Hello, Canadians of Lemmy! Down in the USA there is a lot of conflicting information regarding the efficacy of y’alls healthcare systems. Without revealing my personal bias, I was hoping for some anecdotes or summaries from those whom actually live there.
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TIL US citizens have to pay for their COVID vaccines… wtf.
Southern Michigan here. There may have been places charging for them, but they were readily available from lots of places for free. In our area county health departments, local pharmacies, and most hospitals were all doing free vaccines and boosters.
It was free in the US, that was a policy decision because of the whole issue and some people wouldn’t be able to afford it. But at some point boosters are not free afaik.
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Out of curiosity, do annual flu vaccines cost money in the US?
In Canada, the way those work is you just go to any pharmacy or most doctors offices. They’ll take info from your health card, give you the shot (usually no wait, maybe 30 min at most if it’s unusually busy), ask you to stick around for 15 minutes and then you can leave. No cost all and super convenient.
You’re asking the wrong guy, I’m Canadian. There’s an askanamerican sub.
Insurance plans will almost always cover it. If you do not have insurance, you are probably going to pay for it yourself now.
A lot of times and places they’re free. But yeah, WTF.
As a Canadian living in the USA… the efficiency of the US healthcare system in comparison to Canada’s is INCREDIBLY overstated. From my experience it has been no more efficient, but a HELL of a lot more expensive and insanely depressing.
Same. The paperwork alone is enormous, and there’s always a lingering dread of “What if my insurance doesn’t cover this somehow?”
It consumes so much time and is so stressful. This healthcare system is an embarrassment and I cannot believe there are people who advocate for this.
What if they use the wrong billing code? What if part of their automation to increase efficiency means being charged for work that was never done? What if they send testing out to a place that is our is network? What is the hospital is in network but the fucking emergency room is not?
Before the ACA you could add: what if I hit my lifetime maximum coverage and what if they consider my condition to be pre-existing?
What if the insurance just aggressively “makes errors” to delay payment?
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Honest answer?
If you’ve lived through Canadian HC for a few decades, you’ll notice a few things:
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It’s no where near as good as it was in the past.
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It’s broken now after Covid and the apathetic response to the stress upon the system.
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The conservative governments (mostly provincial) are purposely not putting monies where needed (eg more staff), and underfunding everything in it so the system breaks. This way, their associates can swoop in and take over with “more efficient” and faster HC services - and they can then begin raking in the enormous profit margins seen in the private US system (many of whom are their ‘associates’).
Canadians in most provinces are currently being slow-walked into private, for profit HC.
If you don’t see this. You’re truly blinded by your comforting illusions of what Canada is now, compared to 20-30 years ago. Shit, even 10.
Two-tiered HC coning right up!
This is happening in Eastern Europe too. Every single point can be applied to any country here
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I had a totally benign fatty mass attached to the back of my skull right where it meets my neck that was a minor irritation and made me uncomfortable with short haircuts. I mentioned it to a doctor during a checkup and a month later it was removed. I’m sporting a short haircut today. It cost me pennies on my taxes.
Three weeks ago I had abdominal pain. I went to Emergency and was diagnosed with appendicitis, which had fully ruptured. I was transferred to another hospital in the same city, and had an operation that night. Due to complications I was in hospital for 8 days. The biggest expense during this entire time was the parking fees when my family came to visit. I left with a prescription, and no bill. Yes, some of our wait times are stupid long, but in this case I got what I needed promptly and was not rushed home until I was deemed ready.
Hope you’re doing alright now. Take care :)
Yeah, recovery is a bit slow for my liking, but I’m on the right trajectory. Thanks!
Good to hear! Get well soon :)
It’s good but aggressively underfunded.
But MUH TAAAXES!
I always wonder if countries with socialized systems would have any complaints at all with the system if it had 50% more funding like the US system does. The US spends 19% of its GDP on healthcare. Canada is 11-12%.
I think it’d be so much better. Though the difficulty with getting to that point is that it’s not merely underfunded because of intertia or something. In a few provinces (particularly my own of Ontario), the conservative government seems to actively want to cut costs and privatize.
Well, if you commies weren’t robbing future potential shareholders of their dividends, you mifht get some good old God Given trickle down scraps. But NO…
Not sure about Canada’s HC system, but I do know lots of older Americans who love to complain and gripe about socialism and socialized medicine. All while being on Medicare and loving it.
In BC the wait times are longer. But this is a symptom of the underfunding from federal and provincial governments. COVID was tough on the health care systems and they did a lot with what they had. Now should be the time to invest in the system and get it healthy again, but apparently more pipelines are the priority…
But overall I am satisfied for our system. It does not cost taxpayers an arm and a leg to fund it, and an emergency won’t bankrupt someone. If you can get extended coverage such as with an employer then you pay minimal amounts for dental, medications, and paramedical services like physio or massage. From what I hear of the American system, I am shocked that there isn’t some type of bare bones coverage for everyone. Sounds like a third world country from up here…
ITT:
People born in Canada: Not great / has problems
US expats living in Canada: It’s mother’s milk
It’s definitely underfunded as others have said, but I will also add this - I had the opportunity on Saturday this past weekend to spend some time in the local emergency room due to a sports related injury. I got X-rays and a CT scan done and saw a Dr. And the cost to me personally was about 6 hours. The waiting was a bit long but I brought a book and some snacks, and everyone was super nice.
You poor Canadians don’t get to enjoy the joy of financially ruinous hospital bills or depending on GoFundMe to afford medicine.
I pity you.
Im in Newfoundland.
Wait times in the emergency room aren’t too bad. Its very heavily triaged so if you go in with a major emergency you will basically be seen immediately, but if you go in with something minor you might have to wait a few hours, especially if there are any respiratory illnesses going around. Children and elderly patients struggling to breathe take priority over an otherwise healthy adult with a wound that just needs a few stitches.
Getting a family doctor can be difficult. There just aren’t enough to go around.
Seeing a specialist will usually involve a long wait list (a few weeks to a few months depending on what they specialize in), so its best to book an appointment as soon as you can. You may have to travel to St.Johns so there might be some travel expenses. Growing up I had to see an ENT in St.Johns every summer for a checkup, so we just turned the visit into a camping trip.
Well, I wish I didn’t have to pay for prescriptions or dental, even if my insurance covers most of it (and there are programs if you have none). Things could be better. Not nearly enough family doctors and wait times can be long if it’s not imminently life threatening. But I do get peace of mind knowing that no matter what an unexpected major surgery won’t financially hurt me.
All in all I look to the states and am thankful for what I have but we could be doing more.
Well I can share my experience. I moved to Canada in 2020, I lived in Toronto for a while. In Toronto I was able to get a GP assigned to me fairly quick. I never had to use the services. Around mid of last year I moved to Ottawa for work. I been on the wait-list to get a GP assigned to me.
In the meantime my wife is recently pregnant, and we been sending out contact information to all the local hospitals hoping to get a gynecologist assigned. She is also on the same boat as me with regards to GP, being on a wait-list. As of now we are going to a private clinic for imaging, and so far everything looks good. But yeah I don’t if it could be better, but it would help my anxiety if for her at-least they got the doctor assigned.
Used to be excellent.
Then to many right wing pc corporate rim job loving capitalists got in power and very intentionally ruined the system so they could get their scum sucking pill pushing evil corporate friends to swoop in and save us with their private health care work.
Create a problem and then offer a paid solution to it.
I hope Ford and his crack smoking criminal croonies get the guillotine when the revolution comes.
