...very important to think about.
To read about it click here. And for those wondering why we did not return to Canada following my husband's job loss - this is the answer. The crumbling health system is why we sought a transfer to the States. Please take the time to read this article and know - when they say patients are participating in lotteries to see the local doctor - they are not joking. Many towns no longer even have a single doctor's office open. Saint George, New Brunswick is such a town. My father and step mother have to drive to Saint John, a city an hour away, for medical care. As do all the residents of Saint George.
Oh, and in Canada - health care providers can, and do, go on strike. The doctors were on strike when we left Canada in January of 1997. We had an 18 month old son requiring surgery at the time and we were told to wait for our transfer to the States as the waiting list, due to the strike, was so long - he would not get it done in Canada before the strike was over. We were told this in November of 1996.
And keep this in mind. If the Doctor, through negligence, removes your left ovary when he was to remove the right one and so you end up with NO ovaries - who do you sue? His employer? Which is ... the government. Ever hear of anyone suing the government and winning?
Nah, me neither.
So please read this and think very carefully about what you want your health care to look like in few years before you vote in November. I am only 46. The system was broken when we left and that was 11 years ago. The government system came online AFTER I was born. It took less than thirty-five years to fall apart.
Please ignore
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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4 comments:
Thanks for posting this, and for sharing your own experience--it's an important reminder to everyone that although our system is far from perfect, government health care is not the panacea some think.
Definite food for thought. Too many people jump to support something or someone without thinking that the cons may far out weigh the pros. I guess it is human nature, we see a flawed system and want to fix it so badly that we sometimes blindly jump in the wrong direction.( don't we all do this on one level or another?) Thanks for the education on why this may not be our best option !
This is very insightful and I truly appreciate your shedding light on this very important topic. Healthcare is not an easy situation, people have declared bunkruptcy because of mounting medical bills with sick children and no insurance. It breaks my heart. We have insurance, and good insurance and yet it is medical bills that keep us down financially. Oh, for the days of Doc. Baker from Little House tv series!
Something I neglected to add was that not only was the system already breaking down when we left 11 years ago but that the taxes one paid to cover the costs were horrendous. You had a 15% GST tax that was charged on EVERYTHING, from a hair cut to a new car to groceries. That was AFTER paying 28 - 30 percent federal income taxes. Add to that Provincial income tax, property income tax and the gasoline taxes (in 1996 it was costing 80 plus dollars to fill our tank then we moved and it was less than twenty to fill a LARGER tank than we had in Canada. What would it cost us NOW to fill that tank???)
When we sat down and figured out all of the taxes we came to the conclusion we were paying close to 60% of our income in taxes. No wonder our salary of 60,000 a year (IN 96!!) did not allow us to make ends meet.
Now - let me add this little bit of icing on the cake... IN Ontario, and some other provinces, are charing... in addition to your taxes, a 300 a month fee for OHIP. (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) This was Ontario's "free" health insurance. Each province has its own health plan. Luckily for us - BNR, my husband's employer paid this as part of his benefits... but we were, of course, taxed on it as income.
SO - just how free is this health care????
We left Canada 10,000 dollars in debt - from living expenses. Not for cars, furniture, vacations. This was debt from buying food and NEEDED clothes and paying for heat....
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