Do you know what the top nation on the face of the earth for private concierge doctor service and clinics is? It is Canada. Right here in Toronto I can see Medcan and other private clinics right from my hotel window. These are all used by the banking executives, not the public healthcare system. And yes, you can get immediate appointments and service, but the cost is MUCH higher than going to the U.S. and paying out of pocket. Normally high powered executives have their companies cover private clinic costs in Canada. Canadian Private clinics continue explosive growth http://www.cmaj.ca/content/183/8/E437.full I am wondering if Surf thought Canadian health care service was good because his company sent him to private clinics rather than public facilities where you have to show your government issued health card.
Surf... let me ask - did you have a government issued Health Card when you lived in Canada. My understanding is that only permanent residents are eligible. I do not qualify being on a work permit because I commute in every week -- despite paying lots of Canadian taxes. Did your company send you to private health clinics (which are good) or send you through the public system?
I had the govt issued card on a work permit from the central bank. They used a law firm in Toronto so we could obtain permanent resident status in a fast way. I wasnt aware the private option existed. We moved back to the states in July 2013---
It's amazing how when someone like you runs with a topic how misleading a picture one can present. Bottom line is you are a network engineer that lives in a hotel room downtown and has limited if any exposure to mainstream Canada. Much like a tourist, it's a somewhat superficial look at the city and even less of a look at the country. It may be true that some "banking executives" make a fair bit of money but a good number of them also lead fairly unhealthy lives ( bad diet, little or no exercise, some may be workaholics ). They have the money to pay for private care and more so then some of us they need it. So they can pay, it has zero impact on most Canadians who use their health card all the time and rarely have an issue with it. If the social systems are so good in the US, one needs to ask why it's one of the most obese countries in the world, why there are so many teen pregnancies, why so many are in abject poverty, why some have no access to needed health care. Somewhere in the mix your system is totally broken. Trying to poke holes in our social systems isn't going to fix that, we may not have perfect systems but they are better then US systems. No amount of US style spin can deny that.
Are you denying that Canada is the top nation on the face of the earth for non-insurance private concierge doctor service and clinics? Do I need to post all the articles from the mainstream Canadian press again outlining this fact? Bottom line: People with money in Canada avoid the failing public health system. How come most Canadians don't think their health system is better than the US system? Why do so many Canadians go to the U.S. for treatment? No amount of awkward liberal spin can alter the health care reality for the majority of Canadian citizens. I won't make an assertion that either system (U.S. or Canada) is perfect (or even excellent) - however U.S. medical care is considered to be the best world, and people from many other countries come to the U.S. for medical service. Do people fly to Canada for medical care?
Here are some facts. The vast majority of Canadians prefer our medical system to the US medical system. Two, almost nobody in mainstream Canadian society uses private clinics outside of the public system, unless it's for things like cosmetic surgery or laser eye surgery. You can buy upgrades to basic service if you want to. Three, yes, there are people who fly to Canada for medical care; for example, the Hospital for Sick Kids does a lot of humanitarian projects. The difference is we don't do the "money pays" projects, the jump the queue guys etc etc. . This is not "liberal spin". Contrary to what some of you Americans seem to think, Canada is not a "socialist" or "liberal" mecca. We are moderates when it comes to anything political. You think you know more about this here then someone who has lived in Ontario for 45 years, and raised two kids ? Seriously, believe what you want, you are sounding arrogant. Surf seems to think that Ottawa is abnormally full of mentally ill people. It's a ridiculous claim but you know what, that's how it is here people just push their agenda and the truth is secondary. ps One has to ask if US social systems are for the people or for the 1% who are already abusing the country in so many ways. So some rich dude gets quick access to a top doctor and quality care, the price seems to be plenty of other people getting substandard or no care at all. We care more in Canada it seems.
I simply listen to the many Canadians who I work with every week. By listening I learn more than many people who are hung up on their pre-conceived opinions, and are unwilling to evolve their perspectives even when presented with new facts. The majority of the media and articles in Canada support my assertions regarding the Canadian healthcare system. Similarly all the surveys of Canadian residents support my claims. In summary, the large majority of Canadians support the concept of universal public healthcare. The majority believe the taxes they pay to support universal healthcare are reasonable. However the majority of Canadians are very upset with the excessive wait times and the declining quality of medical care. So a middle-class family has their high-school hockey player endure a sports injury and require knee surgery. In Canada they would wait 8 months for an MRI and an additional 6 months for surgery - all the while needing to wear an entire length leg brace to immobilize the knee for over a year while hobbling through school each week. With recovery time included the kid will be out of playing hockey for two years. In the U.S. the same child from a middle class family will get an MRI the next day, surgery next week, and be back playing hockey within a few months. Explain to me why waiting months in Canada for basic surgery is viewed as "superior healthcare" or even reasonable? In the meanwhile - private clinics are growing at an astounding rate in Canada. In fact it is one of Canada's fastest growing industries - Private health-care services growing in Canada and from the government - PRIVATE HEALTH CARE FUNDING AND DELIVERY UNDER THE CANADA HEALTH ACT In Toronto - I am seeing private clinics on every other corner -- Five of Toronto’s most exclusive private medical clinics (I would urge you to read all the comments). Of course after seeing the huge success of private care, the provincial governments are also getting into private care - BC government turns to for-profit clinics, could create "full-blown" private hospitals -------------- P.S. - BTW the Hospital for Sick Kids only treated in Canada 4 children flown in from overseas last year. It is a teaching and paediatric research hospital associated with the University of Toronto. They consulted/referred 500 out-of-county foreign patients to locations elsewhere in the world; the majority of these flown to the U.S. The huge majority of patients are Canadian citizens. From an "international" perspective, the Hospital for Sick Kids is involved in treating children living in Canada whose parents are not permanent residents of the country - the parents are required to pay. See this note from their website... NOTE: Health care in Ontario (and in Canada) is not free. It is paid for through provincial health-care insurance, provided only to residents and citizens who pay taxes in Ontario. International patients (Canadian or non-Canadian) who are permanent non-residents of Canada must pay for treatment/surgery/assessment/consultation at SickKids. This can be either through health insurance, self-pay or through a guarantee from their government or embassy. P.P.S. - I believe that Washington is full of mentally ill people, we elected them to office. Why should Ottawa be any different.
and back to the thread's subject... Mississauga man’s identity one of two released by Ashley Madison hackers http://www.cp24.com/news/mississaug...-released-by-ashley-madison-hackers-1.2483597 The identity of a Mississauga man who was registered on infidelity website Ashley Madison was one the first two profiles to be leaked online following a hack of the service’s estimated 37 million users. In a letter circulating online, hackers calling themselves The Impact Team released the name, home address and profile of the Mississauga man, along with information belonging to another man in Brockton, Massachusetts. The hackers released intimate details of the users’ profile, including their listed sexual fetishes and fantasies. The hackers said the Mississauga man had recently paid Ashley Madison a “full delete” fee to remove his information entirely. In the letter, The Impact Team threatens to release the identities of all 37 million users of the site unless its parent company, Avid Life Media, shuts the site down entirely. “Avid Life Media has been instructed to take Ashley Madison and Established Men offline permanently in all forms, or we will release all customer records, including profiles with all the customers' secret sexual fantasies and matching credit card transactions, real names and addresses, and employee documents and emails,” the letter reads. In a statement released July 20, Avid Life Media insists the “full delete” fee “does in fact remove all information related to a member’s profile and communications activity.” The firm will allow any registered to erase their information from the site for free. Avid Life Media had earlier said it had wiped all references to user’s personal information from the internet. "Nothing is private, you’re always at risk when you have any information about yourself on the internet," said Kenneth Owen, a cybersecurity expert and PhD candidate at McMaster University. "You have to accept that it is possible, that no matter what you do, whatever you have out there will be found if someone wants to find it."