American Reacts to How Canadian Healthcare Works
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- Опубликовано: 20 дек 2024
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As Americans we often look towards Canada as an example of what a good healthcare system could look like for us, even though we don;t nessesarily understand how the Canadian healthcare system really works. Today I am very interested in learning about how health care really works in Canada. If you enjoyed the video feel free to leave a comment, like, or subscribe for more!
A few years ago, I noticed something wrong with my eye on a Tuesday night; I visited my eye doctor on Wednesday morning to confirm I had a detached retina; then I visited an eye surgeon on Wednesday afternoon to confirm my situation and book my surgery; Thursday morning I had my eye surgery. The cost to me out of pocket? EIGHT dollars for parking.
And we complain about paying for the parking!
Great story Murray.....we all have our stories. Stay well.
Almost exactly what happened to me, except I had to have both eyes done back to back .. and the parking at Sunnybrook was a lot more than 8 bucks..
In the USA the surgery to repair a detached retina is a bout 10K per eye, so I'm about $39,950 bucks ahead of the game.
Of course we do .. @@Zlata1313
Its so true 😅, we complain about the parking!! But there are some politicians who are trying to get parking paid for for recurring patients like people with cancer etc. I found out I had breast cancer on a Monday, had my mastectomy booked for that Thursday. I had top notch treatments for a year. OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) paid for all the doctors visits and procedures and nurse visits. I had all kinds of bone scans, MRI's, ekg's, ecg's, mammograms, radiation all paid by OHIP. even the chemo drugs were paid. Only thing I had to pay for was blood thinners, anti nausea drugs and Neulasta injections. My husband's work insurance paid for the drugs except the Neulasta. I had to take one injection after each chemo treatment, 6 treatments total at $6500 each. There was no way we could pay that. There was a social worker at the hospital that contacted my husband's insurance to see what they could pay and then what was leftover was paid through donated funds from some other organizations. So all in all, all I had to pay for during my cancer treatments over about a year was parking. Its going on 10 years since I recovered and I still see my oncologist every year and get a mammo every year and just pay parking. Also a little nugget, if you have breast cancer you get FREE reconstruction surgeries for the rest of your life. That means free implants, take implants out if you change your mind, get them bigger or smaller, whatever, it's all covered.... When you get seriously sick, that's when you really appreciate our health system. I can't imagine beating cancer and then have to pay out of pocket like $50,000 😮.
I've been going through cancer treatments for almost 5 years now and so far it's cost me about $30 for parking
Oh wow..... that's really hard.......sorry ur going thru such a struggle.
😔
So sorry you're going through that, hope it's not too rough on you physically. And here's hoping you beat it!
@@pawprints1986 thx ...
Yes, but I am going to add that physical therapy/ massage therapy after treatment should be included. I am recovering from my second cancer and it is essential to gain back endurance and stamina and be in less pain before going back to work. It has cost me a lot of money in the last year for rehab…
@@dominiquebilodeau2225 agreed...just wish it could help me. I have stage 4 prostrate cancer that's metastasized into my hips and lower spine so on the meds for life'
I know a little girl in alberta who has bone cancer. The treatments weren’t working so the doctors sent her to Boston for a new treatment option. It was completely paid for by the Canadian health care system.
I live in Ontario and my mother had some thing called an hemangioma on her liver. She had just returned from a visit in Wisconsin 19 years ago and started to feel unwell. She’s always been told that if she felt a certain way she needed to immediately go to the ER. When she did, they discovered that the haemangioma had started to bleed out. They rushed her to London University Hospital, where she ended up having her first of several surgeries. Long story short, she was put into a drug induced coma, and several surgeries later she had a new liver. She had been put at the top of the list in Canada, and four days later she had had a liver transplant. She ended up needing to stay in the hospital for four months and to rehabilitate due to some complications.. What she went through was a miracle; The doctor had told her many times afterwards that she is used as a teaching case. They thought that she was going to die several times and she needed be resuscitated several times afterwards. The ICU that she was in was one of the most high tech ICUs in Canada. If she had to pay for the surgery in Wisconsin it would’ve been millions of dollars. The cost of the surgery in Canada… Zero.
It's cases like yours that pisses me off whenever people bitch about our Healthcare being bad. If you show up at the ER with a runny nose, don't expect to be put at the top of the list.
so right. thumbs up@@jeffreycairns767 :)
@@jeffreycairns767 There are a lot of new immigrants that simply don't understand the healthcare system. They have a minor issue and they rush to the ER like it's a walk-in clinic. I think there needs to be more education for both new immigrants and current citizens, because so many treat the ER like it's a walk-in.
It's not as good as it was though.. and we need to stay on top of the Gov to make sure we don't get a worse system. To my point i just made above, its not like there is a option other then the ER.. Walk in clinics are fare and few between and over crowded.
@@jeffreycairns767
exactly, my comments as well
Thanks for covering this, Tyler. As a Canadian, I would say "universal health care" as opposed to "free". And yes, every doctor's visit, emergency room visit, hospital stay, serious disease, etc is covered. For example, I had 2 children and none of my pre and post natal care, specialists, ultrasounds, childbirth and hospital stays and more had one bill. Zero.
But not the ambulance trip. If you don't have insurance, that can cost anywhere from $50 to $850, depending on distance and your province.
ambulance coverage is through my place of employment.... so I pay zero
Where on planet earth is anythingfor free? It's not free or the cost is zero. We are paying for our health care in Canada and it's though our taxes. Our government healrh care plan does not cover dental, eye care or prescriptions, massage or physiotherapy but you can purchase this plan through various insurance providers.
The ambulance took me to the closest hospital, 23 miles away on a two lane country road, earlier this year. A medical team was waiting for me and immediately took my blood and sent me for a Cat-san, etc. etc. Turns out that l had Bell’s Palsy and was not having a stroke. My ambulance and hospital care bill was $0.
@sandrapersaud3105 not free. But you don't pay out of pocket to leave the hospital.
Blue Cross is about $90 a month for 80% dental and prescriptions and eyeglass if you want it. There is a great sense of security knowing you can get medical help. Ambulance is not always included but last time I had to take one it was about $100 and there are services that can cover it if you can't pay. Wait times for elective surgery can be a few months... it depends on what it is... Cancer surgery is fast, hernia surgery may wait if it's not dangerous. Our system has flaws... many flaws.... but I wouldn't change it for the USA system.
All systems are flawed. However, as a Canadian in my 70’s, I’ve had no complaints about my health care over the years. No system is perfect and there are complaints but all in all they seem to be few and far between and are usually, satisfactorily resolved. As our population is aging the burden on the system is growing so I hope Canada can navigate through this situation without too much difficulty. Time will tell….
@@maryannkeenaCanadian insurance is the best compared to anywhere else. 75 years old and no complaints as I have never had a problem
Our health care has been aging but everyone still has contributed towards health care and families were larger so more people have paid in for all their lives until the day they leave this life. The population of younger age groups may be less but will they be able to still maintain the health system we have?@@maryannkeena
The only main complaint I have (besides the obvious ones everyone knows about like long wait times for non-emergency issues) is that the health cards are handled by the provinces and not federal. This means, if you're in Alberta but your health card is from Ontario, depending on what the issue is, you may have to pay out of pocket for the service you receive though, to be clear, the province who your health card is from will almost always reimburse you. The problem that arises though is if the province your health card is from decides that you shouldn't still be using that card (as an example, you have an Ontario health card but have been living in Alberta for more than 3 months. You're technically suppose to swap over to an Alberta health card by that point). If this happens, the two provinces could be arguing for years over which one is suppose to pay you back but, in the meantime, the doctor still needs to be paid and you may be stuck with the bill until the two of them come to an agreement.
To be clear though, this is a VERY niche case and, even when someone runs into it, the majority of the time the province who's health card you're using will likely still choose to reimburse you but will likely cancel your health card afterwards so you can't do so again. The bigger problem with the provinces controlling the health cards. During Covid, I had to move back to Ontario from Quebec. Normally when you're moving provinces, your suppose to have 3 months to switch over your health cards. This gives you time to get all the information you need to prove your now a residence of the new province. The issue in my case though, someone in the Ontario government had gone on record that anyone in Ontario would be covered right away and the Quebec government took that to mean "Oh, I guess we don't have to cover them for the 3 months" and were planning on canceling my health card the day I left Quebec. The issue was, Ontario still required you to prove your residency in the province to get a health card but the list of options that are allowed to be used in almost all obsolete (out of the 20 or so "options" 17 of them are now fully digital and one (monthly bank statements) tend to be digital as banks are trying to go paperless) and are no longer mailed to people. I was very close to being a Canadian Citizen without health coverage because they were arguing that I wasn't in the province long enough to be covered by Ontario and when I called them out on it they straight up said "You wouldn't want your taxes to be used to cover people from other provinces" to which I just yelled at them "Yes I would. Because they're still Canadian citizens. It shouldn't matter where they live/are in Canada they should still be helped".
The only reason I didn't have a gap in my coverage was because I happened to leave a bit earlier than originally planned because there were talks about closing the borders between provinces at the time and wanted to make sure I wasn't stuck in Quebec if they were.
Don't get me wrong though. I'd still take the Canadian system any day over the American one. Out of 38 Million Canadians, I'd be surprised if the number that'd run into this sort of situation was higher than 100. Just because our health care system is good, doesn't mean we can't strive to make it better
90$ a month???! Euh nooo, it’s costs me 500$/month for dental, prescriptions/psychologists, eye exam (not glasses), ambulance etc…, for my family through my pay and i have to pay 20% of the charges and it only covers 1000$ per year per person by services so it’s pretty expensive!! We pay around 50% of taxes and 15% (in quebec) sales taxes…, is it the same in the US, i don’t think so….
Canada = most Taxes goes to healthcare
USA = Most Taxes goes to military
Yeah, but their better because they're allowed to carry guns 🙄🙄🙄 That's the dumbest response I've ever got from Americans on why America is better.
but very important to note: americans pays at least as much per capita in taxes toward healthcare than canadians ( sorry I don,t remember the numbers exactly). For the same amount of taxes they currently send toward healthcare, americans could totally have universal healthcare and do away with all the predatory insurance scams, aka useless greedy middlemen.
Canada = Healthcare is an essential service at the service of the sick citizens.
US = Healthcare care is a business taking advantage of the sick people.
id rather pay less in tax and have the right to carry, yeah@@jeffreycairns767
@@jeffreycairns767 It's so engrained in their psyche. Same with full on Capitalism.
There was a store that bought a product that was super discounted at the Dollarama, and then sold it at regular price at their store. I thought this very idea repulsive. I asked for opinions in a facebook group that is mostly American, and they either had no problem with it, or thought it was great for the shop keeper who was just making money.
One thing that wasn’t really mentioned, but briefly touched on is the bases of health care.
In Canada, it is focused on preventive measures rather than dealing with the impacts.
For example:
If you have free doctors appointments, you are more likely to go and see someone about the pains you get in your chest. However, if you have to pay to see a doctor, you will put it off until it gets to emergency proportions, ie a heart attack.
That’s is one of the factors why we have a longer life span on average.
Many also see their doctor for an annual physical even if they are feeling fine.
Cigarettes and alcohol are expensive in Canada because both are heavily taxed to fund the inevitable healthcare burden their consumption creates. Responsive policies also play a role in our healthcare paradigm.
certainly hasnt been my experience. sure the you dont pay for the doctors visit, also takes months and months to get in
@S_67F family doctors are basically a myth at this point. and walk ins tend to do whatever they can to make you have to come back
And since everyone has access, if there were issues they would not be afraid to go see someone. If you lack insurance in America, you suck it up which can lead to longer term issues as well.
The word you were looking for was co-pay. I've lived under both systems.
In the US, I cut my finger with a hedge trimmer. I went to emergency and got stitches. WITH my insurance, my out-of-pocket was $1,500. I could not get a predetermination or a cost estimate ahead of time to decide if it was worth it or not.
On a visit to Canada, I had to pay out of pocket for stitches to my head. Less than $200 UNINSURED.
My employer would shop for insurance every year. Some years, my regular doctor would not take that insurance and I had to find a new doctor. Then in a few years, I'd get one he'd take and could go back to him. When the insurance is good, you can get CT scans and MRIs for headaches and sinus infections. They're just feeding the Medical Industrial Complex. They advertise drugs on TV. Like what you see? Ask your Dr!
American Drs have to hire admin staff to deal with all the various insurance companies, and collection agencies to deal with the deadbeats. Canada's system requires neither.
And then my employer went self-insured and basically denied all claims and made you appeal to get reimbursed (like many PPO and HMO orgs - watch Michael Moore's "Sicko"). Give me the Canadian system any day!!
7:07 Hi, I am a 74 year old female Canadian. My kidneys failed 9 years ago & I went on dialysis for 4 1/2 years, 3 times per week at 1500 dollars per session. Do you see where this is going? Finally, I received a new kidney. No out of pocket cost to me. Now, it has been 5 years and the same excellent doctors are still taking care of me. I am very grateful for being a Canadian. 🇨🇦.
Yes, as a Canadian I do call it “free health care” because I don’t pay for it when I use it and I have to pay taxes no matter what so ultimately it’s not money I was ever going to have anyway which pretty much makes it free
this is exactly how I think of it as well
The thing that would infuriate me if I was an American is the knowledge that I could have government-funded healthcare for a fraction of the bloated, unnecessary military budget, but politicians somehow get away with claiming that "we can't afford" universal health care while rubber-stamping unlimited military budget increases every single year.
not even necessary. At the moment, 24%t of the taxes go toward healthcare in the US, whereas 28% of our taxes go toward healthcare in canada. If they did the same thing as us and had the government negotiate healthcare and pharmaceuticals costs, they could keep paying the same amoutn AND get universal healthcare. All costs are currently so unnecessarily inflated. There's not even a need to divert money from any other budgets.
Single payer is the most efficient.
Americans pay way too much to clerks and jerks instead of doctors and nurses.
And doctors spend too much time arguing with various insurance companies.
@@allister.trudelyep, you nailed, the USA government already pays a lot in health care, but since they do not regulate the prices, the pay ridiculous amounts for very little service.
@stephenolan5539 Very good point!
When Tommy Douglas first introduced Medicare in Saskatchewan, the medical establishment fought hard against it. There was even a doctors' strike that lasted 40 days! But in the end, Medicare became a fact in Saskatchewan and, to everyone's surprise, it worked! It worked so well, it became the model for Canada's 'Universal' healthcare system.
One of the reasons Medicare worked so well was that doctors in private practice didn't have to maintain their own back-office staff any more. They still had nurses and receptionists working for them, but doctors didn't have to pay for additional office staff to bill patients or chase bad debts. Instead, doctors were guaranteed payment for their work.
Doctors found they actually made more money under Medicare because, as private business owners, they had lower overhead costs!
I don't get that one either US rebelled against British over 200 years ago why don't they rebel against this
My friend went to the eye doctor for a regular checkup. The eye doctor took one look in her eyes and said “you have to go to the hospital right now.” He could see a tumor in her brain starting to push against the back of her eye.
That afternoon surgeons opened up her head and removed an orange sized tumor from her brain. She was in the hospital for a few weeks relearning to walk and other basic motor skills.
She was a hockey mom of two very young boys and married to her high school sweetheart. 15 years later she is still here and devotes her free time to volunteering to help at the hospital where she did her post op rehabilitation.
My friend went on a weekend ski trip in Colorado. Unfortunately, she fell and broke her humerus, ulna, and radius, which are all three major bones in a person's arm. Thankfully, the day before her trip, she bought travel insurance from me as I am a travel agent. The surgery would've cost her somewhere between $50,000 to $60,000 USD. Thankfully, the insurance covered it. If she was skiing in Canada and had that same accident, her provincial health care would cover it, and she wouldn't have to pay a dollar
Tyler, just got diagnosed with heart failure. FREE. Even if I opted for the heart transplant it would be free. I am pretty sure that would have bankrupted me if I lived in U.S. Great job, keep up the good work.
Two stays in a hospital -- 2020 & 2022. First 10 days and a pace maker later -- normal cost I was told -- $30K. My cost, yes there was one. Oh, yes, my $600 as part of my Provincial Income tax burden -- $600 and that also covers my normal Dr. visits. But I do have to pay $100 for a yearly eye checkup and $3 for each prescription of which I have about 10 or so quarterly so say 4 X $30 or $120 yearly and those are given somewhat of a tax credit. We seem to be able to handle it so when buying hearing aids, glasses and dental implants -- darn, we just have to suffer.
not if you had health insurance, that you could afford because you'd be paying less tax than you would in Canada. It was not free, I pay for it and so do you.
Free healthcare was brought to Canadians by Saskatchewan Doctor and Politician Tommy Douglas. His Grandson is Movie & TV Star Keifer Sutherland.
In Quebec, the province pays for 80% of prescriptions if you do not have private insurance from work. You pay a max premium in your personal taxes of 600 but less if you are a low income earner or senior, mostly zero. Health care premium from Federal, we all pay max 600/yr in our taxes and again, depending on your income. Private insurance mostly is used for Dental/Mental/Eye Care that the govt does not pay for. Medicare is paid by businesses who have payroll...the company must contribute an employer fee for medicare of 2.75 - 4.75 % directly to the federal govt. In Quebec, we have an additional tax off our pay cheques for maternity leave both for males and females who have a newborn can stay home for a year to take care of the baby. They take turns .
I think kids under 12 years old can now have eye doctor/glasses. I used to complain my insurances cost me a fortune, but it was 60-75$ a month and I had literally everything cover. I could even go and get a massage.
It's a little more complicated than that in Quebec. In Quebec, everybody has to prescription drug coverage, whether it is through your employer, private insurance, or government funded plan. If you don't have employer coverage or private insurance, you have to sign up for the government plan. The plan is funded by contributions to the plan by each person. Each person has to contribute a minimum of $600. There are exceptions for low income people and seniors. On the tax returns you have to show that you have contributed a minimum of $600. If you haven't, you pay the difference on the income tax return. If you are on the government plan, each time you purchase prescription drugs you pay a monthly premium (contribution to the plan), a portion of the drug cost ( I believe it is about 37%) goes towards funding the plan, and the balance of the drug cost is paid by the Government. There is a maximum contribution of a little less than $100 per month. Once you reach that maximum, you don't make any more contributions and drugs are free for the rest of the month. There is a maximum yearly contribution of just under $1200. So each person contributes a minimum of $600 and a maximum of about $1200. I may be off a bit on the exact amounts.
First step for the US is to eradicate the political corruption that facilitates the medical rip-off, amongst other problems the society faces.
Yes, Canadians can access healthcare more readily because of affordability, just the same as more Canadians have tertiary education because of the state supported colleges & universities.
Senator Bernie Sanders had a single-payer "Medicare-for all" plan, which was a plank in his political platform when he ran for the Democratic Party's nomination for president. It was based on the Canadian system, which he'd studied closely.
@@DaveGIS123 Bernie was awesome and he should be President! I have no idea why people would not vote for him. So brainwashed against any kind of social programs which are, in fact, awesome and people use them every day. And as Tyler said, at least you know where you tax money is going. I love knowing that anyone can access the same healthcare as me. It feels awesome.
Each province is supported in healthcare, education, and old age security. It depends on population. Here in Ontario, we have a strong system that works from birth, which includes difficulties in getting pregnant, childcare and then on to old age, of which I am a part of. Social housing is subsidized as well. Thank you all for your interest in how Canadians live. We tend to downplay our way of life as it has always been a part of who we are.
@@treseoreilly1953 Good point. Knowing we have good quality healthcare is part of the Canadian identity. It's part of who we are.
The provincial healthcare systems are funded through the federal Canada Health Transfer, CHT, so all the provinces have roughly equal financial resources per capita. The provinces receive the money and spend it as they see fit, so there are minor differences in details (BC clinics have a quota of patients they can see per day; MB tried to cut costs by closing ER beds, leading to 'hallway medicine; etc.) but generally the quality of service is the same Canadawide, and it's available to everyone.
This, I think, leads to one of the differences between American and Canadian mindsets. Canadians don't think they have to hustle and scramble for money to pay their medical bills, so they're more laidback.
In 2019 I had a heart attack. I went to emergency at the University of Alberta emergency department at 7pm on Sunday evening. I was admitted, examined, had an EKG, X-rays and talked to a cardiologist. By 11pm I was admitted to the Mazankowski Heart Institute. On Monday I was taken to surgery and had two stents put it. I was back in my hospital room by 4pm. I was kept in the hospital until my medications could be regulated and I was discharged home on Thursday at noon. Once I was well enough I was enrolled in an eight week course of education and exercise routine at the Jim Pattison Centre for Heart Health. All this a not out of pocket expense to me and here in Alberta we pay no healthcare premiums either.
Had triple bypass at the Maz. The worst thing I had to worry about after my surgery was how to get out of bed without huge amounts of pain. If I had to worry about a crippling healthcare bill, I think I might have elected to not get the surgery and have a much shorter life.
You have free parking?!?! Jealous...lol
I don’t know what the practice is now, but before Covid, American seniors would charter buses to Canada to get their prescriptions filled, as well there were all kinds of mail order pharmacies specifically for Americans to order from. For example , my Insulin costs me $26.00 in the US it would be $300.00 and it’s the same insulin, manufactured by an American drug company!
Exactly
And the really sick thing about insulin in particular is that the discoverers of the hormone, insulin, who developed the way to pharmaceutically make it, Banting and Best - Canadians - made it patent fee free. They believed anyone in the world who needed it should have access to it! So, big American pharmaceutical companies who never put a penny into development and research for it still charge their customers an outrageous price for it, just because they can.
Also, the US government through the Department of Defence developed Epinephrine for the treatment of anaphylactic shock, and once again pharmaceutical companies charge outrageously for it, because, what are you going to do? Wait for a sale price?
It's insane that insulin is so high. Like what are you supposed to do, just not take it?
Dr Banting didn't want to profit from his discovery of insulin. But he should have made sure that it would be available.
@@celticlass8573 One of the saddest videos I ever saw was on the cost of drugs in the US. One story focused on a young man, a 21 year old diabetic, who could not afford his insulin. So he was rationing it. A year later there was a follow up story and he had died! I was so upset I cried for this poor young man for days. A doctor puts you on a certain type and dosage of insulin for a reason……to keep you alive! It’s not just insulin, many drugs for many different conditions are what is the difference between life and death for some people. You can’t just “ ration “ your medication. This is why so many Americans die for no reason at all….except no money to purchase the medication they need.
I have several chronic conditions. Last year I spent 8 weeks in hospital. I’ve been in and out of hospital, seen dozens of specialists, and had countless trips to the ER for the last 12 years. I have spent nothing out of pocket. I know friends in the US in a similar situation, and it has bankrupt several of them. They’ve been left without their homes, their retirement savings, everything. Some are at risk of homelessness. All because of medical bills. It’s criminal.
And I couldn’t be more grateful to my fellow Canadians who are helping me.
Lats year, I had surgery involving an overnight stay in a private room in hospital. When I was discharged the following afternoon, I stopped at the accounting office on the way out to double-check if I owed anything. "You don't owe anything. We're not in the USA". That was the exact response.
My sister works in a US hospital. Over 50% of the medical staff there are Canadian or were trained in Canadian medical schools. There are people that go yo the US for very special medical procedures. My daughter had to have one. The Canadian Medicare plan paid for it. We did get a bill, but the amount owing was 150$, and that was only because my wife spent the night with my daughter the night of her surgery. There can be waiting times for things, but I have never experienced anything of note. I have only every waited 1 or 2 days to see a family doctor. I have had to wait 2 or 4 months for things such as none emergency x-ray or MRIs, but in an emergency at the hospital, there is no waiting. That is because the X-ray company is a private place. The part of our system that is not part of healthcare is vision and dental. For these things, it is still very affordable as the government still controls the price schedule. My daughters braces cost us about 3000, which includes all the visits to the orthodontist. Overall, Canadians love our system. Those who do not have fallen for the lies America politicians use to scare people about universal healthcare. One political figure in the US talked about death panels and such. He lied and said that we would stop care for people in their later years to reduce medical costs. That was the sickest thing I have ever heard. Fox did a big story on it in the late 1990s. If universal healthcare was so bad, why does every single Western democracy have it, except the US. The US is the only Western democracy to have their type of system.😊
I’m on a very expensive medication for a certain condition I have. When I was exploring the possibility of taking this med I was really anxious about the cost because I knew my own private insurance wouldn’t cover it. My doctor said “I have patients who live in their car on this medication. We live in Canada. If you need it, you’ll get it.” Now, I have a second private health insurance plan that covers the cost of the meds, and THE DRUG COMPANY PAYS THE PREMIUMS! I don’t understand it, but I am so, so grateful that this is available to me.
It is true percriptions are not covered by Medicare, however no one in Canada pays the full amount. We have laws that limit the pricing of medicaions, and the government pays a small portion of all perscriptions. The out of pocket costs very low for prescriptions, compared to the US.
As part of the Liberal NDP agreement, pharmacare, and dental will be covered. The federal government has already introduced dental care to families with children under 12, and in the fall of this year to Seniors and those with disabilities. ( haven’t heard anything yet.)
Drug coverage is supposed to come in at the end of. 2024.
Edit: spelling
Stay safe, stay sane, stay strong Ukraine 🇺🇦
Canada is the best for Medicare and prescription drugs. It's not perfect but it sure is a hell of a lot better than in the US. Healthcare and prescription drugs are controlled by the government and not by the ultra-rich and greedy.
Legit, I just lost my prescription coverage. I called the company for my meds, and they agreed to pay for it for the next year at least. So my meds are even free now without a plan.
@@adelefortin6913
That sounds great... But those Ultra Rich and greedy are also who invest and invent the new drugs and meds.. Take the cash away.. and it will affect the development of new drugs and research.. most of which happens in the USA.
Change is needed ... no doubt.. But there is a balance somewhere that needs to be kept.
No company is going spend 1 Billion to work on a new drug.. if they cant make money on it.
In BC we have something called “Fair Pharmacare” where based on your family’s income you have a maximum spend on drugs /year. If you go over that it’s free. That is true for work insurance benefit plans. If it goes over Fair Pharmacare takes over. I think my limit is $3000/yr. I’ve got a medication that costs $3200/dose that I need to take every 6 weeks by IV. One of those and I’m set for the year med-wise. If I have to pay anything towards prescription meds, (even if I wasn’t maxed out) I could take the receipts and claim them on my income tax.
Canada has had universal health care since the 1960s. It works. I worry about my friends and family in "the great republic to the south" -- I know one family in the States that pays over $2,000 US per month for their health insurance; I knew an American who died because it became a choice between buying insulin, or paying for food and rent. I have had a knee and an ankle replaced, my gallbladder removed, and a couple of other surgeries, and because I'm Canadian, I was out of pocket exactly nothing (except parking fees). Hoping the US can join most of the rest of the world in health care for all.
Yep, getting seen is a triage system. I’ve had to wait in some situations, but I’ve also seen how shockingly fast the system moves when it’s an emergency. I’m ok to wait, so someone more emergent can be seen.
The wait times are long for people who are NON urgent. If you're really sick or injured, you get immediate treatment. I broke my arm, compound fracture, I was admitted for surgery within 15 minutes.
Hi Tyler ~ It’s true the medical system in the US is PROFIT driven, but it’s also because you spend a tremendous amount on your MILITARY! For our population and GDP, our military is good, but it’s not as heavily invested, as the US.
Canadians are often concerned about one another’s wellbeing and quality of life, instead of focusing so much on individual rights. We feel that we are a stronger nation when collectively caring for one another!
Cheers!☺
I had the same doctor that I chose, for 30 years and I loved her. She retired not long ago. I was so sad. But I have a new doctor that she referred me to and of course, I'm getting used to her. But yeah, we choose who we want to see and I find our healthcare fantastic. I've never been treated badly and whenever I've stayed in hospital, they make me feel like a special guest. It's like staying at a lovely hotel when you're waited upon hand and foot and the nurses are awesome. I've had a lot of surgery, a miscarriage, and gave birth to four high-risk babies for different reasons each time. I haven't waited for years for any specialist or appointment. I don't wait weeks to see any doctor I've been sent to. And you know if you've had a bad news test because you get seen very quickly. If you go to emergency for the sniffles, you're going to wait. If you're going to emergency for something serious, you get taken first. Oh, I should have said, I'm Canadian! I couldn't live without our Universal Healthcare, literally, couldn't live without it. I've been seriously, dangerously ill and needed to stay in the hospital for long periods. Walked out after the best care anyone could get and didn't pay a cent. Of course not. Yes, I think of it as free. I had a fever of 105.6 during one illness. They said if it went any higher, my brain was going to cook. I was almost dead. I had a couple of haemorrhages and during one lost almost all of my blood, a nurse said she didn't know how I didn't die. They had to give me so many bags of blood and plasma to get me back. I'd had surgery and an artery had popped open and I was bleeding everywhere. I had to back in for a second surgery that same day to close the artery. I have an autoimmune disorder and yeah, I wouldn't be alive without UHC! I can't understand peoples' reluctance and almost fear of it in the States. I think it's terrible.
Yeah the main complaints here in Canada are doctor shortages in all areas of medicine - long waits for specialists etc. It’s hard to get a family doctor so you get stuck going to what we call ‘walk-in’ clinics where you may or may not see the same doctor. But at least the clinics are available and you don’t have to wait too long. Hospitals work on a triage or priority system.
The long waits for specialists can cause problems though - particularly in areas where early diagnosis and treatment is critical to mortality rates and treatment success. (Like cancer for example)
But other than that I like the universal health care system and will probably miss it when we move to the US
i think going a little less easy on people when it comes to taxes on high cost houses, being ruthless with investor owned housing and claiming abandoned homes(ain't many, but there are some, people do die without heirs) would leave plenty of great houses for doctors to live in free, just need the government to decide that'd be a worthwhile bonus for setting up a decade or so to eventually own it.
Why move to the USA?
At least the wait time information is publicly available, so you should have a rough estimate of how long it will take even for elective procedures. Try getting that information at any level in the US... (they have to deal with multiple insurers, networks, tiered service levels and a lot of BS so most of the time the information is simply not there)
I’m Canadian and I’ve never paid for a doctors appointment and I’ve had 100s of them of all types.
Also in some cases if there’s a reason you need one of the things that aren’t covered you can get it covered or reduced and when you do have to pay it’s not life destroying.
I also mentioned here before about an accident I had last year. I took a pretty good shot at taking my arm off. Taken by ambulance to hospital. My local hospital couldn't stop the bleeding. Then got taken to one in another city that had a trauma unit. I remember arriving at the second hospital and seeing 5 or 6 gurneys lined up at the ER. I said to the paramedics "Damn this is gonna take awhile!". They said "Not for you. Uncontrolled bleeding goes to the front of the line". One of my last memories before the surgery was in the room getting assessed. There were six surgeons, three nurses and two x-ray technicians. I thought "Wow! I'm pretty important". then I realized "No, I'm in a pretty bad state here!"
Lol!
😆😆🤣👍
This week, my dad fainted shortly after getting out of bed. He’s fainted a couple of times before (once while vacationing in Florida but there wasn’t even a consideration of getting him checked out there!) but, this time, he had a headache and was nauseated. Mom drove him to the hospital emergency room and he was taken in right away. He had an EKG, CAT scan, ultrasound, and five rounds of blood tests done.
He was there all day and they fed him lunch and supper (lunch was chicken soup, beef, potatoes, and turnip with strawberries and whipped cream and tea; not sure what supper was but both meals were large enough that he shared them with Mom). Because he doesn’t have a family doctor to send test results to for follow-up (his doctor retired a few years ago and he’s still waiting to be assigned to another one), they kept him in overnight to continue monitoring him. He saw a “regular” doctor who was working the emergency room and a cardiologist.
They believe he has vasovagal syncope (a fancy way of saying that he faints) brought on by getting up and going too quickly when he first wakes up. They sent him home the next day with a heart monitor to wear for a couple of days that he could press a button on to note when he felt dizzy or faint. He’s still waiting for the results for a couple of tests to be absolutely sure what’s going on and was told not to drive for a week as a precaution.
He went into hospital on Monday, got tested for all the things, got released on Tuesday, returned the heart monitor on Thursday morning, and went with Mom to visit her family in a neighbouring province with the doctor’s blessing and with Mom doing the driving. Cost? Time spent at the hospital and the fuel to drive there and back again - not even fees to park. A few years ago, hospital parking became free when people campaigned for free parking because they felt it was unfair to charge people to park in case they were going in for regular treatments (cancer, dialysis, etc.) or were visiting ailing and dying loved ones who had long hospital stays.
Very thankful for our universal healthcare system! 🇨🇦❤🙌🏻
Average life expectancy for a newborn in the U.S. was 78.8 years, well below neighboring Canada (82.3 years) and nearly all other high-income countries. I never wait more than a week to see my doctor, for non-emergency issues.
We wait a long time to get things done here in Nova Scotia Canada
We are in the process of developing a federal dental care plan now too. It's rolling out over the next few years, starting with children and seniors. It will provide dental coverage for people who have an annual income that's below a predetermined threshold. Another step in the right direction! ❤️🇨🇦
Who is WE? What country?
@@francescathomas3502 Canada! 😉🇨🇦
Some provinces also provide free prescription drugs for people over or under a certain age (e.g. under 25 or over 65). Studies have shown that providing free prescriptions saves governments money in the long term by preventing illnesses from becoming more severe.
"Health care is private, funding is public" This may refer to Ontario. Everywhere else the facilities are all run by the provincial governments. IMHO, there is room for private facilities esp. specialists, but there is a pathological aversion to any private clinic in BC at least. There is no formal drug coverage plan (high deductible) but the minority Federal government is under pressure to set up a plan. Employer provided supplementary health care provides extra coverage for drugs, dental and eyeglasses.
I’ve said this before on this channel, it cost a million dollars to keep my brother alive during his accident. Surgeries, medications, therapy. If we lived in the USA, he’d never have survived because we couldn’t afford it. We paid $0.
Our healthcare comes down to need. Need comes before want. People will complain that they have to wait, as a healthcare employee I know exactly why they’re waiting. Someone else needs care MORE urgently. People are spoiled, so they complain. If they had to live how folks in the USA do, they’d quiet up real quick.
It’s how every health system should work. In my opinion.
I’ve said this before on this channel too. Here in Canada a family friend had a stroke and was in the ICU for 2 months. At he end of his stay he was given a bill for $66K, at he bottom it said total owed,$0.
And they clog up the ER with shit like hangnails and menstrual cramps😢
@@wombatwilly1002 most common phrase, “I’ve been here for (insert hours)”
What that tells me is that they aren’t emergent, they’re not in distress, they didn’t at all belong in the ER. They wasted time and resources for a sore throat that some tea likely would have fixed.
That is the biggest issue with our healthcare. Spoiled humans.
Seniors don’t pay anything New programs coming out for dental phasing in now....also working on pharmacare also working on 10 dollar a day daycare. There are some small differences from province to province
There are a few reasons why Canadians live longer in addition to just having access to healthcare. One reason we have WAY less mass shootings, so our chances of getting shot are greatly reduced compared to the US.... Another is that a lot of our food is regulated where certain food dyes and growth hormones are banned from our foods. Things like alcohol and tobacco are highly taxed to make it a deterrent, and there is no tobacco advertising allowed in Canada so minors aren't targeted at a young age (my region in Atlantic Canada has tobacco products "under the counter" and out of sight from children). Things like vending machines with junk food and soft drinks aren't allowed in schools. All fast food restaurants are made to list the amount of calories in their food products. Again, a lot of these things may be regional.
Yes way less shootings in Canada than the USA! That's a big one. The things you mentioned after the food is regulated is the same in the USA. We can't advertise tobacco. It's highly taxed and all the rest of stuff you listed we have too.
Less shootings is not the main reason Canadians live longer....that is a liberal fallacy. We actually have more firearms per capita than the USA, main difference is Canadians generally have a much different mentality when it comes to firearms, we view them as tools to hunt, protect livestock, compete in shooting sports. In the USA firearms are viewed as a means of self protection. Main reason Canadians live longer is our medical system which ensures every citizen has medical care no matter your financial situation.
I live in BC, and tobacco is the same here - out of sight. You have to ask for it, and you can be expected to be ID’d if you look young.
@@marcleblanc6293less chance, although certainly not no chance, does have a statistical impact on life expectancy. I could do more research and analysis on firearms deaths, but a quick look at 2021 which is the most recent year for complete stats for both countries shows per capita, you are only on tenth as likely to die due to firearms in Canada as the United States. Self inflicted, whether accidental or suicidal not removed from stats.
In my province we have this system that people can call a number and talk to a nurse to get health advice and get help finding a medical consultation if necessary. It's free and it's a 24/7 service. (I used to work there)
One thing that is never mentioned in these videos, is that Canada also has private MRI clinics and surgical centers. So if you want to pay for quicker service, you can. I'm a physiotherapist and I often send people to private MRI clinics if they can afford it.
That's unfortunate. Key phrase: "if they can afford it". These "private" clinics and centres would make the system much better if they worked within the system rather than go for-profit.
@@knightbirdkurtwe live in an area that is so swamped medically, that going private is my only option at this point. None of my nuclear family has a family doctor...been on a waiting list for any doctor for 5 years. Luckily my husband has a good job with benefits, so a lot of it is covered and we can *afford to see a private naturopath. I have been proud to be Canadian and have a well run medical system in the past, but it's falling apart. Some of my extended family actually travel to Mexico because they can't get in to doctors or specialists here. It's faster and they catch serious stuff because of that. For emergencies(like broken bones, heart attacks, etc)our system works fairly well and is usuallydecently timely although I have known numerous neighbors who got put on hold for 20 min while calling the ambulance, some who had to pay different amounts($80-200). I broke my arm 5 years ago and it took 5 days waiting for surgery. Granted, it was a crazy weekend apparently, and I was not the emergency, so there I stayed, fasting *in case I got slipped in for surgery. No cost out of pocket except fuel to drive, hotels so we were close to the hospital, and my brace. My son just got braces, and 60% covered by work insurance. $4500 still on us, but gey, I birthed 1 c-section and 2 natural in hospital, and no payments there either. I will say, the taxes are atrocious where we are. But that's all of our taxes. Income, property, etc
@@knightbirdkurta basic MRI is approximately $900. If you really need it sooner, you can swing it. My friend used 2 credit cards and the rest cash. If you're waiting a long time, that means you've been triaged by the radiologist, who 100% is responsible for booking life threatening diagnosis. I booked radiological exams, we got more requests than we have machines.
Canadian here. Tyler, I had brain surgery in April this year, and the care I received was phenomenal. I paid $0. Well, my family paid for parking, but the money goes directly to the hospital so we didn’t mind making that small contribution.
I had a free mammogram in 2013 that showed an abnormality.. Within a week, I was scheduled at the hospital for another mammogram and ultrasound and they found a lump. The next day, my doctor called me in and made an appointment with a surgeon for two days later.. He booked me for surgery three weeks after that. After the surgery, my doctor sent me to both a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist. The original mammogram was in late May. By the end of September, I had had an operation and three and a half weeks of radiation. I was also put on chemo medication for five years and, during the first year, I had many follow-up appointments with my family doctor and my oncologists. None of this cost me anything out of pocket. Because the medications were essential, I did not have to pay for them. I just went to the hospital every three months and got another three-month supply.
Thanks for covering this subject. Regarding the quality of care, as per an OECD study, among the G20 countries, Canada is in the second tier and the USA is in the third tier. European countries are in the first tier. Ratios are used to compare countries. Measurements include life expectancy, death of children at birth, death of mothers at birth, survival rate of premature babies, medical errors and a lot more. Another important fact is that when an elderly person ends up at a hospital and dies, their money does not end up in doctors and hospital fees. Their money goes to theirs inheritants since all health care is free. Big difference.
Twenty five years ago when I quit smoking I wanted to use the nicotine gum, but it was incredibly expensive at even at Walmart. So, I bought it from a Canadian pharmacy for less than 1/3 of the price, including shipping. I'm sure that still applies today.
In Canada we have a free, government sponsored program to help people quit smoking! You receive free nicotine patches or gum.
@@treiz01doctors in Canada can even do a little more! When I was trying to quit, I was put on Zyban to help me quit. It was helping, but I still had very strong cravings first thing in the morning. My physician switched me to Wellbutrin XL, which is exactly the same drug, but it was in a stronger dose and extended release which took care of the morning cravings. As a side benefit to me, I went from paying for Zyban because it wasn’t covered at the time, to no charge under my workplace extended medical insurance coverage because Wellbutrin was listed as covered. Our workplace actually was a bit ahead of the curve on smoking cessation, I participated in a worker-management committee that recommended covering nicotine replacement and free access to professional health counselling in the mid 1980s, and the company agreed and implemented it. We did this a decade before our province banned workplace smoking anywhere to protect non smokers. We implemented designated smoking places for smokers and banned open smoking at the time we instituted the smoking cessation program, so when it became law a decade later, we had already been doing it for years.
@@treiz01 That's a great program.
When she was 50, my mother was feeling tired and started having bruises that wouldn't heal. She went to her family doctor (appointment was given within a week), who sent her for blood works (all free). She had leukemia. Within a month she was hospitalized, they started running tests and found a bone marrow donor (her sister was compatible). They blasted her immune system and did the transplant. She stayed more than three months at the hospital. Then went through multiple rounds or treatments for graft rejection. It went on for years. ALL FREE. Now she's 75, and in relatively good shape.
the health care, doctors, etc is excellent in Canada also .... check the stats on life expectancy, health conditions, birth deaths ...the wait times you always hear about all the time is crap (there are always complainers no matter where you are) if you go to the hospital emerge room and your nose is dripping you will indeed wait to be looked at because the hospital does *triage* and the person with the heart attack will go before your dripping nose.......other wise go to the medical clinic practically one on every coroner of neighbourhoods or your own doctor. universal health is not free, taxes are paid for it and then it covers all, as in everybody. and keeps the population and it's work force healthy, ready and able to work .
You bet we whine about wait times in outpatients. My daughter smashed her thumb at work. Didn't sleep all night. Went to the hospital by 9am. Sat with a dozen others til the 1st patient was called at 2pm. Was seen herself by 6pm, got an xray & a hole drilled through her nail to relieve the pressure. 20 people went through the waiting room in 12 hours. The 1st patient was taken in 6 hours after they opened.
Yeah I know she wasn't dying. I know a heart attack or crash victims jump the queue. Here's the thing, no one was dying that day, and it's still such a sh*tshow that the 1st patient waited 6 hours.
@@kerriwilson7732
I have been to emergency a few times. One time I was there several hours. BUT I was at the regional hospital near my parents where I collapsed a week after surgery. The reason I was there so long was the hospital that had done the surgery took a long time to call back with details.
The other times it was fairly quick.
One time I thing the doctor looked at my info and realized if it was serious I could be dead by the time he saw me OR it would take him about two minutes to clear me. A nurse earlier kinda scared me after a procedure and I didn't know it I was in trouble or not. Turns out I wasn't that time.
@@kerriwilson7732 how do you know that? Ambulances can arrive at a totally different door than walk-ins. We also get a lot of critical patients through helicopter transport. Both of those scenarios would get priority. Nothing is as it seems from your chair in the waiting room. I stand with those that say ERs are for major Emergencies. We need more walk-in clinics with things like x-rays and other diagnostic capabilities. We have personal experience of two life threatening scenarios that we lived through and would have certainly resulted in death if treatment hadn’t been immediate on arrival in the ER. We also have dozens if not hundreds of friends and neighbours who can tell of the same experiences. I never worry about long wait times except for situations of small children. They are best seen pretty quickly for the peace and comfort of all involved. The other folks in the waiting room would also likely prefer that. In any case, solutions are being worked out to fix or reduce wait times as we speak. I would suggest that we complain to our government who is ultimately the only place that can produce a real and sustained change in ER waiting rooms.
@@conniemurdoch8528 we have a family doctor, so we're more fortunate than thousands of others in PEI. To book an appointment with him you'll wait 6 weeks. The closest walk in clinic is 75 km away, with no guarantee you'll be seen; hence the visits to ER. You can vote for anyone you like, Canada doesn't have enough Drs to go around, & the medical association keeps it that way.
@@kerriwilson7732 ambulance arrivals do not come into the waiting room. the hospital here also does the air ambulance (Ornge) helicopter, which you would never see or hear while sitting in emerge. there are also medical clinics too
Had an aunt with rare cancer, she needed a surgeon that was located in the US so Canadian health care sent her to the US for that treatment and covered it because she couldn’t get it here. Still fully paid for, including her flight and hotels while she was away.
The Americans don't want their taxes to go up.....at all cost. That's what we r willing to do to have healthcare.......pay higher taxes.
Americans can't seem to wrap their heads around the fact that, although the taxes would go up, they would no longer be paying out of pocket for private health care insurance so that the two balance each other out. They cannot comprehend the concept of not needing to pay for health care insurance. It boggles my mind that they don't get the simple math. Bernie Sanders has been trying to get this across to Americans for years with no luck. And politicians are afraid of losing donations from big pharma and insurance companies so they won't support universal health care.
I don't understand how there's 10X the people in America, they pay taxes yet still have to pay more for Healthcare. When all said and done, most of them end up paying more then we do in Canada and they have more to worry about.
@jeffreycairns767 look at the $750plus trillion they spend on the military. They could cut that budget without harm and get universal healthcare and many other sensible programmes.
@@jeffreycairns767 It’s because the majority of their taxes go to fund the military.
@kflowersmith Which makes total sense, right? 🙄🙄🙄 They're more worried about being "all powerful" then they are about taking care of their people
Yes .we have insurance coverage through employers or private, that would be for vision dental prescriptions for example
Canadian here. Yes, our healthcare covers doctor visits and hospital bills. We also have a national dental plan which just passed recently and we're looking at a national pharmacy plan soon as well. Many workplaces offer additional benefits. This is how you get dental coverage, optometrist visits and glasses, affordable medicines (I pay $10/bottle of pills no matter what they are), massages, acupuncture, etc. I recently went to the hospital with a pain and was getting knocked out for surgery within a couple hours. I spent 3 days in a private room with food and attention where needed. I can only imagine the bill I would get in the mail if I was in the USA. My only hiccup was 3 weeks of recovery which meant 3 weeks of sick time pay instead of my regular pay.
My last prescription cos $3.80.
Public healthcare has an elaborate provisioning and delivery system instituted by the Mexican government. It is provided to all, as guaranteed by Article 4 of the Constitution. Public care is fully or partially subsidized by the federal government, depending upon the person's employment status.
A very good show of how our Canadian health care differs from American. Covid 19, Canadians had no problem getting tested if the felt a symptom. Covid injections are free. And you will receive an e-mail prompt when your next shot is available. ( I received my 6th injection 2weeks ago). Also we are not stressed about visiting a family doctor. And there are numerous drop in clinics for emergency care. I’m 74yo. had 4pregnancies, 12 surgeries in my lifetime and have never paid a dime.
I am always blown away by Canadian healthcare. Sometimes you go to emerg and are told hey take an asprin and go see your GP because we do t have the required staff right bow (Ottawa), other times i am there less than 8 hours and im on an operating table for an emergency appendectomy (Toronto).
It really depends on the severity of your case and if you are somewhere you can be treated.
I'm Canadian and lived in New York City for the last 5 years. I was offered a job so I accepted- for the experience mostly. I understand US healthcare, or lack of it, so I totally get it. Luckily, I worked for a company that had one of the best healthcare plans and I didn't have to pay hardly anything out of pocket. When first meeting people and I said I was Canadian, the first topic of conversation was always our healthcare system and how it was "free". I would always correct them and say "It's not free, but that's what my tax dollars are used for" I always asked "Do you know where your tax dollars go?" Every American I met said they had no idea.
Universal health care systems want patients to get better to keep costs down. Private systems have an interest in keeping patients around.
I'm so lucky to be in Canada.
A year ago I went septic and went into cardiac arrest. Luckily I was found quickly by building maintenance who came to investigate a water leak. The fire department, ambulance and an ALS ambulance all came who worked on me close to an hour by before considered stable enough. I was taken to the hospital as a code blue. I was put on life support, dialysis due to 100% kidney failure and put into a medically induced coma. I was in the ICU for 3 weeks.
The cost to the health care system astronomical..cost to me Zero.
Here in Quebec if you don’t have a private drug insurance with your employer a percentage of drugs costs are covered by the provincial government. There have been talks by the federal government to include dental too.
Anyone who is from the States ... If this pisses you off, please make sure you remember that when voting. Make sure you vote for people who will fight for Universal Healthcare!! Also, who we vote for might want to take away medical care and SS after 65....please pay attention when going to vote!
Tyler, they do talk about it. Check out the progressive party. Bernie Sanders is part of it.
Bernie! 👍
Re: Out of country procedures. The most common out-of-country procedures are expensive cosmetic surgeries. I know several people who have booked flights to Mexico for stomach stapling (for weight loss). I would imagine this would be the type of surgery that would be a low priority in Canada and have a long wait list, so people just make a vacation out of it.
The thing is, if you are healthy, it is a great system. If you are in dire need of services, it is a very good system. If you need services and it is not a dire need, then it is not a great system.
Because of this wait times can be months possibly years.
A friend’s elderly father needed a knee replaced. Operation was scheduled for a couple weeks because of the pain. Went for a pre-op exam and the pain had subsided. He was then removed from the operation schedule and put on the wait list. He had to wait about 8 months I believe.
Not all provinces are the same. IMO the larger provinces have a larger tax base and can afford better quality care. Machines or expertise or equipment.
It isn’t a perfect system but it is pretty darn good.
My knee surgery was scheduled three weeks after I saw the surgeon for the first time. I'm in the U.S. No way would I wait even six months to have that done. I didn't pay a thing for the surgery because I'm on Medicaid.
Dental care for children in lower income families is covered by provincial programs, such as "Healthy Smiles" in Ontario. It covers dental care until the child turns 18, excluding cosmetic orthodontics.
i found out that without OHIP, here in Ontario, a visit to the ER can cost you $480 per visit - and the cost of an ambulance can vary from $45 to $150 if not for emergency transportation
What do the letters OHIP stand for? Is that the provincial health care plan of Ontario, part of Canada's universal health care? So, I'm guessing, if you are new to Ontario and don't yet qualify for OHIP you would pay the ER cost and the ambulance cost until you qualify for OHIP?
@@bluebird1239Ontario Health Insurance Plan
That’s correct - OHIP covers citizens who live here. If you are from out of province, your provincial insurance covers it. If you are from another country you pay for it yourself if you don’t have travel insurance.
The wealthy Americans flying their children to Sick Kids in Toronto pay considerably more for the use of the heliport and access to some of the best child specialists in the world.
OHIP is Ontario health insurance plan I think
Ambulance is charged regardless, it is not covered under OHIP. My son had a dislocated knee, the ambulance took him to the hospital 2 blocks away and I got a bill for $45 for the ride and another bill for $45 for his crutches and I think about $20 for his leg brace. The emergency room fees were all covered by OHIP.
Our system is certainly not perfect but I will take it over the US any day. If I need to see my dr, I can typically get in the same day but some areas can take awhile depending on the patient load.. I have had times in other communities where I had to wait a week for an appointment but if it was more urgent, they'll either squeeze you in or you can go to an urgent care or walk in clinic location instead. When my twin pregnancy went pear shaped at 24 weeks, I spent most of the next 11 weeks on hospital bed rest and then the babies spent 3 weeks in NICU. That would have bankrupted us in the states if we didn't have health insurance and even if we did have it, the co-pays would have been astronomical for care we all needed. Our bill for that whole period wasn't exactly zero. We paid around $500 in parking costs and roughly the same in gas (for hubby to visit me and then us both visiting the babies) over the course of those 4 months. Do you sometimes have to wait for diagnostics like an MRI or CT? Yes. If it's urgent or emergent though, you don't wait. Hubby is currently waiting for an MRI and it'll likely be about a year but it's not urgent at all. When I needed one that same day I went into hospital with the twins, I had it about 2 hours after arrival to hospital. I'll happily pay my share of taxes to make sure everyone has the access available to them regardless of their finances.
I've spent years working in hospitals of both countries. The only thing I'd add is this. My colleagues as a group had an agreement (when working in the US). If any of us became hospilized, the group would get us home asap. We worked in the 3rd highest raited hospital in the US at the time.😉 oh, I nearly forgot! Please do/see Canadian Bacon the movie. It answers all those questions you can never find the answer to, and it's one of the best comedies made. Please eh!
The only thing I would add is there are slight variations between provinces and territories since Healthcare is primarily controlled by Provincial governments supplemented by Federal. There are programs offered by Provinces to help those with limited incomes help afford the pharmaceutical costs and work as accessment of household income which determines a deductible cost you pay. Once that cost has been reached the plan takes over and everything else for that year is paid for as long as it is on the approved government list. In Ontario this is called the Trillium plan. As to government healthcare there are some downsides that this video didn't cover and that is family physicians can be harder to find in more rural locations, this can lead to longer wait times for specialist appointments and in some areas find much more difficult to find a regular family doctor but some attempts to solve this are given by after hour and walk in clinics which are covered by our healthcare system. What is not talked about in these types of videos is that 1/3 to 1/2 of the doctors and nurses trained in Canada then often move to the US since US often can pay them more and often leads to a chronic shortage of health professionals available to Canadians.
A perfect example of the wait time situation here in Canada: My mom had to wait 3 years for a hip replacement; I had an emergency bowel infection and had a CT scan and colonoscopy, procedures you normally have to wait a while for if not an emergency, within 24 hours.
I only had to wait four months in Toronto….for a hip replacement.
@@eileensakal987 We're in Red Deer, Alberta. Not a big enough city to be that quick.
I waited 6 months for my hip replacement which I thought was quite quick, but when I had breast cancer it took about 2 months from the time I discovered the small lump, saw my GP, got a mammogram, had a biopsy, saw a surgeon & had the lumpectomy. I may live in a small Ontario city, but they don't mess around when it comes to serious illnesses.
@@CharCanuck14 I'm so sorry you had to go though all that, I pray you are well now. It's the same here as far as serious/life threatening situations, you get care quickly. If your life isn't in danger though you'll be in for a long wait. A lot to do with having only 1 hospital with all the tech needed and a handful of labs and imaging places that serves an area that needs double if not triple those resources and services.
@@j.e.7185 Thanks j.e. for your thoughts ❤. I'm a retired RN and have seen the change in our Ontario hospitals since the 90's. My daughter is a nurse & compared to when I worked, it now seems like the nurse & doctor shortage is horrendous. Too many patients with too few staff that's run ragged with every shift. It tears me apart when she comes to my home exhausted & in tears because her shift is non-stop due to being short staffed. I do hope the province does something to fix this. Your hospital sounds like ours......a one-stop hospital that serves an area bigger than it can handle.
Thank again j.e. and take care!
Minute 10:07 - It's a very common practice for Americans that live not far from Canadian border. As an example: a box of insuline in Canada costs 20$ while in US it costs 300$ (datas from 2022), thus if you can go to Canada and back spending let's say 100$, you'll end up spendig 120$, that means 180$ less than staying at home and buy it in US
I'm Canadian and I pay $90 a month for Health Care, but my work pays for half so its basically $45 a month. Which just directly comes out of my pay because the full benefits is through my employer.
I've heard that there are different premiums depending on what province you're in.
@@JeanStAubin-nl9uo likely. I've never really looked into it. This is the first job I have ever had that did full benefits and full dental. I'm in New Brunswick
@JeanStAubin-nl9uo no premiums in Alberta anymore. Used to be about $100 per month about 15 years ago but it was later dropped after people found out the premiums just went into general revenue and not specifically to healthcare as we were told.
Americans are ruled by the greedy. It's not the money that runs health care. It's the greedy corporations and politicians on the take.
Just a LITTLE FYI:
the father of universal Healthcare was Tommy Douglas, who is the grandfather of Kiefer Sutherland.
Dental was just passed in the HOC and it passed without the help of the conservatives Skippy as they voted NO to kids getting dental care -- I will never vote conservative again as they will take our health care system and sell it off -- That is a hard no thank you -- We love our Universal health Care and it works even when the conservative are fighting against the people-- So in the end WE THE PEOPLE win as we have dental added :) --
what's hoc?
@@allister.trudel House of Commons .
Do you know what that dental bill is?? It’s a joke there’s a reason why the conservatives voted against lol Alberta has it until you’re 18 and covers way more than what the libs are trying to tell us they are‘doing’ lol!!!
I hope you vote NDP, because Liberals would have never bothered to push that plan forward on their own.
@@noseboop4354 they worked together and it wasn't just the NDP's --- Together -- The conservatives don't want to work with anyone -- I don't think Jagmeet Singh is ready to lead Canada but you get 1 vote like I get so use it wisely -- Mad love from the east coast of Canada !
I am 57 and born May 1966. Universal Healthcare came into effect in January 1966. I was born a very sick kid, and spent a lot of time in hospital with the first surgery being at 15 months of age. I continued to have issues and spent more and more time in hospitals. My parents never ever had a bill to keep me alive! Now at my age, my kidneys are not doing well, but I never have had a bill and I have 5 docs on my team to keep me out of hospitals. Any time I need to see them, i call them and i head out to their offices. Never have a co-pay to see them. My meds are 18.00 for 3 months supply and thats because I have blue cross so only have to pay 20% of all med costs. My dental is 100% covered as are my glasses. I was an RN for 20 years and we were given the extra insurance for the family.
My husband was American, moved up after we married, and in 2014, he was diagnosed with cancer. He never had a bill for any of his appointments, surgeries, tests and his equipment that I needed to keep him home till he passed away like he wanted. The only bill we had was for the one to have him cremated.
Something not mentioned is currently since covid Canadas hospitals are full, were lacking doctors and nurses because our government puts a lot of red tape on immigrated doctors/nurses they have to be approved and taught medicine standards in Canada and it can take years for them to be approved. Emergency wait times to be admitted can take a long time to be seen say you go to emergency with a broken arm or leg it could take depending on how busy the hospital is that day about 4-12 hours to have it looked at to be cast but if your in immediate danger like cuts, car accidents, fights, or brought in on a stretcher from a ambulance you will be looked at right away which tends to push back the people who have been waiting getting in. most jobs offer insurance through them if you work fulltime depends on province generally at least 32hr per week is full time and the employer pays half its usually a basic insurance that costs like 500$ a year and gives you a 1000$ toward dental, physio therapy, eye doctor, and drugs. the things not covered by healthcare. some jobs have way better private healthcare plans and they extend to your family and if your workplace doesnt have a bettter healthcare plan you can opt out of getting it through work and get it privately through places like BlueCross. The best healthcare you can get is by working for the government, a soldiers healthcare covers everything and their family.
Ambulance stretcher patients are assessed by the triage nurse and if their condition warrants a non emergent level, they are asked to get off the stretcher and sit in the waiting area, in cue. Triage applies to every patient.
I Had terminal colon cancer that had spread to my liver. They did numerous tests, removed part of my colon/ bowel and put me on chemo for six months then did four liver surgeries and removed all my cancer in both my colon and liver. They then put me back on chemo for six months again just to be on the safe side. I have now been cancer free for one and a half years now and get scans every three months for the next five years. None of this cost me one single dollar. I'm so thankful for our health care system. Amen.
My mom worked with an American nurse who told her she left because of the Crue nature of American health care. Someone came in in carsic arrest and they were refused cpr and drugs until she gave them the insurance plan which ahe didnt know she was panicking. This was in the 90's
That's a bald faced LIE.
We also have private clinics so if you don't want to wait, you can pay and it is still relatively cheap...at least cheaper than the U.S.
There is some prescription help. I require 2 different drugs that I can't afford to buy, so my doctor applied directly to the drug company for assistance . The only difference is that I have to go to the doctor for my injections rather than picking up the meds and doing the shots myself.
I didn't know this was a thing! A few times I had to refuse prescriptions at the pharmacy because they weren't covered (I'm on a disability pension so unless something is covered ùI just can't afford it).I'm gonna ask my doctor about this, thanks!
In ontario, if you dont have private insurance, prescriptions for young people up to age 25, and seniors in need are covered by OHIP
I know from family that for seniors you must qualify for OHIP, be 65+, live in LTC or a special care home, be receiving professional home care and community care services and be enrolled in the Trillium Drug Program. Prescriptions are not auto covered by OHIP.
Health care is awesome here in Ontario. Many companies that you work for have drug plans for employees and their families (no cost) Dental, vision and prescriptions are 80% covered. (varies). A few years ago I had 7 weeks of treatments that would have cost a pretty penny in US. I paid for parking only!. While personal income tax may be similar, we pay double the sales tax!! Some provinces as high as 15%. Waiting for appointments at your own Family Doctor can take some time, however we can go to a multitude of medical clinics anyday!!. We refer to it as "Healthcare"..
If you don’t want to wait for like 12 hours at emergency, you can also pay 250$ in a private clinic and you’ll be set right away. If your job offer a individual/family plan for meds, you might have to pay 100-200$ a month to be covered. Their conclusion? The “average” Canadian family, consisting of two adults and two children, earning about $127,000, will pay about $12,000 a year for public health care. Source: National Post
British Columbia has a Pharma - Care System. Covered by Taxes for sure!
I remember visiting a friend in Rhode Island in 2012/2013 and one time when I was visiting they went to get a check-up and while i was in the waiting room, it shocked me to see people paying a bill before they left. In Canada, we pay to see the dentist and optometrist, but not a family doctor or any doctor at a walk in clinic. Also have to pay for prescription drugs. Paying to see a doctor is so weird to me.
I live near the border and Americans come here a lot to buy meds. It used to be more when insulin was so expensive. They used to come in groups. You just need a verified prescription from a real doctor.
Reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons
I always wondered about that. I used to read so many stories (back before Covid) of American insulin convoys travelling to Canada to buy insulin and I was wondering, do they only need to ask and then pay? But they do have to show a prescription. That makes sense. Thanks.
I wonder also if that might be part of the reason why Ontario has now switched from insulin name brands to generic brands. Too many americans buying up canadian insulin supplies.
I have 2 diabetics in my family and they have both been advised that their insulin (name brands like Lantus, Novorapid and Humalog) will be changing to generics by the end of this year. My son has already on the generics. My husband is not. But he still has 2 months left.
@francescathomas3502 Honestly, I've spoken to many pharmacies and I've never come across one yet that excepted a script from an American doctor.
@@jeffreycairns767 They do in my city. We are a border town so we see more of it. If a person comes to the pharmacy with a proper prescription all they have to do is call the pharmacy in the US and verify it. You c@nt really refuse since insulin isn’t something you can ration.
@@conniemurdoch8528 OK, that makes sense. What city/town are you from?
On Feb 4th I was involved in a near fatal motor vehicle accident. I was driving an F-150. I was T-boned. My left arm had a complete break and my shoulder caved in. My arm was literally held together by my muscles, fat, and ligaments. That required reconstructive surgery. I had fractured ribs, fractured back, lacerated spleen, with associated internal bleeding. Took the jaws of life to extract me from the truck.
I was rushed to a Trauma Centre. I stayed in hospital for about a week.
I’ve also had issues with my gallbladder and chronic migraines which all have led to many many trips to hospital.
I have had a ton of experience in our medical system and I can say that I wouldn’t want to have been in the States.
I didn’t have to worry about the length of time spent in hospital. Didn’t have to worry about all the CT scans and X-rays. I also take medication on a regular basis.
In most cases it would take about 4 hours to get through hospital care but when It arrived with my GERD and acid reflux symptoms they usually drew blood and sent me for an ECG test pretty darn quickly. It’s all part of the Triage system.
Shortly after my accident I went to hospital with severe symptoms related to the Dilaudid I was taking. The Triage Staff treated me horribly. I told them my symptoms were getting worse. It resulted in me exploding in the waiting area. I think after that they put a note on my file that I was to be fast tracked if I came in for anything related to my accident.
I have basic Medicare plus Blue Cross. I am contemplating paying out of pocket for another Private Medical Insurance. If I were to do that I would be paying roughly $250/mo. That would then help me gain access to the only migraine treatment that works for me which is Botox. Blue Cross won’t cover Botox because they don’t recognize Botox as a migraine treatment. So last couple of days I’ve been struggling with a severe migraine. So I took a couple T3’s in the morning which threw my GERD symptoms through the roof. About an hour ago I took another T3 dose and another dose for of medication for GERD.
I’m in severe pain which is absolutely unnecessary but because they don’t recognize Botox as a migraine treatment I have to suffer or potentially spend $3,600 annually to treat my chronic migraines and I might just do that.
This means that if a treatment off label works but not recognized as a viable treatment then you pay out of pocket. Putting this in perspective, many treatments for Multiple Sclerosis and other illnesses similar have treatments that work but they are used off label so the patients are unable to receive that treatment and as a result will suffer.
So our system needs improvement but the system has also saved me from having to spend thousands of dollars to survive my near fatal accident. I waited a year for gallbladder surgery and spent about 10 years with this gallbladder undetected until I told am ER Doc that I’d hate to die because you missed a gallstone. 4 ultrasounds later they found the sucker.
I am reasonably satisfied with our system. I give our system a B- overall grade.
I see my dr every three weeks for a b12 injection, sometimes a flu shot, and other things. I do have private insurance when it comes to the dental etc. After all the tests ive been through over the summer. I would hate to see what it would be south of the border.
Edit: all those tests mri ct etc, i waited less than a week to go to them, and my family gp does do same day appointments in the morning (if you can get through on the phone that is, because she is quite busy)
The wait time often depends on where you live in Canada, the farther north you go the longer the wait time. That being said, in the town I live in some eight hundred km from the board and a relatively small population is building a state-of-the-art brand new hospital to replace our old one. There are about five thousand people that live or relate to our town as the main hub. All this is being done to keep doctors in the northern regions of the country. This was the main reason why UNBC was built in Prince George BC to train doctors and other medical personnel to entice them to stay in northern BC.
That's pretty good for generalizing the healthcare system in Canada. But each province is different and costs for being in a different province when needing ER, they'll do it but you just need to left your' province know where it was done and it'll be covered otherwise we'd pay for the ER like any other tourist. Wait times can be insane in smaller communities; doctors also can refuse to do surgeries if it is too dangerous for the patient which is sad.
That's not sad. A doctor, like any professional, should not be forced to do a job that puts anybody in danger.
We do kind of have a 2 tiered system here both universal and paid just depends on few factors example cosmetic vs reconstructive surgery if you dont like the way you look you pay however if you in accident or for some other medical reason reconstructive it paid for. another example is LTC homes yes some things paid for like medical other things are not food housekeeping etc depends which home you are at.
No system is without flaws. For example when I call my family doctor for an appointment, I know I am waiting a good week to get in. Easily. But I wouldn't trade our system for any other. I also think it works because we Canadians see nothing wrong with paying taxes to make sure OTHERS get the care THEY need, when they need it. Because we know that others are paying taxes to help us get the care WE need, when we need it. Its a more altruistic viewpoint, as opposed to a selfish one.
I am 36 weeks pregnant, and haven't paid a single thing for any hospital visits (I now go once a week), ultrasounds, blood tests (many blood tests). And I won't be greeted with a lengthy bill after having my baby in a few weeks time.
a week to get in? must be nice
I am a cancer victim. A year ago I was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma. I spent 5 weeks in the hospital. I underwent kemo therapy and lost all my hair and 50 pounds. I have had 4 Cat Scans and 3 Pet Scans. After all the treatments I received a clean bill of health and was declared cancer free. For all the treatments and a long hospital stay I received absolutely no bill what so ever.
I am certainly not a "have " person.I have some serious health concerns. My expences for that have been nil. I have dental and extra health insurance for surprises. My honey had cancer which took his life 5 years ago. The treatments for that were nil. Some extra meds were covered by the extra health insurance we carried and I still carry. The cost for the extra insurance is approx $100.00a month for me. That is the same approx as the cost of my meds per month. I have had speedy medical care when required including surgery (14) and ER visits. I am grateful for this and for the country I was born in and where I still live. A happy senior Canadian.
I'm sorry about your "honey" passing. As a fellow Canadian myself, I'm very grateful to be born here and refuse to leave. It also bothers me when I see some Canadians getting mad or talking bad about our system claiming it's garbage, America's is better, etc. Some don't like the longer wait times at the hospital or for some surgeries. I found out I had gull stones and had my surgery to remove my gallbladder all with in 2 weeks. I don't believe that's too long to wait honestly. The biggest issue we're seeing now, atleast where I live, is all the new immigrants that show up at the ER for a headache or something simple, instead of hitting Shoppers Drug Mart or Pharma Plus. My mom had to be rushed to the hospital 2 weeks ago after suffering (according to the doctors) several strokes and a brain bleed. My step mother is also in the hospital because she couldn't breathe. Both have been there for atleast 2 weeks and neither will pay a penny out of pocket, even if they were senior citizens. We may pay higher taxes overall but I do believe it's worth it in the end for what we get. They also didn't mention free eye exams every year. Medications are also covered for seniors, or atleast they are for my mom, dad and step mother.
I broke my arm in an accident in Ontario in 2021. The hospital emerg. set it, then went for surgery where they put in a titanium plate in my forearm....off for 8 weeks. The cost total was $45 for the ambulance ride...the rest? $0 dollars...but our income tax is HUGE, which covers that infrastructure.
My best friend just got a bill from when he got bit by a raccoon, and it was 50k. He still has to pay 4k of it ... even though he has "good" insurance through his state job.😢
God bless America, eh?
@jeffreycairns767 I think if God actually blessed America, we would all have healthcare.
A large portion of Canadians taxes go to cover healthcare. A larger portion of Americans taxes go to their Defense and Military budgets.
Which also protects Canada...a country with wonderful military personnel but more poorly equipped than any Eastern European nation of ten million. Without the US military, Canada would be defenseless.
It COULD work this way Stateside, but greed is your biggest problem there. I had a heart attack in Aug 2017 in Canada. 10 days total hospital time. 2 Ambulance rises between hospitals for MRI's etc. Total bill? 70.00. I drove myself to the hospital... had to pay parking. Prescription care is in the works for Canadians right now and dental should be covering most Canadians by 2024. Justin Trudeau's Liberal government committed to passing a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023. On June 13, the NDP tabled a bill for universal, public, single-payer pharmacare. But the fight isn't over. Right now, Big Pharma and its insurance industry allies are working to torpedo the whole project. n 2023, the Canadian Dental Care Plan will become available to uninsured Canadians under 18, persons with disabilities, and seniors who have an annual family income of less than $90,000. There will be no co-pays for those with an annual family income under $70,000.
My family Doctor who I have had for years retired and I now have a new Doctor. To know what my health care needs are he sent me to see a Cardiologist, Vascular Surgeon, Dermatologist, OBGYN. I had a bone scan, mammogram, ultrasounds, blood tests. I saw all those Doctors and had the tests within 2 weeks of the appointments being made. All results came out great. If I need to see a Doctor on a weekend or after hours there are Medical clinics every few miles on any given busy street. Instead of going to the ER to get treated for something minor you just go to an Urgent Care clinic and be seen right away with no long ER wait time. I am a senior now so I only pay $4.11 for a dispensing fee on my drugs. Even before I was a senior any prescription drugs I had to take didn't cost very much and if I did need to take an expensive drug the Doctor would get them from the pharmaceutical sales rep because he knew I might not be able to afford it. I believe now that some dental care for some people is going to be covered. If we pay out of pocket for prescribed medical devices we can claim the cost when we file our income tax.
You mention that not enough people in the US want it to effect change.
Not true.
A large majority of Americans want universal health care.
It’s the drug / health care companies and lobbyists that don’t want it.
And as far as not affecting enough, the reality is it disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable members of your society who also has the least lobbying power unfortunately
The majority of the conservatives in America do not want universal healthcare because they don't want their taxes to go up.
That reminds me of an episode of Last Man Standing, where Tim Allen refuses to pay towards universal Healthcare as he doesn't want to help the poor people. He makes plenty to help HIS family and that's all he cares about
I had a breast reduction and sinus surgery and both were 100% covered. Go Canada!