Quote:
Originally Posted by Thornbird
Rob, I think you mentioned about the long wait for surgeries and such. I know the article said something like a 17 week waiting list. I have had many surguries in the last few years and I have never waited that long. Tops, maybe a month and I am in a remote area. In the city like Toronto, maybe you wait a week or two. I have checked with other friends here in Ontario and they have also said the wait is not that long. This is for basic surgeries, not anything like emergency surgery, where they will fly a doctor in asap.
As for sort of paying for your health care with your taxes. You hardly notice it. The 5 or 6 hundred the article mentioned, may seem like a lot. But there are so many tax reductions/deductions you can claim, I have had to pay the government maybe, tops $100 a year. I don't think that is too bad.
As for the use of our Health Care, you are issued a health card, looks a lot like your drivers license. When you go to the hospital for medical procedures or the doctors office, they ask if anything has changed on your card, you say no and that's it. You pay for nothing.
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Your system seems to be very equitable concerning poor/rich. Do they really get the same kind of health care? I too was concerned about the long wait time, but it sounds like in some places they are already handling that problem.
The article also mentions having to pay about $500 a year extra in taxes. Well my son is having surgery next week, I will have to pay 20% of the total bill, plus a $500 deductable starting in January for his rehab. On top of that monthly insurance offered through some companies can be as high as $250 a month. Private insurance is even more.
How does Canada do on research and developement? And are there any incentives to entice people into going into the medical field?