Originally Posted by
Hammer-Down
You have spun this into a nicey-nice justification for the shit show that is your knee and Canadian healthcare. And I don't doubt that most of what you are saying is true, but the fact is you received shitty service and it took forever, period. And this is bull shit. Because you (or your neighbors that actually work) pay insane amounts of taxes for this.
I grew up in Canada, was educated in excellent Canadian schools. Most of my immediate family still lives in Canada, working and some retired. I have worked in Canada. I have been living and working just over the border in the US for almost 20 years now, including business ownership. I have had several surgeries in both Canada and the US. I have been in ICU...I have had accidents happen in the US and all the follow-up done in Canada (while going to University). I can tell you that most Americans don't know how the Canadian system works, but the perception is its "free". I can also tell you that Canadians don't have a damn clue how it works in the US.
My brother waited close to a year for a knee MRI in Canada because he was young, it wasn't acute enough (meaning he wasn't in a wheel chair). In my opinion the service my dad received in Canada for colon cancer was slower than molasses (but it was "free"). In the US I have always had very good timely service. I am fortunate enough that our business puts health insurance first and we have good insurance. Yes it costs money. Is my deductible $5k? No it isn't. Am I making dentists wages? No. Do my parents living in Canada have to buy extra insurance to travel to the US? Yes. Is it cheap? No. If you are hard working mid-to low income American that doesn't have insurance through work, does that suck? yes. is it right? No.
The reality is that most of Canada has settled for mediocre/shit service and support, because they don't know any better. And it is expensive.
The American system is far from perfect, there are lots of folks that are disadvantaged and put in bad spot due to this. But in general service is top notch.
There are pros and cons to both systems. Period. If you think Canadian healthcare is free and awesome, you are wrong.