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comment by someguyfromcanada
someguyfromcanada  ·  2895 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Canadian Health Care in Action

Hope it is a slow night and the wait isn't too long. I have never really been one to complain about waiting in emerg though since that means there is nothing too wrong with you.

When I had a heart attack I asked the ambulance drivers how long the wait would be and they said it wouldn't be too long. "So only a couple of hours then" I joked. I realized how serious the situation was when I had 5 nurses and 2 doctors on me about 30 seconds after rolling in. I was in surgery within 35 minutes that Sunday night.

For some reason I was mailed a detailed breakdown of the costs. With 3 days in ICU it was about $25,000. My cousin in California had a $270K bill after "the same" procedure and 1 day in ICU.

I did have to pay $45 for the ambulance though.





lil  ·  2894 days ago  ·  link  ·  

When it is an emergency, you don't wait. My ex went unconscious a few years back due to lysteria-meningitis. The emergency treatment was incredible. No bill, no breakdown.

When I lived in BC in the 1970s, we'd occasionally get a report on our use of the health care system, but that was a long ago in a province far, far away.

Question to Hubski - although I doubt anyone will see it: Would you rather make your own monthly health care payments or have higher taxes?

I've just been reading about obamacare vs Canadacare and some comparisons in Wikipedia. Among other possibly true stats in the wikipedia article was that among 190 World Health Organization member countries, Canada ranks 30th and the US 37th in health care.

user-inactivated  ·  2894 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'd prefer higher taxes, but not because the cost or quality of the insurance I get through my employer.

someguyfromcanada  ·  2894 days ago  ·  link  ·  

For further context:

"According to a new report by the right-leaning Fraser Institute, the average Canadian family will contribute $11,735 in taxes for public health insurance in 2015.... Canada’s poorest families pay $477 a year for health care, while the wealthiest earners pay $59,666 a year.... 24.3% of tax revenues was spent on healthcare."

Source

Original Report PDF