Most of the criticisms leveled at the Canadian health system in fact are true of th US system. I have to wait a long time to see any specialist and all my GP seems to be authorized to do is write referrals.
That's dependent on where you live. I see specialists in no time at all. I wouldn't trade my state's health care for anything, really. But the US healthcare as reflected in NYC? FORGET IT.
My state (or at least county/surrounding counties) really makes acessability a priority, so it's different here.
I've never waited to see a specialist if it was high priority. I saw four ob/gyns and three midwives in the last three weeks of my second pregnancy! The longest wait I ever had was two months to get an appointment to get my knee looked at, and in the meantime the problem cleared up on its own. The specialist told me I'd be fine if I worked out the muscles in my lower body a bit more, though it was likely I'd need some knee surgery twenty or thirty years down the road.
Canada doesn't have enough doctors, due to some stupidity a few years ago that cut back the number of spots in medical school for a couple of years, coupled with a system that makes it very difficult for foreign-trained doctors to obtain a license to practise medicine here. I know some ideas are floating around about how to fix that problem - things like bringing immigrant doctors in on work visas with residencies already lined up in underserviced areas, like a small-town Northern hospital. They can apply for landed immigrant status when their residency is over, by which time they've been working in an underserviced community for several years and have hopefully put down roots and will stay there.
We have a nursing shortage here, and the AMA is making it harder for nurse practitioners here. An NP (who can see people for basic, general care) is a Masters program. For some reason there is a push to make them all doctors: DNP (Doctorate of Nursing Practice). Between those and the Physicians Assistants, the MDs are feeling the pressure, and are NOT happy. Our shortage has a lot to do with educators. We can't get enough teachers. For my clinical portion of my education, there is a TWO YEAR waiting list. And my program is just an associates program! One woman came from Madison because her wait list there was FIVE YEARS.
Doctors, we seem to have plenty of. (At least out here.)
With the greying of the population, the crunch is just going to get worse.
Canada has the right to establish immigration policy. If we're giving work permits instead of landed-immigrant status, then work permits are dependent upon a job offer. If that job offer is in Nunavut, then they have a choice - they can wait for one in a better locale to be offered, or they can go to Nunavut. When their residency is done, they'll have their license to practise and they'll be able to travel anywhere they choose to set up a practice, because by then they'll have landed immigrant status.
As for the rest of their family - well, I'm sure many of the doctors who chose to take this route would be bringing their family with them and settling with them in the place where they worked.
Medical students already do this, btw. They choose between several hospitals in different cities and a residency committee comprised of doctors in that hospital offers them a residency or declines them after an interview/application process. Plenty of doctors do not start their careers in the cities in which they eventually set up practice - though plenty more go to a city for a residency and stay to practise there.
We need doctors in specific locations. They need residencies and Canadian experience before being granted a medical license. This way would solve some of the shortage with minimal hardship.
Also on your insurance carrier and network. Besides, Philadelphia is one of the worst markets for healthcare due to the malpractice situation here. I don't understand it fully and I don't plan to live here long enough to do so, but there's a lot of suits and lot of very high awards in suits. And yet, the doctors that remain here are pretty damned good, very thorough and careful. The docs I used to see back at the University of Michigan were arrogant. Sometimes the arrogance was justified, but most of the time not. The MCare network itself was really good.
I have private AND my son gets medicaid because he is disabled -- I am actually able to get a double view of healthcare in my state.
I have decent medical coverage because my husband is in a union where the union, and not the company, decides on the healthcare. They vote on what plan they want and how much money to put into it. He has a voice in what he gets, theoretically.
Thanks for this article. I love reading stuff like this, since my future lies in health care administration. At least that's what I'm getting my degree in. ;)
The advantages I see to Canadian over American health care is knowing what to expect financially, and better access (depending on province). (I'm assuming all provinces charge the same premiums.) There's so much variation among the insured in America. While (the author talked about paying a car payment in monthly premiums, I'm paying less than $100 for two adults. (Of course, I'm the exception rather than the rule. I have crazy-good insurance. I usually wait between one day and two weeks to see any doctor, GP or specialist.)
The problem with American politics and health care is that politicians use "fixing" health care as a talking point. This leads many Americans to wrongly believe that there is a magic bullet or solution that will give everyone affordable access to care whenever they want it. There's no such things. Even Canada's system, which is better all things considered, has flaws. Americans want/expect a perfect system, and there's no such thing nor will there ever be.
And just a side note on MRI's...most large American cities will have more MRI machines than all of Canada. I can see where that's the most common thing Canadians border-hop for.
BTW, how do you feel about Ontario? I had a LJ buddy who used to live in ON recently go through the system in BC for the flu, and she talked about how much better BC was.
The premiums differ from province to province. Some provinces have none at all, most have a few hundred a year.
I've never had a problem with the care I've received, and I've never known anyone personally who got a poor quality of care. I've known a woman who put off having routine medical exams until she couldn't function anymore, and then went to her GP. He had her in for tests the next day and she was in for massive surgery to remove a tumour in less than a week. I've also seen people wait three or four months for joint replacements. It's a complex issue that involves the availability of trained staff (especially technicians for tests) the availability of the machinery needed, the availability of doctors and hospital beds and operating theatres, etc, etc. The only thing I'm sure of is that it's unfair to compare provincial coverage based on your personal experience or any other anecdotal evidence.
That, and you couldn't pay me to live in a place without some form of single-payor medical coverage.
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My state (or at least county/surrounding counties) really makes acessability a priority, so it's different here.
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Canada doesn't have enough doctors, due to some stupidity a few years ago that cut back the number of spots in medical school for a couple of years, coupled with a system that makes it very difficult for foreign-trained doctors to obtain a license to practise medicine here. I know some ideas are floating around about how to fix that problem - things like bringing immigrant doctors in on work visas with residencies already lined up in underserviced areas, like a small-town Northern hospital. They can apply for landed immigrant status when their residency is over, by which time they've been working in an underserviced community for several years and have hopefully put down roots and will stay there.
But that hasn't happened yet.
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Doctors, we seem to have plenty of. (At least out here.)
With the greying of the population, the crunch is just going to get worse.
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As for the rest of their family - well, I'm sure many of the doctors who chose to take this route would be bringing their family with them and settling with them in the place where they worked.
Medical students already do this, btw. They choose between several hospitals in different cities and a residency committee comprised of doctors in that hospital offers them a residency or declines them after an interview/application process. Plenty of doctors do not start their careers in the cities in which they eventually set up practice - though plenty more go to a city for a residency and stay to practise there.
We need doctors in specific locations. They need residencies and Canadian experience before being granted a medical license. This way would solve some of the shortage with minimal hardship.
no subject
no subject
I have decent medical coverage because my husband is in a union where the union, and not the company, decides on the healthcare. They vote on what plan they want and how much money to put into it. He has a voice in what he gets, theoretically.
no subject
The advantages I see to Canadian over American health care is knowing what to expect financially, and better access (depending on province). (I'm assuming all provinces charge the same premiums.) There's so much variation among the insured in America. While (the author talked about paying a car payment in monthly premiums, I'm paying less than $100 for two adults. (Of course, I'm the exception rather than the rule. I have crazy-good insurance. I usually wait between one day and two weeks to see any doctor, GP or specialist.)
The problem with American politics and health care is that politicians use "fixing" health care as a talking point. This leads many Americans to wrongly believe that there is a magic bullet or solution that will give everyone affordable access to care whenever they want it. There's no such things. Even Canada's system, which is better all things considered, has flaws. Americans want/expect a perfect system, and there's no such thing nor will there ever be.
And just a side note on MRI's...most large American cities will have more MRI machines than all of Canada. I can see where that's the most common thing Canadians border-hop for.
BTW, how do you feel about Ontario? I had a LJ buddy who used to live in ON recently go through the system in BC for the flu, and she talked about how much better BC was.
no subject
I've never had a problem with the care I've received, and I've never known anyone personally who got a poor quality of care. I've known a woman who put off having routine medical exams until she couldn't function anymore, and then went to her GP. He had her in for tests the next day and she was in for massive surgery to remove a tumour in less than a week. I've also seen people wait three or four months for joint replacements. It's a complex issue that involves the availability of trained staff (especially technicians for tests) the availability of the machinery needed, the availability of doctors and hospital beds and operating theatres, etc, etc. The only thing I'm sure of is that it's unfair to compare provincial coverage based on your personal experience or any other anecdotal evidence.
That, and you couldn't pay me to live in a place without some form of single-payor medical coverage.