tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155986947588635239.post1709052599693578893..comments2023-03-24T03:08:05.970-05:00Comments on NiftyIdeas: This Won't Hurt A Bit!NiftyWriterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17103734836789258691noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155986947588635239.post-4442078220672896802012-05-23T17:02:14.053-05:002012-05-23T17:02:14.053-05:00I hear you on being blown away by some misconcepti...I hear you on being blown away by some misconceptions people seem to have. I've noticed that this is true in many places when considering the systems in place in other countries. <br /><br />Thank you for reading my blog! I will endeavor not to disappoint in the future! :DNiftyWriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17103734836789258691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155986947588635239.post-51797418122563547462012-05-23T16:40:08.371-05:002012-05-23T16:40:08.371-05:00I didn't realize you were an expat! Ha, sorry....I didn't realize you were an expat! Ha, sorry. And I do realize that wasn't your quote; it just gets my back up when I hear *some* news sources running down universal health care with misinformation. Last time I traveled to the US, I actually had someone yell at me because she didn't believe that we didn't pay most of our income in taxes to "support our commie health care". I was totally blown away. <br /><br />I completely support what you're saying and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts about it! I also find it interesting that as the US struggles with building a universal system Canada is busy trying to do away with theirs, for no real apparent reason other than keeping the deficit low and profit motive. Universal health care systems are rated as delivering the highest quality of care in the world.. why would anyone want to give that up?Rollergiraffehttp://rollergiraffe.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155986947588635239.post-77272428339925947172012-05-23T11:11:19.462-05:002012-05-23T11:11:19.462-05:00Hi Rollergiraffe, thank you for your comment! You...Hi Rollergiraffe, thank you for your comment! You've given some really helpful feedback.<br /><br />The question referring to Canada and "rationing" came directly from the website I linked to, it was not my question. I debated about whether to post the question with the rest of the quote, and decided to do so because it is actually a very common question/concern thrown out in the healthcare debate in the USA, so I hoped that it would speak to my American readers. I thought the response given on the PNHP site brings home the reality better than I could have done by omitting the question. <br /><br />In the run-up to the Obamacare vote, there were commercials on US networks (paid for by anti-healthcare reform interest groups) featuring Canadians who claimed they had been harmed by the healthcare system there, usually by long waits which were termed "rationing" by the spinmeisters down here. One of the ways that special interests in the USA hope to kill healthcare reform and also hopes for a universal or socialized healthcare system here is to point to Canada and describe the shortcomings of the socialized healthcare there. As always, the truth is often the victim of that process.<br /><br />This is a question I intend to revisit often over the next few months. FYI, I am an expat Canadian. Intimately familiar with the Canadian healthcare system.<br /><br />Thank you again for your comment. I really appreciate the feedback!NiftyWriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17103734836789258691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155986947588635239.post-64638729457206826462012-05-23T10:53:50.869-05:002012-05-23T10:53:50.869-05:00What rationing? I live in Canada and there is no r...What rationing? I live in Canada and there is no rationing at all. Of course our system is not perfect and our conservative government is trying to undermine it constantly. But if you need health care, you get it, and you don't walk out with a bill afterward. <br /><br />You know what else is surprising? Our tax rates are not that much higher than yours. Like, within a few percentage points. Plus, we don't have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in insurance premiums every month or copays when we go to the doctor. <br /><br />It is a moral issue. It seems to me that there is already enough of a divide between rich and poor in both our countries. To make the poor work extra hard to strive for health insurance or put them in a separate system where they are can't access the system without a struggle is just plain cruel. Even from a conservative point of view it makes sense to invest in health care; healthy people can work and contribute to the economy and unhealthy people are a strain. <br /><br />Obviously I don't have intimate knowledge of what goes on in the US, but when I hear of people who have to go back to work 6 weeks after a mastectomy while still on chemo to keep their insurance up, I just wonder why people accept such a system that values their health so little. It's all we have, really.Rollergiraffehttp://rollergiraffe.comnoreply@blogger.com