CANADIANS - Inside please ((PICS))
 

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So Canadians. Give me your opinions on your health care system. Is it good or bad? Do you like it or dislike it? Have you had good experiences or bad experiences?

stupid question, its free and its good.

last time I checked it is not free

Ok, I'm off to bed. I ask you GFYer's to please keep this thread bumped for a while so I can have some good replies by the morning. ;)

I hate paying the insane amount of taxes but I like knowing that any medical concern I have is met and won't cost me at the time.

i hate paying so much for medicines tho

Free and fabulous .... and when I finish university of becoming a midwife my pay checks will be coming from the government.

Your only biggest worry is when you go to a hospital is do you have that liltte green card.


In Canada you can get beaten up, hit by a car and end up in a hospital and your only worry is do you have that card.

it's def good (has anyone seen my OHIP card? I can't fucking find it :Oh crap)

That's not your only worry.
Try going to the hospital when you don't have an income stream.

They'll come knocking for you to pay since you weren't paying taxes at the time.

Huh? Are you talking about not paying taxes in Canada then getting a bill? If you are that's not the way it works, it doesn't matter if you make no money you still get health care.

Give it a try some time. Once you start working again, they'll want the health care paid for.

It happened to a friend of mine. Ended up owing $500 because taxes weren't being paid at the time.

This is bullshit. :Oh crap

Canada's working class pays for the unemployed and unemployable. It has always been this way since the beginning of socialized healthcare.

As long as you can prove you are Canadian, the Charter of Rights guarantees your coverage - working or not.

good in my experience.

They do not collect from you if you are not paying taxes thats bull

Ok first of all its not FREE
One third plus of every tax dollar goes into health care.
many people abuse the shit out of it going to emergency with a fucking cold cost us a ton of money.
The system is broken to some extent partailly due to unions fucking it all up and driving the labour costs through the roof.
Healthcare profesionals deserve every dime they get, but I have a relative that cleans the floors for 26.55 an hour this is pure bullshit.
Not having to look for a credit card is great but maybe a 25 dollar fee for people going to emergency when all you have is a cold etc would be great so I dont have to sit there for five hours with a seperated shoulder while you go see why your kid has a running nose.
The fact that anyone that gets into this country under any means including dual citizenship,illegal immigration,familly members "visiting etc has put a large burden and strain on the whole thing.
People now come here just for expensive health care then go back gome.
I have a friend from St Lucia who is working on getting his 88 year old grandmother here because she needs open heart surgery.
She will get in never pay a dollar in taxes here and some poor sob who paid tax here for fourty years get moved further back in line because he is not as
desperate for the surgery yet.
The system is broken the cost to high and the unions and activists have hijacked the whole process.
It will collapse completly in the next ten years if changes are not made.

Well, I just speak from experience... well, 2nd hand experience.

He wasn't working for a year. Needed health care. Worked the next year and then had money deducted from his income tax to cover the health care that he used while not paying taxes.

It happened.

There's the monthly fee you pay if you're above a certain income but if you were unemployed at the time of receiving your health care and started working at less than 20k per annum then you still don't pay.

I'm not sure about the 20k amount but I think it's higher in BC and may be lower in other provinces who knows. All I do know is that a friend of mine who had a baby and wasn't on welfare but still had no income went through this.

First time i have ever heard of that Stuart. Must only be in Ontario

I was unemployed for almost 5 years here in Manitoba and never paid any taxes and never had to pay thing for any health care.

I rarely use the healthcare system (as in last time I used it was over 10 years ago) because of the waits and lines. If I need something, I travel about 150km to my mom's clinic (she's a doctor) and get it from their because I don't have 12+ hours to just sit around waiting. I honestly like the system because its universal for anyone and hate the system for the lengthy delays.
WG

Actually, it was in BC that it happened, but it's entirely possible.

People abuse it and it puts a strain on the people who actually need it.overcrowding and lack of resources will only get worse

dont expect much sense from him

he has issues using his shower

Our health care is far from free ( I had to pay an extra 1500 on top of my taxes last year for heath care alone) and also it is not as good as some make it out to be...in smaller cities in Canada Good Dr's are hard to come by....Private Healthcare is the way to go I think...A few private clinics have popped up around montreal and they have the best Dr's and Equipment and never any wait

"People" usually means scummy immigrants much of the time. They come to this country from third-world shitholes (along with their families)...pay in to the system for a relatively short time, then abuse the fuck out've it. They constantly clog up the waiting rooms in doctors offices, hospitals and walk-in clinics.

And before you label this as racist - understand that its simply observing the factual.

If you go to the hospitals emergency around here.. expect to wait from 1 to 8 hours.... If you go the clinic.. expect to wait from 1 to 3 hours usually...

The problem here doesnt seem to be Free health care but more the lack of Doctors graduating and even nurses...

Watch the movie ostie ;-)

Just passing by..............

if your going to compare free healthcare systems, compare it to europe, not canada

I had a good experience going through the Children's Hospital in Vancouver several times as a kid. I think there's something comforting about knowing that you won't go bankrupt in a mountain of debt if you end up getting cancer sometime later in life.

The sad thing about what you've said is mostly true (though I won't use the same colourful language).

Years ago my wife worked for EB Games, and there were a bunch of temp staff workers from a specific region that will remain nameless, so I don't get tagged as a racist. Several of them openly admitted they were here in their 20s so they could get citizenship for themselves, then go back "home" until they were ready to retire when they would move back to Canada to take advantage of the social systems in place.

As much as I hate the idea, who can blame them? Its our own fault for not fixing the system.

Could just be coincidence that he started working right at the same time the government introduced a health care fee for those who make over a certain amount. I know i have to pay the max. Not sure what it is exactly though.

I have had to pay for LOTS of things out of pocket within the Canadian health care system... they can be as bad as HMO's with what they will and will not cover. I appreciate the fact that I don't pay out of pocket when I go to the hospital for an emergency right offhand, but I've recieved more than a few bills in the mail about something OHIP decided to get sticky on or other such retardations. For the amount of taxes we pay, there are a lot of long waiting lists, sub-par overworked medical facilities etc. For everyone trumpeting that our "free" healthcare system is fabulous and wonderful aren't paying attention... the system is slowly degrading, who knows where it will be in 10 years. Half of the problem isn't even the amount of money spent, but the doctor shortages caused because the doctors go to the states where they can actually make money... Our system isn't set up to support them very well.

And a SEVERE lack of specialists... which means many people wait 6 months to a year to see specialists for things that are very important. I had to reschedule surgery for 6 months because I couldn't get in to see my hemotologist for 6 months... why? Because he was booking 6 months in advance, he was that busy... People were clamoring to get on the cancellation waiting list. It is a sad state of affairs when that is the case.

And even if you don't have the card, they'll treat you first anyways :thumbsup

it's different with it's own set of problems.. everyone is covered however :)

its good because no matter - we dont get turned away at hosptials because we cannot afford it.

has its bads because we have such a long waiting time for tests

bump bump

goody good good :thumbsup

I owe them $1500, it's definitely not free.

And I'm pretty sure the doctors make your experience as non enjoyable as possible to make their point (it's way worse than it was 5-10 years ago.

The doctors and nurses want more funding/pay... bad experiences turn into stories (word of mouth and internet, newspapers etc), which makes them look bad which theoretically should create a demand for more budget $.

I want health Insurance.

They actually base the cost on your income, even if you are not working you are still required to file a tax report. If you make under 25 or 30 thousand (can't remember which exactly) your health care is free. Anything over that and you will pay up to a maximum $50 a month. This doesn't include prescriptions although that is also set up in the same way. They use your income tax statement to determine the amount you will pay if any. Not sure about the rest of Canada but this is the way it is done in B.C. I believe each province has it's own health care policies differing slightly from province to province.

It is not a bad system even though there are flaws, as JimmiDean had stated there are people that are going to the emergency because they have a cold, that is just ridiculous and it totally screws with the people that really do have an emergency. Unless you have a major life threatening injury of some kind expect to wait at least 2 hours if you go to the emergency. I have had to wait for 4 hours before with a broken arm before I even saw a doctor. I have a chronic illness that has caused me to visit the emergency periodically over the years. Although a trip to the emergency room would be the very last resort for me, and despite being visibly in utter agony would still have to wait for hours to see a doctor. All because you have some inconsiderate retards that are there because they have a headache or something else that could be easily be dealt with a visit to their family doctor. I for one don't know anyone that enjoys going to the emergency, so it is beyond me why anyone would needlessly go and wait hours over the tiniest little thing such as a paper cut. This abuse of the medical system only makes it more difficult for those that really need it and puts a tremendous strain on the system.

i got some xanax from my doctor
its great

Our health care system is just as good as in the states. There was actual research into this, however I cannot recall the study. I have no complaints regarding our health care...

Later,

It's not free

if you have any kind of income you are forced to pay a monthly bill for insurance AND you are not allowed to opt out and buy your own insurance somewhere else