Yeah, it's totally unnecessary because there aren't thugs carrying illegal weapons. Oh, don't worry. That's coming for you guys. Taxes much lower here in FL than in Canada, so we usually use the extra bucks to send our kids to private school if the public one doesn't cut it. Only because of the media. I remember some story of a guy cutting people's heads off on a bus up there in Canada. But you have to figure, the state of Florida has half the people of the entire country of Canada, in just 2% of the land mass. You're going to have a slightly different dynamic with people. Canadian winters haven't been more mild in the last few years, and I'm not sure what natural disasters you're referring to. Hurricanes? Last one came through 10 years ago if memory serves. Not to say it's not going to happen again, but that's what we trade off for having no state income tax, a beautiful ocean to live on, and no temperatures below freezing, much less snow. As others have mentioned, lots of retired Canadians here. I wonder why that is. Must be all the crazies, natural disasters and economical issues.
The reason why Canadian are in RTP for health care is not due to wealth, it is because the Canadian health care shipped them to the U.S. for heart treatment, cancer treatment, etc. because Canada has no facilities to provide the necessary treatment. Before you start thinking that this is a good thing, remember that these people are being ripped from their homes, families, etc. because Canada cannot provide treatment for their conditions. Furthermore family members who come visit them have to spend their own money to do so. Canadians who pay cash for medical treatment simply slip over the border, not travel all the way to North Carolina. This explains all the U.S. commercials on TV targeting Canadian citizens to jump over the border and get MRIs, knee surgery, etc. all promising immediate service. I had at least three Canadian colleagues over the past two years get surgery for their teenage children (sports injuries) done out-of-pocket in the U.S. to avoid long waits. While I do agree that Obamacare is completely flawed in the U.S. and a give away to insurance companies. The big question to answer first is if universal coverage has value, if it does then the U.S. would be better off emulating the public medical coverage systems in Germany or the U.K. However public-payer system all have a similar problem - they need to ration care which leads to waiting times. The best way to manage the "rationing" problem is to allow private care insurance and facilities in an overlay to the public system for people who are willing to pay more in insurance payments. BTW... I work in Toronto because I do network security architecture for banks. This is a job you cannot do remotely. You have to go to a banking center to perform your job; New York, London, Toronto, Charlotte, Frankfurt, etc. The banks in Toronto beg for me to select them over other locations; hence the Canadian work permit. I never said I hated Canada (those are your words), Toronto is quite nice as a city-based work location. Everything downtown is walkable, lots of nice restaurants etc. and a diverse population. But don't show up here at work trying to defend the Canadian healthcare system, you will quickly have many disgruntled Canadian citizens telling you off, nor do you want to diss the Maple Leafs (even if they never make the playoffs).... and while you are at it, if you are in Toronto don't defend the French in Quebec. Paul Krugman insincerely asks a question of Canadians about their healthcare and gets a response he didn't expect.
My limited experience with CA medical was solid. I hurt my hand and rather than doing all these tests and MRIs like in the US, the Doc was a truly skilled professional who diagnosed and treated me based on his diagnoses and it worked. In the us it likely would have been tons of tests then surgery. I know this from a similar issue i had in NYC with my other hand. But this ashley madison thing and the tremendous number of nuts roaming the ottawa streets is frightnening. Not to mention high real rstate prices, no choices, and swarma stands on every corner --- but the poutine was great from food trucks!
It is true that if your issue is non-urgent you may have a long wait for an MRI. In that case, if you have the money, go find an idle MRI machine somewhere else. In Canada, the system is: have money or wait. In the US (pre-ACA) the system was: have money or do without.
Yeah, the Canadian healthcare system is great... if you don't mind waiting 39.6 weeks for surgery. 'In its annual report, “Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada,” the Fraser Institute said the median wait time in 2013 hit 18.2 weeks, three days longer than in 2012. Twenty years ago, the average wait time for treatment in Canada was 9.3 weeks. Specifically, the average wait time for orthopedic surgery reached 39.6 weeks for treatment, while patients waited an average 17.4 weeks for an appointment with a neurosurgeon.' http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/wait-times-for-medical-treatment-getting-longer-report-1.1516817
This is boomer driven in both countries. The only reason wait times were shorter in the US previously was because a large part of the population couldn't get those treatments (unless they were life threatening), i.e. effective demand was lower.
Anyone (meaning well over 200 million people) with good private medical insurance in the U.S. (prior Obamacare) could get immediate excellent medical care at low out-of-pocket cost. A majority of the U.S. population could get those treatments in the past, Obamacare has only served to raise their costs and reduce their coverage. Let's take a look at another Canadian healthcare article... this one outlines not only the waiting crisis but the shipping of sick patients to the U.S. because Canada can not care for them. http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/c...tients+south+surgery+Video/9702357/story.html
Maybe a majority did have health insurance, but too many had none. If that private healthcare had many fewer participants then the price for the remaining participants would have been higher. That's the idea of insurance. Now, many of the previously uninsured have been added, without increasing the supply (as yet, this will no doubt change) of healthcare, so overall quality may well suffer. But the "have money" option has not gone away: if you don't like the more inclusive system, spend money and get a concierge doctor.