I didn't write this, I just thought it needed to be shared.
Misty
Hey Guys; I saw on the news up here in Canada where Hillary Clinton introduced her new health care plan. Something similar to what we have in Canada. I also heard that Michael Moore was raving about the health care up here in Canada in his latest movie. As your friend and someone who lives with the Canada health care plan I thought I would give you some facts about this great medical plan that we have in Canada.
First of all:
1) The health care plan in Canada is not free. We pay a premium every month of $96. for Shirley and me to be covered. Sounds great eh. What they don't tell you is how much we pay in taxes to keep the health care system afloat. I am personally in the 55% tax bracket. Yes 55% of my earnings go to taxes. A large p ortion of that and I am not sure of the exact amount goes directly to health care our #1 expense.
2) I would not classify what we have as a health care plan, it is more like a health diagnosis system. You can get into to see a doctor quick enough so he can tell you "yes indeed you are sick or you need an operation" but now the challenge becomes getting treated or operated on. We have waiting lists out the ying yang some as much as 2 years down the road.
3) Rather than fix what is wrong with you the usual tactic in Canada is to prescribe drugs. Have a pain here is a drug to take---not what is causing the pain and why. No time for checking you out because it is more important to move as many patients thru as possible each hour for Governmentreimbursement
4) Many Canadians do not have a family Doctor.
5) Don't require emergency treatment as you may wait for hours in theemergency room waiting for treatment.
6) Shirley's dad cut his hand on a power saw a few weeks back and itrequired that his hand be put in a splint - to our surprise we had to pay $125. for a splint because it is not covered under health care plus we have to pay $60. for each visit for him to check it out each week.
7) Shirley's cousin was diagnosed with a heart blockage. Put on a waiting list . Died before he could get treatment.
8) Government allots so many operations per year. When that is done no more operations, unless you go to your local newspaper and plead your case and embarrass the government then money suddenly appears.
9)The Government takes great pride in telling us how much more they are increasing the funding for health care but waiting lists never get shorter. Government just keeps throwing money at the problem but it never goes away. But they are good at finding new ways to tax us, but they don't call it a tax anymore it is now a user fee.
10) My mother needs an operation for a blockage in her leg but because she is a smoker they will not do it. Despite her and my father paying into the health care system all these years. My Mom is 80 years of age. Now there is talk that maybe we should not treat fat and obese people either because they are a drain on the health care system. Let me see now, what we want in Canada is a health care system for healthy people only. That should reduce our health care costs.
11) Forget getting a second opinion, what you see is what you get.
12) I can spend what money I have left after taxes on booze, cigarettes,junk food and anything else that could kill me but I am not allowed by law to spend my money on getting an operation I need because that would be jumping the queue. I must wait my turn except if I am a hockey player or athlete then I can get looked at right away. Go figger. Where else in the world can you spend money to kill yourself but not allowed to spend money to get healthy.
13) Oh did I mention that immigrants are covered automatically at tax payer expense having never contributed a dollar to the system and pay no premiums.
14) Oh yeah we now give free needles to drug users to try and keep them healthy. Wouldn't want a sickly druggie breaking into your house and stealing your things. But people with diabetes who pay into the health care system have to pay for their needles because it is not covered by the health care system.
I send this out not looking for sympathy but as the election looms in the states you will be hearing more and more about universal health care down there and the advocates will be pointing to Canada. I just want to makesure that you hear the truth about health care up here and have some food for thought and informed questions to ask when broached with this subject.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
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1 comments:
What a load of nonsense.
This was sent from Canada to a friend in the States.
Doubtful…
I saw on the news up here in Canada where Hillary Clinton introduced her new health care plan. Something similar to what we have in Canada. I also heard that Michael Moore was raving about the health care up here in Canada in his latest movie. As your friend and someone who lives with the Canada health care plan I thought I would give you some facts about this great medical plan that we have in Canada.
"What Hillary is proposing is nothing like what we have in Canada. Any credible, legitimate person writing such a letter would provide their full name and information to allow for verification of the statements."
First of all:
1) The health care plan in Canada is not free. We pay a premium every month of $96. for Shirley and I to be covered. Sounds great eh. Canadians may say "eh" but nobody writes it. What they don't tell you is how much we pay in taxes to keep the health care system afloat. I am personally in the 55% tax bracket. Yes 55% of my earnings go to taxes. A large portion of that and I am not sure of the exact amount goes directly to health care our #1 expense.
"Nothing is free, anywhere. There is always a cost that has to be paid somehow. $96 per year for two people? If they live in Ontario, that is correct. However, in order to be in a 55% tax bracket, they would each need to be earning in excess of $150,000, so I don't imagine $96 per month is a real hardship. But payment of the $96 is not a pre-requisite for health care coverage. If you don't have any income, you don't pay anything…but you still have coverage. As far as the 55% goes, not very many people pay that (less than 1%) . We are taxed at a higher rate than Americans, but at least we have the comfort of knowing we are paying own way. Our government does not run a $400 billion deficit. Our government does not owe $10 trillion to foreigners who have financed our deficits. In fact, the federal government here just posted its 12th consecutive surplus and has again used the money to pay off debt. So yes, we pay more tax, but we aren't living in some fantasy land."
2) I would not classify what we have as health care plan, it is more like a health diagnosis system. You can get into to see a doctor quick enough so he can tell you "yes indeed you are sick or you need an operation" but now the challenge becomes getting treated or operated on. We have waiting lists out the ying yang some as much as 2 years down the road. Some provinces have had problems with waitlists, but that is being improved.
"In Ontario, the $96 per month previously mentioned was implemented to help fix this. Tell me this..how long is the waitlist for the 40 million Americans that don't have health care? "
3) Rather than fix what is wrong with you the usual tactic in Canada is to prescribe drugs. Have a pain here is a drug to take- not what is causing the pain and why. No time for checking you out because it is more important to move as many patients thru as possible each hour for Government re-imbursement .
"Rubbish."
4) Many Canadians do not have a family Doctor.
"I don't have a doctor. But I don't need one. If I am sick, I go to a walk in clinic, usually the same one, show my health card and get whatever I need. I am sure many Americans don't have a doctor either, but don't have the option to walk into any clinic in the country and be taken care of. If I ever need family doctor I can get one. If I lived in a small town, I might have a bit more trouble and have to drive to another town. I suspect the same small-town situation occurs in the USA."
5) Don't require emergency treatment as you may wait for hours in the emergency room waiting for treatment.
"Rubbish. Went with a friend to the ER a few months ago. It was a weekday evening. Wait time. 20 minutes. Saw three doctors, had 4 different tests completed. Was referred to a specialist and had an appointment in 3 days. Total cost. $0"
6) Shirley's dad cut his hand on a power saw a few weeks back and it required that his hand be put in a splint - to our surprise we had to pay $125. for a splint because it is not covered under health care plus we have to pay $60. for each visit for him to check it out each week.
"Rubbish"
7) Shirley's cousin was diagnosed with a heart blockage. Put on a waiting list . Died before he could get treatment.
"Hmm, sort of hard to verify. How long a wait list? How quickly did he die? I wonder how many people under the American system die because they have no health insurance and can't even get on a wait list, or the insurance they have denies them coverage."
8) Government allots so many operations per year. When that is done no more operations, unless you go to your local newspaper and plead your case and embarrass the government then money suddenly appears.
"Rubbish"
9)The Government takes great pride in telling us how much more they are increasing the funding for health care but waiting lists never get shorter. Government just keeps throwing money at the problem but it never goes away. But they are good at finding new ways to tax us, but they don't call it a tax anymore it is now a user fee. "
"Nonsense"
10) A friend needs an operation for a blockage in her leg but because she is a smoker they will not do it. Despite paying into the health care system all these years. My friend is 65 years old. Now there is talk that maybe we should not treat fat and obese people either because they are a drain on the health care system. Let me see now, what we want in Canada is a health care system for healthy people only. That should reduce our health care costs.
"Utter nonsense. "
11) Forget getting a second opinion, what you see is what you get.
"I can get as many opinions as I want."
12) I can spend what money I have left after taxes on booze, cigarettes, junk food and anything else that could kill me but I am not allowed by law to spend my money on getting an operation I need because that would be jumping the queue. I must wait my turn except if I am a hockey player or athlete then I can get looked at right away. Go figger. Where else in the world can you spend money to kill yourself but not allowed to spend money to get healthy.
"Nothing in the Hillary proposal would impose any restriction on private heath care. Just more scare tactics. If I really want to spend my own money, I can just drive across the border and pay for my operation in an American hospital. "
13) Oh did I mention that immigrants are covered automatically at tax payer expense having never contributed a dollar to the system and pay no premiums.
"Yes, they are. And we are all happy to be providing a better life to those who come here seeking one. I believe that used to be the role of the USA in the world."
14) Oh yeh we now give free needles to drug users to try and keep them healthy. Wouldn't want a sickly druggie breaking into your house and stealing your things. But people with diabetes who pay into the health care system have to pay for their needles because it is not covered but the health care system.
"Virtually every large US city has a needle program for drug users as sharing of needles is one of the major causes of the spread of AIDS and a needle exchange program is far more effective and cheaper than treating additional AIDS patients. As far as diabetes is concern, if you are over 65 as the majority of diabetes patients are, you pay nothing. Plus you don’t have to pay for your drugs either."
"Plus, starting next year, low income people in Ontario will be provided with free dental care".
I send this out not looking for sympathy but as the election looms in the states you will be hearing more and more about universal health care down there and the advocates will be pointing to Canada. I just want to make sure that you hear the truth about health care up here and have some food for thought and informed questions to ask when broached with this subject.
Step wisely and don't make the same mistakes we have.
"This letter is an absolute fabrication. It has been sent to you the same type of wonderful person who would support Bush's veto of the Children's Health Care Bill last week.
Let me tell you the real story. Here are some real examples from my own life, not some mysterious, anonymous fake-Canadian.
1) My Father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he was on chemo treatments within the week. When they decided he needed surgery, it was performed the next day. When he was finally too sick to be at home, he was put into a private room in a hospital. But the hospital was a 30 minute drive for my Mother, so he was moved to a private room in a another hospital 5 minutes from her house. He received compassionate around-the-clock care in the hospital for more than a year. Total medical bill. $0.00
2) My Mother was diagnosed with a heart problem that would require a valve replacement. She saw her cardiologist on a regular basis, until he decided that the surgery was needed. In a heart valve replacement you don't want to do it too soon as they have a useful life of about 10 years and doing it too early means it might have to be redone later. She had open heart surgery, spend 2 days in intensive care, 10 days in hospital. Total medical bill. $0.00
3) Two weeks ago when we got home from Paris, I was really sick. Throat swollen, very painful. Totally miserable. It was Saturday, so my normal clinic was closed. I could have gone to another one about 5 minutes from home, but felt too lousy to go out. I called a service for a house-call at 10am. Dr. arrived by noon. Checked me out, gave me a prescription and was on his way. Total medical bill $0.00
Bottom line: Delivery of health care is always difficult. You are, by definition dealing with people at what is generally a very difficult time of their lives, so even small issues become significant. No system is perfect, but I assure you the system we have here is far better that a system where 20% of the population has no health coverage and where the rest of them that think they have coverage, have their claims routinely denied by the insurance companies. All the money here that goes into health care, gets spend on health care. There is no profit portion taken out of the system.
So, the letter is a fake. It is meant to scare you off supporting universal health care, just like they did last time it was brought up. Doesn't it make you wonder why people are going to such lengths to scare people.
Did you know that The United States is the ONLY industrialized country in the world that does not provide health care to it's citizens?
Please provide this information back to all the people who are sending you these emails.
Anybody who wants to verify my information is free to contact me. Don@QualityTrack.com
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