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347 Comments
- dezweber, on 10/21/2008, -13/+188Another example our the US's fine healthcare system!
- Zippo, on 10/21/2008, -3/+111Say what you want about the long waits sometimes associated with Canada's healthcare, I've never had to wait anymore than a couple hours to see a doctor in the emergency room. And I've certainly never been billed for it.
And, for the most part, you only have to wait if your condition is mild. If it's the least bit serious, you're looked after immediately. - skiner24, on 10/21/2008, -4/+97Sounds like health care in America
- onenonblonde, on 10/21/2008, -0/+83On 4/14/06, I waited for 17 hours in the ER of my local hospital. My family took me to another facility, where I was admitted immediately and underwent emergency surgery. I owe the the first hospital $282 for the cup of water that the nurse brought me. I owe the second hospital my life.
- FlareHeart, on 10/21/2008, -0/+64I have never had a problem with Canada's health care either (I live in Saskatchewan), however it sounds like you are implying that this article is about Canadian health care as well, which it certainly is not (if that is not what you meant then I am sorry and no offense was intended by my statement). I think the US Health care system has a long way to go before it can be even remotely close to that of the countries that treat health care as a right instead of a privilege.
In Canada, your health is considered a right. Therefore health care is a right, not a privilege like the US seems to think it is. - WasabiBomb, on 10/21/2008, -2/+52Except, randydaytona, they DON'T "take half of your paycheck". Most Canadians end up paying less than we pay here in the US, and EVERYONE gets to see a doctor, not just those who can afford to.
Our health coverage system is a joke. - Ninh, on 10/21/2008, -2/+40At least she wasn't arrested for loitering or suspicion of soliciting prostitution.
- beachsouthpaw, on 10/21/2008, -4/+41But no government regulations!!!
Why?
Because that's SOCIALISM and this is AMERICA.
/s - issaccheriyathu, on 10/21/2008, -5/+40The best healthcare in the world...Michael Moore would be proud!
- Chaoticfist, on 10/21/2008, -3/+33I logged in to make this comment. People bitch all the time about Canadas health care and how long you have to wait. But honestly i have never heard of anyone in Canada waiting 19 hours for treatment and then not getting it and leaving.
If you showed up in a hospital here in Canada and needed treatment you would be in surgery right away. I went to the hospital to get a prescription for some antibiotics and waited 2 hours to see a doctor got him to look at me and then i left. No bill, all i have to do is pay for my meds which is pretty cheap.
If anyone here ended up waiting for 19 hours there would be public outrage over it. Here is something from the article i saw that i dont understand how it happened.
A few days before Milbrodt's visit, a 58-year-old man who went to the ER with stomach pains also waited 19 hours — and then suffered cardiac arrest and died.
WTF where were the nurses and the doctors. Had this been in Canada he would have seen a doctor right away. - Alli3388, on 10/21/2008, -6/+36Thank god I live in Canada. There isn't such thing as a hospital bill unless you want to pay for a cushy, private room, and even that is pretty cheap!
- scottmweaver, on 10/21/2008, -2/+31I smell a lawsuit!
- Enkerro, on 10/21/2008, -2/+30That is just rude. No help but still they billed her.
I hope she contacted her lawyer. - trer, on 10/21/2008, -3/+30"I still believe the fundamentals of the health care system are strong"
- bilious, on 10/21/2008, -2/+25The rest of the world doesn't put up with this, why do you?
- funkyloki, on 10/21/2008, -0/+23No, in the US, healthcare is seen as a commodity, not as a right or a privilege, but as something to be purchased.
- kd420, on 10/21/2008, -2/+24Most impressive thing I've experienced: my dad had a triple bypass, only had to pay 10$ for the phone in his room. Yeah, say what you want, call us socialists, but I'd give anything to ensure health care for all Canadians.
- Alli3388, on 10/21/2008, -3/+25She doesn't even have health insurance. I seriously doubt she has a lawyer!!
- Alli3388, on 10/21/2008, -1/+23Ditto. I've waited a few hours in emergency rooms... have never paid for anything in my life except $100 for a walking cast, which, of course, was totally reimbursed through my extended health insurance, which costs me about $10 a month!!! For both me AND my husband!
People in the States can go BANKRUPT if they have cancer. That is DISGUSTING. I don't understand how there hasn't been some kind of massive violent protest in the US over this matter, what with people dying because they can't afford the care or the insurance. Why do Americans stand for that??? - kingmanic, on 10/21/2008, -0/+21I can attest, all the times I've been in the emergency room as either a patient or as a care taker for a patient have had fairly minimal wait times. Thus far the Canadian system is working for me.
- ohreilly, on 10/21/2008, -2/+23That's why I'm glad I have the NHS.
- mewho, on 10/21/2008, -0/+20They see you don't have health care and they ignore you. I've had good experiences with hospitals, but I've also had people who look for reasons to be rude to you. I look Hispanic and a nurse told me once that they don't treat illegals, so unless I had a valid SS# to just leave. I've also been told, on entering a hospital, that they "don't have an interpreter and so can't process [me]." When I inform them that I have a BA in English they get annoyed, as if they were looking forward to ignoring me.
- starf, on 10/21/2008, -1/+21No, it doesn't.
Vitals helps the hospital help her, which they never got around to. It doesn't help her directly. - digggggggggg, on 10/21/2008, -0/+19What I don't get is this:
As a society, we have accepted that we are paying taxes for roads in other peoples' neighborhoods, for other peoples' welfare checks, and for other peoples' kids to go to school, but when the mere prospect of our tax money going into providing health care for others gets brought up, a certain group of people goes *****. - SummerNight, on 10/21/2008, -0/+19I see what you di-- no, actually, I don't get it at all...
- drunkmonkey01, on 10/21/2008, -0/+19more like $3240/hour. $162 for 5 minutes of getting looked at by a nurse
- PistolFred, on 10/21/2008, -1/+19randydaytona: Now there's a myth that needs busting. It's true that taxes in Canada are close to 50% but what isn't true is that the US taxes are much lower. In Canada, the tax rates you hear quoted are federal and provincial combined. In the US, they just quote the federal tax rate. Unless you're in one of ~9 states that have no or almost no income tax, you're combined tax rate gets much closer to Canada. Don't forget to add in health insurance payments (huge, even if your company "pays for it"), co-pays and all.
If you add all this up, my effective taxes in the US are about the same as what they were in Canada. - inactive, on 10/21/2008, -2/+20Hey randydaytona, news flash, you guys pay more taxes than Canadians, and get less services. I'm glad I'm not in the US being ripped off.
- kingmanic, on 10/21/2008, -1/+19Possibly the US government would make it far worse. Other governments tend to do all right. What is the US government doing wrong then? Why would it screw it up where dozens of other nations did fine?
- borez, on 10/21/2008, -1/+18Agreed, People whinge about the NHS, but... I can walk into any NHS clinic in the UK, be seen within two hours and receive back up care for as long as it takes to recover... all for free.
Now that, in my book, seriously rules. - WuShuGuShuPORK, on 10/21/2008, -1/+18Taking vital signs doesn't help with a broken leg... That should be obvious.
- stvalentino, on 10/21/2008, -8/+25if i were her , i'd judge them for this ...
- inactive, on 10/21/2008, -0/+16I wish we had this healthcare system in the usa, sadly we never will because of our ***** government
- enantiodromia, on 10/21/2008, -1/+17if you think that's bad, try going to a VA hospital!
- kingmanic, on 10/21/2008, -0/+15You need some qualifiers:
Worst in the WESTERN/DEVELOPED world. Trust me it's much better then many developing nations but worse ON AVERAGE then any developed nations. - BillMoocho, on 10/22/2008, -0/+15He obviously didn't know which of the two hospitals were the best. Maybe the one hospital was closer and they tried there first. Maybe they had a good experience at that hospital a few years ago.
Seriously, what kind of retarded question is that? - Ursapater, on 10/21/2008, -1/+16Which does the patient precisely NO good if they never get to see a doctor!
- Dumbledorito, on 10/21/2008, -4/+19Let's see, looking at the democracies that are doing better than we are for mortality, life expectancy, economic prosperity...
I'm sorry, but I CAN'T wait. - whitehatlurker, on 10/21/2008, -0/+14"A few days before Milbrodt's visit, a 58-year-old man who went to the ER with stomach pains also waited 19 hours — and then suffered cardiac arrest and died."
How much was he charged? - CoreyHalliwell, on 10/21/2008, -1/+15There should not be a dollar figure on the health of a fellow human being. Health care should not be part of the business game. Because after all, if everyone's sick who'll play the game and fuel the "precious" economy? It saddens me to see that America still hasn't gone national.
- borez, on 10/21/2008, -0/+14Easy solution, don't pay.
- MrFisty, on 10/21/2008, -0/+14Australia is pretty similar. Less serious conditions usually don't wait more than a couple of hours. Serious ones are treated straight away. I can't understand how Americans aren't storming the streets in protest about the "healthcare" they get.
- laronde20, on 10/21/2008, -2/+16I broke my ankle a few years back. It took like 20 min to get xrays, 10 min to see a doctor and cost nothing for the cast.
Oh Canada :D - MalarkeyPN, on 10/21/2008, -0/+14She doesn't need money to sue for injury. Lawyers take personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis.
That means she can sue the hospital for money, and a lawyer will only charge a percentage of the settlement money. If she loses the cases, the lawyer doesn't get paid.
Of course I'm not entirely sure she would sue for injury in this case... it's really hard to say who's at fault. If the hospital is genuinely understaffed and underfunded, who is really to blame? Taxpayers? - empirefalling, on 10/21/2008, -13/+26Pitiful. American health care is the worst in the World. Why Americans allow this to continue is disturbing.
- inactive, on 10/21/2008, -1/+14Can someone crunch the numbers and figure out how much this would work out to per month? I was thinking about moving into an ER waiting room.
- jcorn1, on 10/21/2008, -1/+14While nothing like this, they let me out of the hospital with IV tube holders in my arm (under bandages) and the needles still in my arm, after "rehydrating me" when I had the flu. They tried tocharge me but I'd saved the needles (which I took out myself rather than go back there) and the hospital band and the paperwork noting that they'd "checked the site" (yeah, right). Result? No charges. When they make mistakes, don't take it. Be firm. Fight back! I feel lucky, too, because I wasn't unconscious when they made the mistake... or in surgery.
- empirefalling, on 10/21/2008, -2/+15Perhaps if this poor woman had Universal health care she would not have had to go to this Hospital. How much money does the American government spend killing people in Iraq and Afghanistan? Perhaps the US government needs to be Changed. One can only Hope.
- JamesWjRose, on 10/21/2008, -1/+13Back in 1995 I was the lucky receipent of a kidney stone (unpleasant) Because I was a contractor at Symantec I had no insurance, so I went to San Francisco General Hospital. After 3 hours of waiting and NO idea of when I was to be helped. A few attempts at getting a time estimate were met with a lack of response and the statement; "we have no way to know because a more severe case could come in the door". I understand the point, but the pain was too much and I went home to lie down.
A few weeks later I too received a bill for being checked into line. I get the hospitals point, but damn! Our health system needs some care. - kronzdigg, on 10/21/2008, -2/+14Less than $10/hour thats pretty good for a hospital visit.
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