health insurance.

 

[Karlshammar]

Yes, jes_ON, sometimes getting a job will mean getting a job which is not your favorite in a place that is not your favorite. The world does not owe anybody a living... As adults we sometimes have to just take it and work to improve things, even if the start is not the most glorious.

It depends on what you count as private expenditures. If you count for actual money spent on seeing doctors etc. Sweden definitely has higher private expenditures. If you fudge numbers by counting prescription drugs and so on, you can change the numbers.

Sweden saves a lot of money by a) not offering much care or very good care, and b) nationalizing (not just having the gov't pay) much of health care which means most doctors earn far less than in North America. So that's one way of keeping costs down.

The health care portion of the tax in Sweden varies by county, but is usually somewhat above 10%, meaning that the average Swede pays several thousand dollars for health care inferior to that in Canada. The average Swede would jump with joy at the thought of only paying $600 for their health care...

 

[commonwealth]

$600 a year, woooooooooo compare it with $12,000 a year in US to have private insurance for a family.
Cost if one aspect, what about quality?

 

[Leon]

According to Sicko, it's often not enough to have insurance in the US, you may still be denied care based on such and such treatment being too expensive or experimental. Maybe some sort of private/public mix are the best.

It sounds like Sweden is throwing a lot of money into their healthcare and not getting much back. In Canada, at least you don't pay very much for it but however, it does lack the private options in case you need something that isn't offered but you have the money to pay for. Basically you'd have to leave the country.

None of my German coworkers ever complained about the German healthcare, comparing it to Canada they said it's better and faster in Germany but they also pay about 8% of their wages for that.

 

[Karlshammar]

$600 a year, woooooooooo compare it with $12,000 a year in US to have private insurance for a family.
Cost if one aspect, what about quality?

I paid $600 per year in the U.S.A. for comprehensive medical insurance, and it was a PPO with thousands of doctors and not an HMO. It was a group rate; if you are not part of an organization that has a group rate, join one. There are also co-ops for health care in the U.S.A.

According to Sicko, it's often not enough to have insurance in the US, you may still be denied care based on such and such treatment being too expensive or experimental. Maybe some sort of private/public mix are the best.

Do not ever use Michael Moore as a source for anything; the man is a propaganda artist.

It works exactly the same way in publicly-funded systems in terms of expense and experimental treatments.

 

[Leon]

MM is a bit over the top but I don't think he makes it all up. Maybe only half of it is true but that means it's still pretty bad.

 

[Karlshammar]

He is correct that treatment may be denied based on price or being experimental, sure, but that is a fact in any system and is not uniquely American in any way. I was just issuing a general caution about using extremist partisans as sources in a debate.

MM is a bit over the top but I don't think he makes it all up. Maybe only half of it is true but that means it's still pretty bad.