Originally posted by whiteroseHis post just says canadian hospitals have cures for viruses...don't your hospitals have cures for viruses? The cures have been around for a while dude...might want to pick some of them up.
Read my posts. I didn't ask for a list of Canadian medical contributions. It was mentioned in the first post that Canada has some 'cures for viruses', which the rest of the world apparently doesn't, so I was asking what those were.
Originally posted by whiterosewell "free Health Care" by definition includes free flu shots.
Completely free health care sounds like a better reason to praise Canada's medical system than free flu shots and a hospital in every city. However, for non-emergency treatments it does seem to lead to long waiting lists.
As for non-emergency treatments, it absolutely can lead to long waiting lists. But in Canada, since it's not an emergency and it's free, we figure it's worth the wait. But if you really can't wait, you can always go to a private clinic or go to the US and pay for it yourself right away.
Most Canadians live within a 2 hour drive of the US border so it's not that big a deal.
Originally posted by uzlessOk, I will spell it out for you. He said Canada's health care system is the best because they have cures for viruses. I said what special cures for viruses does Canada have that they are not sharing with the rest of the world. You seem to think none, proving my point that this is not a valid arguement for Canada having the best health care system. Anyway, you seem to think that most viruses have "cures", which they don't. There are antiviral drugs, but the most common "cure" for viruses is either preventing them in the first place through vaccination or giving the patient supportive care and letting their immune system kill the virus.
His post just says canadian hospitals have cures for viruses...don't your hospitals have cures for viruses? The cures have been around for a while dude...might want to pick some of them up.
Originally posted by uzless"not that big a deal" depends on how much it costs. What about a system where everything is government subsidised, but not free? It would bring in more revenue to hire more health care practitioners, thus shortening waiting lists, and nobody would have to travel to the U.S. and pay lots of money for treatment. Just a thought, but it seems to me like it might work.
well "free Health Care" by definition includes free flu shots.
As for non-emergency treatments, it absolutely can lead to long waiting lists. But in Canada, since it's not an emergency and it's free, we figure it's worth the wait. But if you really can't wait, you can always go to a private clinic or go to the US and pay for it yourself right away.
Most Canadians live within a 2 hour drive of the US border so it's not that big a deal.
Originally posted by whiteroseWe have that in the UK - it's called prescription charges - basically you get free health care unless you need prescription drugs you have to pay for - the last time I needed (minor) surgery I had to pay for my own post-op pain killers. The problem is that any revenues that are raised go to the treasury and get spent on depleted uranium shells for killing people rather than medicines or staff for making people better.
"not that big a deal" depends on how much it costs. What about a system where everything is government subsidised, but not free? It would bring in more revenue to hire more health care practitioners, thus shortening waiting lists, and nobody would have to travel to the U.S. and pay lots of money for treatment. Just a thought, but it seems to me like it might work.
Originally posted by uzlessWayne Gretsky-discoverer of "Goalie rash"
To name a few....
* Frederick Banting (1891-1941, Canadian medical scientist, doctor and Nobel laureate noted as one of the co-discoverers of insulin.
* Norman Bethune, (1890-1939), surgeon, inventor, socialist, battlefield doctor in Spain and China.
* Tommy Douglas, introduced publicly-funded health care in Canada. He is more commonly known ...[text shortened]... y years.
* Wilder Penfield - Neurosurgeon, discovered electrical stimulation of the brain
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061201/bc_clinic_061201/20061202?hub=Health
"Deal with B.C. a 'win-win' says private clinic
Updated Sat. Dec. 2 2006 11:30 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A deal that allows a controversial private clinic in Vancouver to operate without charging patients is a "win-win" for patients, a clinic spokeswoman said Saturday.
After the deal was struck late Friday, B.C. Health Minister George Abbott told reporters that the new False Creek Urgent Care Centre will operate like any other walk-in clinic allowing patients to receive treatment without payment.
Sherry Wiebe, the clinic's spokeswoman, told CTV Saturday that the deal is a "win-win for health-care patients in B.C."
"The minister is forward-thinking, open to innovation and happy to work with us moving forward in an approach that allows us to do this," she said. "We think this is a better way for us to be an advocate for better patient care."
The centre will change its billing plans to adhere to provincial guidelines and the Canada Health Act. Instead of charging patients, the clinic will instead bill British Columbia's Health Ministry.
Regardless of ability to pay, patients can present their B.C. Care Card to receive treatment at the centre for anything that's not an emergency.
Originally, the clinic's ads said it would charge $199 for an evaluation, $50 for a blood test and $70 to set an arm cast.
But for the first time in Canada, patients will be able to go to the clinic for some treatments normally available only from a hospital.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_health_care
edit:
"[edit] Criticisms
While the quality of Canada's hospitals are often of high quality, the wait times to get into those hospitals can span weeks or months, including for simple procedures. (Compared with the US where wait times are generally only restricted by securing a donor organ or fulfilling medical requirements--such as no eating for a day or two.) According to the Fraser Institute, waiting times in Canada, across all specialties, averaged 17.7 weeks in 2005.[3]
The Institute also notes a severe lack of physicians in Canada, again focusing on the health system which hinders incentives for doctors to be trained and stay in the country. Out of a 27 country survey, Canada ranked 24, with an age adjusted doctor-to-population ratio of 2.3, ahead of the United Kingdom, Japan and Turkey, in that order.[4]
Canada also outlaws all purchases of health care services within its borders, denying its citizens from opting out of the system. The only other countries in the world that forbides its citizens from paying for their own health care are Cuba and North Korea.[5]
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"Private sector
In Canada the private sector has always been the frontline in healthcare. Canadian doctors operate for profit businesses and are the primary gatekeepers to the whole healthcare system. The doctors also have no controls placed on them by the primary payer for services, the government, and they are therefore in a position to easily recommend more visits and are guaranteed payment by the government.
About 30% of Canadians' health care is paid for through the private sector. This mostly goes towards services not covered or only partially covered by Medicare such as prescription drugs, dentistry and optometry. Many Canadians have private health insurance, often through their employers, that cover these expenses. There are also large private entities that can buy priority access to medical services in Canada, such as WCB in BC.
Contrary to popular belief, selling private health insurance that could cover hip replacements and MRI scans is legal in several provinces, but because they are available without charge in the public system, so far there has been no market for private insurance for what the Canada Health Act defines as "medically necessary services."
In June 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Quebec's prohibition against private health insurance for medically necessary services laws was unconstitutional, potentially opening the door to much more private sector participation in the health system. Justices Beverley McLachlin, Jack Major, Michel Bastarache and Marie Deschamps found for the majority. "Access to a waiting list is not access to health care," wrote Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin.
The Quebec and federal governments asked the high court to suspend its ruling for 18 months. Less than two months after its initial ruling, the court agreed to suspend its decision for 12 months, retroactive to June 9, 2005. This means that, for the interim, there would be no change to the status quo. As a result of delays in receiving tests and surgeries, it is alleged patients have suffered and even died in some cases, although no rigorously collected data are available to substantiate or refute this claim. [2]
The Canadian system is for the most part publicly funded, yet most of the services are provided by private enterprises, private corporations. Most all doctors do not receive an annual salary, but receive a fee per visit or service.
A CBC report [6](August 21, 2006) on the health care system reports the following:
"Dr. Albert Schumacher, former president of the Canadian Medical Association estimates that 75 per cent of health-care services are delivered privately, but funded publicly. "Frontline practitioners whether they're GPs or specialists by and large are not salaried. They're small hardware stores. Same thing with labs and radiology clinics …The situation we are seeing now are more services around not being funded publicly but people having to pay for them, or their insurance companies. We have sort of a passive privatization."
According to Dr. Albert Schumacher' remarks, they, GP's are "small hardware stores' is a major reason why there is a shortage of doctors in Canada; simple economics dictates that doctors within the system benefit from a shortage of supply of doctors.
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