Posted on 10/22/2007 11:44:17 AM PDT by RTO
-----Original Message----- From: Maurer, Patty [mailto:Patty_Maurer@nrel.gov] Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 10:01 AM To: John Schieler Subject: FW: Canadian Health Care
Interesting take on Socialized Medicine
Patty Maurer
-----Original Message----- From: janie.griffin@wgint.com [mailto:janie.griffin@wgint.com] Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 4:00 PM To: ceb22167@hotmail.com; barnard.maple@epa.gov; acov@olemiss.edu; roland20@msn.com; Maurer, Patty; Chris_Young@FWS.gov; TailoredAngel@aol.com Subject: Canadian Health Care
had to share.....
Subject: Canadian Health Care
I received this today from a career Marine; he just happens to be a Canadian. I believe his thoughts on the recent health care proposal might be of interest to some.
Subject: Health Care
Hey Guys; I saw on the news up here in Canada where Hillary Clinton introduced her new health care plan. Something similar to what we have in Canada. I also heard that Michael Moore was raving about the health care up here in Canada in his latest movie. As your friend and someone who lives with the Canada health care plan, I thought I would give you some facts about this great medical plan that we have in Canada.
First of all:
1) The health care plan in Canada is not free. We pay a premium every month of $96 for Shirley and I to be covered. Sounds great, eh. What they don't tell you is how much we pay in taxes to keep the health care system afloat. I am personally in the 55% tax bracket. Yes, 55% of my earnings go to taxes. A large portion of that (and I am not sure of the exact amount) goes directly to health care - our #1 expense.
2) I would not classify what we have as a health care plan, it is more like a health diagnosis system. You can get into to see a doctor quick enough so he can tell you "yes indeed you are sick or you need an operation", but now the challenge becomes getting treated or operated on. We have waiting lists out the ying yang, some as much as 2 years down the road.
3) Rather than fix what is wrong with you, the usual tactic in Canada is to prescribe drugs. Have a pain? Here is a drug to take - not "what is causing the pain" and why. No time for checking you out because it is more important to move as many patients thru as possible each hour for Government reimbursement.
4) Many Canadians do not have a family Doctor.
5) Don't require emergency treatment as you may wait for hours in the emergency room waiting for treatment.
6) Shirley's dad cut his hand on a power saw a few weeks back and it required that his hand be put in a splint - to our surprise we had to pay $125 for a splint because it is not covered under health care, plus we have to pay $60 for each visit for him to check it out each week.
7) Shirley's cousin was diagnosed with a heart blockage. Put on a waiting list. Died before he could get treatment.
8) Government allots so many operations per year. When that is done, no more operations, unless you go to your local newspaper and plead your case and embarrass the government,...then money suddenly appears.
9) The Government takes great pride in telling us how much more they are increasing the funding for health care, but waiting lists never get shorter. Government just keeps throwing money at the problem, but it never goes away. But, they are good at finding new ways to tax us, but they don't call it a tax anymore - it is now a user fee.
10) My mother needs an operation for a blockage in her leg, but because she is a smoker they will not do it [despite her and my father paying into the health care system all these years]. My mom is 80 years of age. Now there is talk that maybe we should not treat fat and obese people either because they are a drain on the health care system. Let me see now, what we want in Canada is a health care system for healthy people only. That should reduce our health care costs.
11) Forget getting a second opinion, what you see is what you get.
12) I can spend what money I have left after taxes on booze, cigarettes, junk food and anything else that could kill me, but I am not allowed by law to spend my money on getting an operation I need because that would be jumping the queue. I must wait my turn, except if I am a hockey player or athlete - then I can get looked at right away. Go figure. Where else in the world can you spend money to kill yourself, but not be allowed to spend money to get healthy.
13) Oh, did I mention that immigrants are covered automatically at taxpayer expense, having never contributed a dollar to the system, and they pay no premiums.
14) Oh, yeah, we now give free needles to drug users to try and keep them healthy. Wouldn't want a sickly druggie breaking into your house and stealing your things. But, people with diabetes who pay into the health care system have to pay for their needles because it is not covered by the health care system.
I send this out not looking for sympathy, but as the election looms in the States, you will be hearing more and more about universal health care down there and the advocates will be pointing to Canada. I just want to make sure that you hear the truth about health care up here and have some food for thought and some informed questions to ask when broached with this subject.
Step wisely and don't make the same mistakes we have.
RTO
I would probably edit out the email address list though.
It’s an email. It must be true
sounds about right to me...
my dad did similar, cut his finger on a chop saw.. waited two hours... bled like a stuck pig on the ER floor
Canada has Marines?
My Canadian mother-in-law was diagnosed with lukemia four years ago.
Nothing has been done since.
My faith in their system isn’t.
Subject: Canadian Health Care
I received this today from a career Marine; he just happens to be a Canadian.
Now he’s a Marine. Shirley knows he’s a Marine . Canada doesn’t have Marines . I wonder if Canada should tell Shirley ?
Members of the Canadian military don’t pay monthly premiums. If he’s an career American Marine, what’s he doing in Canada paying health care premiums ?
Perhaps he’s no one at all.
The tax numbers were not accurate. While Snopes correctly identified the INCOME tax rates, the federal government has a sales tax, yes, a FEDERAL sales tax, that includes professional services and other items not typically covered by many US state sales taxes. The current GST rate is 6%. Provincial sales taxes are, if I remember correctly, slightly higher than American state sales taxes.
Ontario has a 7 % sales tax . Alberta none. It varies province to province. The GST and PST is exempt on food , prescription drugs ,medical devices , tuition , child care and several other items. Canada does not have any city taxes save municipal property tax , damn few toll roads or tax on winnings.
There is a GST rebate. Currently, the basic adult credit is $199. Families with children 18 years and younger receive a basic child credit of $105 for each child. However, single parents can claim a full adult credit of $199 for one dependent child. In addition to their basic credit, single adults (including single parents) are eligible for an additional credit of up to $105. The value of the credit is reduced for families with incomes of over $25,921.
I had rapidly progressing cataracts. The Canadian health care system put me on a waiting list that was a year and a half long. In that time I would have been sitting by the radio with a white cane. I searched desperately and finally found a doctor willing to do it for a fee. Upon his diagnosis, I was immediately scheduled and operated on within 2 weeks. God bless the entrepreneurial spirit!
My 70 year old, single, next door neighbor hobbled around in pain for 2 years waiting for a hip operation. It was heart breaking to see him valiantly struggling. He died before he made it to the operation.
Is this clear enough for you Americans, or do you need thousands more stories like them? Ask any Canadian, we ALL have these stories....and they are TRUE.
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