Not true. The Canadian system is so broken that if you can afford it you cross the border and pay to get whatever fixed rather than be on a wait list for years.
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I've met dozens of wealthy Canadians that refuse to travel stateside due to the fear of being bankrupted by the US healthcare system.
True. If you were to get into an accident with no out of country health insurance you are at their mercy. However if you need treatment and the wait list is long up here, you can arrange treatment south of the border. I checked it out a few years back when I was battling cancer, if I had to wait, i'd have headed south. about 100k had I gone. As it turned out I managed to get treated up here. Since then the healthcare system up here has gone for a shit.
And dental. Very impressed with the quality of care I got there.
OK. My mother received Staph-protein A immunopheresis at UWash in the mid 90s. The billing was something like 1.3MM that year with the SpA and the chemo. Nobody leaves free-universal healthcare in oncology for the US. Sure, if you're Larry Ellison it's not even a rounding error. Let me know about all of these Canadian cancer patients being treated at Dana Farber.
Maybe true, but they many still want to keep their options open.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10322678/health-care-canada-us-ipsos-poll/
Would you cross the border for health care? 42% Canadians say yes in poll
By Katie Dangerfield Global News
Posted March 4, 2024 5:00 am
Updated March 4, 2024 9:02 pm
5 min read
WATCH: Canadians don't have much confidence that provincial governments are ready to address emergency room wait times, according to new Ipsos polling conducted for Global News. And as health reporter Katherine Ward explains, people are looking for other options to get the care they need in a timely manner – Mar 4, 2024
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Amid Canada’s ongoing battle with prolonged emergency room wait times and staffing challenges, a new poll finds that many are willing to journey southward in pursuit of timely health care, even if it means paying out of pocket.
The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found that 42 per cent of respondents would go to the United States and personally pay for more routine health care if needed. That is up 10 percentage points compared with January 2023.
And 38 per cent of respondents said they would travel to the U.S. and personally pay for emergency care (up nine points from a year ago).
1:57Ontario signs on to $3.1B health-care deal with federal government
“I think the increase is happening because of the increasing level of frustration that Canadians have in the health-care system,” Sean Simpson, vice-president of Ipsos Public Affairs, told Global News.
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“It’s not the quality of care that that people are upset about, it is the timely access to care, meaning wait times in emergency rooms, wait times to see specialists, to get appointments, for screening. As a result, we have a significant chunk of the population say if they can get that service elsewhere, such as the United States, they may consider doing so.”
The Ipsos polling comes as provinces continue to struggle with shortages of family physicians, escalating wait times for surgeries and escalation of emergency room backlogs.
Speaking at a media conference Monday, Health Minister Mark Holland was questioned about Canadians’ inclination to seek medical treatment in the U.S. He responded that “unequivocally that private care is not the answer.”
5:36New IPSOS polls paints bleak healthcare picture
“Going and paying your way out of your circumstance creates a terrible malady in our system. Because what it means is that private carriers will take the cases that are the most profitable ones, leaving the public system eviscerated,” he said. “And that is a circumstance we cannot allow.”
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He argued that most of the waiting that is happening is for either elective procedures or for non-emergency situations, and urged Canadians “to be patient.”
“I know that’s hard, but that but that we are working on making sure we get through these health workforce issues.”
'More money isn't the solution'
A significant portion of the health-care pressure stems from the remnants of the pandemic, Simpson said.
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“Since the pandemic, we’ve seen the health-care system was in many respects, holding on by a thread. And that thread is continuing to unravel,” he said.
As a result of this, in February 2023, the federal government offered the provinces and territories a health funding deal worth $196.1 billion over 10 years, including $46.2 billion in new money.
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As of Monday, all provinces and territories have agreed to the health accord in principle except for Quebec.
Last month, Ontario was the latest province to sign a $3.1-billion health-care funding deal that will see the province hire more health-care workers, deal with surgical backlogs and upgrade to a digital data system.
*Spits beverage all over the monitor*
These for-profit cocksuckers...That is OUTRAGEOUS!
I did a simple cost-analysis of an MRI machine once.
I based the analyses on the cost the hospital charged for an MRI. It was an average of $5,000 per scan.
The MRI techs told me that they do scans all day, every day. An average of 5 scans per day.
5 scans per day for a working week is 25 grand income, being conservative.
Over 50 weeks, that is 1.2 million in income.
So how much does an MRI machine cost? 5 million?
The bottom line is, most hospitals in this country have paid off their MRI machines, and are now milking the insurance companies for money.
The system is great until you need it.
Waiting lists for procedures are long. I waited 10 months for lung test. Joint surgery or replacement is over a year. MTI's, CT scans, heart tests all require referals and wait lists. You wait for months for the refered Dr. to get back to you then get on a waiting list for the procedure. I was over 8 months from diagnosis to surgery for a triple bypass.
The system is managed by Government with no accountabilty. what do you expect.
I have no idea about Dana Farber. I just know that people are going to the US for treatment rather than wait.
A bill for 1.3 million shows how the hospitals take advantage of the insurance system. What happens if you show up with no insurance.