Oh Canada... Healthcare on a Level With Europe

I have been to many hospitals in Europe including in England, and there is very little waiting time; the hospitals are clean and modern, so ignore all that nonsense that the anti-free medical care groups have been spouting in the States.

(SALEM, Ore.) - One of the world's most highly developed countries, Canada has a diversified economy that is reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon international trade.

Canada has a complex relationship with its world wide membership including G8, G-20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and the UN.

Canada has a independent foreign policy, maintaining full relations with Cuba! "hello America!".

Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France, and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. These are very powerful trading countries in Europe, that have some of the most powerful trading punches in the world... especially Great Britain.

Canada is noted for having a strong and positive relationship with the Netherlands and the Dutch, which Canada helped during World War II. Notice how Canada has reached out to the world rather than trying to intimidate it and bully it. Because of this open-arms relationship it has in the world, people tend to want to trade with and be part of Canada, and more so because of this behavior.

They do not try to out-muscle or change the laws and regulations with international trade when they start to realize they're getting screwed over, like the Americans!

Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations, with a high per capita income. It is also a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the G8. It is also one of the world's top ten trading nations. Canada has a mixed market. The largest foreign importers of Canadian goods are the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. In 2008, Canada's exported goods were worth over $443.9 billion.

Now as far as I know, the health care there works just as well and efficiently as in Great Britain. Europe itself has some of the world's most advanced hospitals, and the best medical care in the world... so much so, that many people all over the world are flying over there to get FREE treatment, and you do NOT have to be a citizen, or have your balls put in a vise, because you don't have over-the-top scandalously high-priced medical insurance... before they can say YES to treating you.

I have been to many hospitals in Europe including in England, and there is very little waiting time; the hospitals are clean and modern (so ignore all that nonsense that the anti-free medical care groups have been spouting in the States).

You are also getting checked up by some of the best doctors in the world. Many of them trained in a country that has one of the longest, most experienced medical histories in the world (Great Britain), we also have schools as old as your country (have I got your attention now?). In fact, people are so well looked after in England under our so-called “socialist state”... that the Americans and the Australians are screaming out for our doctors to come over and work for them!

So it can't be all bad having free medical care, that is being paid out fairly by our taxes, not like your overtaxed country that gorges itself on taking taxes from all angles possible, but not in giving it out again to the people that need it. Not everyone has to be poor to benefit from this. There are many unpredictable situations out there that can relate to any class of people, that might suddenly need help and support.

So far since I have been here (in the US), I have not seen anything really go back into the system, apart from the military, government agencies, and the police.

That all sounds very Socialist to me, reminds me of the Communist days... tax tax tax but nothing given back to the people, instead... most of their taxes that were spent on government agencies or any other related departments were used to suppress the people, and to have a firm constant grip on you.

To me that sounds more Socialist than some country TRYING to give help to anyone out there "regardless" of what country you are coming from, or if you are a citizen or not... or if you are rich or poor!. There is NO excuse for America not to be able to pay for free medical care! Come to think of it, that even includes dental!

If Canada decided to stop trading with America, there are plenty of countries in the world it could open trade with. People who think Canada cannot live without the States are hugely arrogant and deeply disillusioned.

Europe is not a Socialist state. We also fought in the Cold War, especially Great Britain, which led most of the effort in Europe. Also I am pretty sure if America thought we were a bunch of black leather jacket wearing, domestic abusing, vodka drinking, shaved-headed socialists, then they would NOT have had us working so close with America on such a sensitive issue as the the Cold War, or even now fighting against the terrorists!

Dexter Phoenix has worked as a staff and freelance photographer since the mid-1990's and has a wealth of professional experiences on his resume. We welcome his presence to our staff at Salem-News.com.
This native of Great Britian moved to Los Angeles in 2007, where he photographed general news, general interests, sports, did freelance model photo work, and also stock images. In his career, Dexter has had photos published: World wide, in many magazines and newspapers and online. Throughout the course of his career he has experience with technology of all imaginable types. In his career as a photographer Dexter has covered stories in Norway, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, France, Mexico, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Turkey, Somalia, Tunisia, Algeria, Angola, Iran, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Colombia and The United States. Email inquiries about photo purchase to Dexter at the above address.
You can email Dexter Phoenix, Salem-News.com Photographer/Reporter, at innocent_p0stcard@hotmail.com

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Jim February 14, 2010 6:28 pm (Pacific time)

Jerry sounds like you are very content with your medical coverage there, and that's what counts. What I read earlier was in the UK, approximately 3,000 medical staff personnel were getting, at taxpayer expense, private care because their medical appointments and treatments were taking too long to get. Kind of like "...some animals are more equal than others." Makes me wonder if this is found in other nations, but is not getting much play in the media? Hopefully the healthcare bills they are developing here in the states will be fully put on line so we can get all that brainpower out there to see what is going on. Recall our Stimulus Bill last year that had to be passed immediately, which no one read. It was designed to help our economy and develop jobs. Now they want another one. So for many of us to be skeptical about what congress is up to is a pretty reasonable response don't you think? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article6879553.ece

Editor: Based on the history of comments connected to this IP, I see you making one point after another that is clearly in opposition to most of what we stand for here, and we do stand for something Jim. You have stated in the past that the Clinton sex scandal, pretty well sets the standard that will be hard for anyone, regardless of party, to 'dwarf.' on my article about Republicans and sex scandals. Do you honestly expect anyone to believe that? Bill Clinton made an error in his personal life and only a bunch of fake Christian Republicans with torches would agree with you, I realize that is most of the teabaggers and all, but even then just a tiny fraction of actual Republican voters. Most of them are past the point of hanging onto loose threads. Now you're misrepresenting the Stimulus Bill the way you misrepresented healthcare in Canada. Are you one of those guys who figures that if you lie often enough that some of it will stick? I guess what really irked me was your animal reference above, and man I hope you don't think you are slick. Bottom line, you don't see things the way we do, and eventually I get sick of comments like yours, because the GOP actually hires morons to troll around and do their business in Web news story comments. Israel does it too, we aren't very hip with that. So, after a while, the same old crap will just cease to be posted.

Jerry West February 14, 2010 3:01 pm (Pacific time)

Jim - for the most part there are only two levels of care in Canada, those who participate in the public system, which is almost everybody, and a few who do not. If there are any inequalities in the public system, they are not many and I have not seen them, and I am close to the system. There are attempts to bring in private care, particularly when we have reactionary governments, but they are not popular and generally opposed. It does take awhile for optional procedures, and people who are in a hurry for these and have the money sometimes opt to go out of country. Also, the medical plans here may sometimes send people out of country if that is the most convenient way to deal with something at the moment. But, that would still be a part of the medical plan. There is far less waste in the system here than in the US, and everybody in the country has access to affordable healthcare regardless. My wife and I pay less for full coverage here in a year now than I paid for myself for three months of partial coverage in the US 30 years ago. There is something truly sick about a system that requires people to lose everything to get necessary medical attention.

Jim February 14, 2010 7:33 am (Pacific time)

Jerry West your ease of medical procedures is similar to mine here in the states. What I find disturbing is when I hear about double standards of care when supposedly everyone is suppose to get the exact same level of care. I have read news accounts that in some countries that there are two or more tiers of patient care. This should be something our congress should look into in their debating process about national healthcare.

Jerry West February 13, 2010 2:40 pm (Pacific time)

Since we are telling colonoscopy stories, I will relate my British Columbia experience which show how horrible Canadian healthcare is. My doctor, whose services are covered under my $1224 per year premium that I pay the provincial medical services plan, suggested it was time for a colonoscopy, as I am 63. She made the refferal and I negotiated a date with the hospital that worked for both of our schedules. It was a month or so hence as this was not an emergency. I showed up for the procedure, they did it, I left. All handled by competent and friendly nurses and the doctor. No money changed hands, no forms were filled out other than an imprint of my healthcare card. It was 100% covered by my provincial insurance. I have had a number of procedures performed over the years including occasional catscans and a sonagram every year or so, and have never had to wait an inordinate amount of time, nor paid a cent for it other than the insurance premium.

Dexter February 11, 2010 12:27 pm (Pacific time)

That's another good point I forgot to mention there GP., if you walk in to a hospital YOU will get looked at on the same day, in Europe and from the sounds of it South America as well. Also what on earth are you paying all that insurance for only to still get charged heavily on the co-pay?!!!. If you took out private health insurance in most of Europe including England that insurance covers EVERYTHING!. No hidden costs or nasty co-pays. There is absolutely no excuses for those exorbitant prices not to cover ALL the medical and dental costs. If the insurance cant cover the full costs?, then for sure there something seriously wrong with American hospitals and there medical system.

Some would say co-pay is affordable, but what happens if you have a 100.000 plus operation or work done on you?!, that co-pay is still going to be extremely high... especially for the middle to lower classes. Thank you all for your support in this, like I said before thank Daniel Johnson for starting this story in the first place, he also has some unusual responses from his story as well, so check out it out. Also Amanda Leduc made a few good comments in her story about this topic. Jeff Kaye, you might Appreciate some of the things she has written, from what I have read from your comment:)

gp February 11, 2010 10:33 am (Pacific time)

I just returned from the hospital where I was a support person for a friend having a colonoscopy. There is a tiered system here in Argentina as in England where all get free medical care but sometimes the wait is a bit and care is more rapid in the private system. My friend has insurance. The cost of the procedure? 600 pesos and 400 pesos for the biopsy. This is about $250 US. My own procedure in the US 3 years ago was $2400 with a 20% copay. In other words, she paid far less (or her insurance company did) for the total procedure and biopsy than my copay! Now then,there was not a carpeted, well appointed waiting room with elegant art works, the linoleum was a bit chipped and the guernies had bumped the wall a few too many times, the doctor, nurse and patient trio had a tiny room with little excess space. In other words it didn't look like the Hilton Hotel but more like a run down motel. But the doctor was compassionate, had time to escort her out, the nurse was equally professional, kind and competent. The drugs she received and equipment used were comparable to those provided in the US. There was one other major difference. Nobody checked her in, the doctor met her in the waiting room. He did his charting in the computer in the procedure room and I assume there must have been some cross reference for billing because he provided her with the copies of records she needed for her insurance company. One patient, one doc, one nurse, a husband and a friend and nada mas for good health care. Oh, by the way, her doctor first met her in his office three days ago and only three days before that she had asked for a referral to a gastro-enterologist. One weeek. It took me two months to get an appointment in PDX and that was with a referral from another doctor who was concerned about a near death episode. Go figure. By the way, there were real plants in the hospital cafeteria and a sheet used for a table cloth. It seemed downright homey.

Jeff Kaye~ February 11, 2010 8:36 am (Pacific time)

Great story, Dex... your name must be short for - Dexterity? Nice deviation from your usual war stories. Then again, this IS a war. A war on American taxpayers being won by Insurance conglomerates that are "too big to fail"... so we bail them out. Where's OUR f#@kin' bailout? A national medical plan for every citizen (and visitor, like some EVOLVED nations in the EU) would be just the ticket. I'm with Ersun on this one... profits be damned. Health and safety of the people should be the primary concerns here, not corporate welfare. I have a so-called "High Option" federal health care plan which still costs me thousands of dollars a year out of my own pocket to get treated for arthritis. My fellow citizens pay the rest in taxes to subsidize this plan. That's socialism right there, no? I'm about ready to move to Canada myself, but they'll probably soon have a ban on US, like we have on Mexicans. Next we'll be building a wall up there to keep ourselves out, if things follow the "logical" progression of late.

Natalie February 11, 2010 12:10 am (Pacific time)

I know people that moved to Canada just because of it's health care system. Would be interesting to check it out for myself.

Dexter February 10, 2010 10:18 pm (Pacific time)

Thanks for your understanding on this subject Ersun. Also thank Daniel Johnson for lighting this whole subject up to begin with.. with his story on here . I think your comment says it all. Anyone why tries to justify those costs from your comment, needs to see a doctor themselves, preferably one that has a room containing rubber walls!.

Ersun Warncke February 10, 2010 9:26 pm (Pacific time)

So true Dexter. It is not that every other country has a perfect system, it is just that the one in the U.S. costs more and is worse than many other countries. People with enormous funds can get the best care in the world, but everyone else is ruthlessly gouged for what should be low cost basic care, and a good chunk is foregoing necessary care for lack of money. My sister is a British citizen, and is quite satisfied with the quality of care in both Britain and Spain. I haven't been to a doctor in 12 years and a dentist in 5. I have a friend whose mother came over from Italy on vacation, and had a minor heart palpitation, and was put in the hospital for a couple of days for a battery of tests that found her to be fine. She had the money. The bill was $35,000. The total costs for my brother and his wife when having a baby were around $30,000. What happens if you get pregnant and don't have health insurance? Let's not talk about that. This is all in a country where various health care corporations are spending hundreds of millions on advertising to bolster their "image," because it is cheaper to improve their image than to improve the quality and availability of care. This situation is ridiculous beyond belief. I don't really care about the idiot watching fox news who is opposed to public health care. I care about the person who profits from private for-profit health care. And I know whose ass is a good fit for my foot.

Dexter February 10, 2010 7:57 pm (Pacific time)

Hank Ruark? is that not a Irish name?, you do realize that the Ireland is now part of the EU now, which means they too have free medical care, does that make you a Socialist now Hank ;) . I'll let you say hi to the Queen when you go over to Europe as an American tourist in London catching up with your family tree :) Lets hope you do not end up with our free medical care over there, if something happens to you. You do know we still saw peoples legs off while giving them a swig of whiskey with no anesthetic if something happens to there leg?!...and we still dance on chimney tops while letting marry Poppins baby sit are kids

Daniel Johnson February 10, 2010 7:54 pm (Pacific time)

Gee, Dexter. You did an excellent summary. After reading that, I think I'll stay in Canada, after all.

Hank Ruark February 10, 2010 7:31 pm (Pacific time)

After reading this one and re-reading DJ's other one, do think we should triple that b.s.medal for whomever sticks neck out next with similar youknowwhat... Thanks, Dex --and give my best to the Queen...!!

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