Friday, October 23, 2009

Canadian Healthcare - The Real Story

I received this in an email from a trusted and valued friend*. The Canadian Machinists Union got sick and tired of the lies and misinformation that American talk radio hosts, Faux Noise, and teabaggers were saying about their health system, and made this video showing how ignorant some of the right's arguments really are. The video is 10 minutes long, but worth every second:



Especially telling is the Canadian doctor at the end, who states that she does not have to ask permission to give her patients treatment, or worry that it will bankrupt them, as we have to go through here.

*Surprisingly, said friend wasn't the Canadian one.

5 comments:

  1. "who states that she does not have to ask permission to give her patients treatment, or worry that it will bankrupt them, as we have to go through here"
    Most of the time, doctors don't have to ask permission either.
    As for bankraupting people, that is infrequent, but it does happen, just like in Canada.

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  2. Dan,

    People are dying every day while they are trying to get their insurance companies to authorize treatment. If they say no, most people couldn't afford it.

    Cite me some stories of where someone went bankrupt for not having a huge bill to pay. That is the most ridiculous argument from you yet.

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  3. Bankrupting people ... just like in Canada.

    Eh?

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  4. http://www.fraseramerica.org/commerce.web/product_files/HealthInsuranceandBankruptcyRates_US.pdf

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  5. Dan, did you even read that?

    The Fraser Institute refers to "medical reasons" for personal bankruptcy. Obviously, in Canada, among those reasons is not medical insurance expenses, or medical expenses incurred by uninsured persons.

    As a matter of fact, the conclusion of one of the studies the Fraser Institute cites is this:

    "As in Canada and most of western Europe, health insurance should be divorced from employment to avoid coverage disruptions at the time of illness. Insurance policies should incorporate comprehensive stop-loss provisions, closing coverage loopholes that expose insured families to unaffordable out-of-pocket costs. Additionally, improved programs are needed to replace breadwinners’ incomes when they are disabled or must care for a loved one. The low rate of medical bankruptcy in Canada suggests that better medical and social insurance could greatly ameliorate this problem in the United States."

    Maybe you're not familiar with the Fraser Institute, but it's a notoriously untrustworthy right-wing "think tank."

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