40 years in Canada with family still there (ages in the 70's, and one has cancer) 12 years now in the USA. Dual citizen, I have freedom of choice and I can tell you absolutely, positively that the US quality of Health care is FAR superior to what you receive in Canada. Mr. Moore has his own agenda and it reflects throughout ALL his movies. When interviewed on TV about "Sicko" he was asked where HE would prefer to receive medical treatment. In front of a National audience, he responded "in the USA".
Quality of healthcare is like comparing a Legacy Airline like United to Discount one like Jet Blue. Both get you there without any incidents because basic of the basics are MANDATED to meet certain standards. If Canadian healthcare was like some Bananna republic standards then there would have been big big uproar and incidents and patient troubles would have filled the media like Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Stupid 2 feet bandage roll costing $24.50 in US does not make sense. It is imperitive that ALL US citizens have healthcare provided for free by the Federal or State governments.............. even at the cost of slipping in quality by a notch. Those who do not like the quality, can ofcourse go to the private alternatives. Someone mentioned Critical wait times......this is to be disagreed. There might be wait times for knee replacement i.e. something that a person can live with although not play soccer daily.....but wait times for say emergency surgeries are not there, otherwise patients will be calling it quits at the hospital receptions or parking lots. US problem is they had to sponsor the defense of Western nations from Commies and now when it is all over they refuse to seek discounts from defense budget. Clinton cut down military by 20-30% but there was little reduction in defense budget because $120M F-22 type programs were still up and running. US has 20 year lead over any modern western nation like UK or Germany in the military matters. So they can take a breather. Fighting AQ and Fanatics requires more men, mental and political initiative than F-22 type projects and ofcourse $200 hammers..........sickening!
Nothing is provided for "free" in Canada. Their outragous income tax rates cover the cost of their substandard (by US standards) health care. Do you really want to pay for US Health care for some 30 million illegals? Do you want to stand in a line behind millions of them to get Health services? Canada's health care system is on an "urgency" basis, which means your turn comes up when more critical patients have been serviced. You can wait a long long time if your personal situation is not deemed urgent. True scenario in Canada: You go to see the Doc, and he is concerned you have cancer. Schedules you for an MRI or a CatScan. You will most likely wait 6-8 weeks for that Catscan. The alternative is going to a private Canadian clinic and paying $1-2,000 for the tests. There is your free healthcare, friend. In the US a CatScan will usually be scheduled within a day or two.
Free healthcare to illegals does not make sense at all. I think in Canada, folks who work are also given some sort of employer medical benefits and immediate but non emergency matters like CAT SCANs or MRIs should be covered by those plans. I do not think taxes are way to high in Canada, may be by 2-3%. It is sad that US has other priorities to attend but there is also lots of waste that leaders do not want to rectify. Clinton left a balanced budget and surplus projections for several program but the turn of events and 'asshole' political decisions messed it all up. End result is Oil has creeped upto $100/barrel and consumers are paying it both ways........to the government and the corporations.
Top tax rates are similar in the U.S. as in Canada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_around_the_world According to this, 53% is the top tax rate in Canada for federal and provincial combined. In the U.S., top federal rate is 35%, plus 7.65% social security taxes (15.3% if you are self-employed, plus state taxes, which vary from state to state, with the top rate being 9.3%, so that total can be as high as 59.6%, which is higher than Canada's maximum rate. I'm not sure if Canada has social security taxes or not; perhaps a Canadian can go into more detail about taxes there. Plus the U.S. has gift taxes, sales taxes, inheritance taxes, property taxes, plus a ton of other taxes. Plus most of us Americans have to pay for health insurance. God forbid you are self-employed and have a wife and 2 kids. You can be paying $1,000/month for health insurance, which is $12,000/year. I rather spend $12k each year on traveling than health insurance. Plus prescription drug costs here are a rip-off compared to other countries. By the way, this link shows that Canada ranks #30 on the World Health Organization's ranking of world health systems, while the U.S. is #37. France is #1... http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html So all you brainwashed fools out there need to wake up.
I grew up in Toronto and have lived in California for over 20 years. I have also worked in various hospitals in both countries. It truly is amazing how many Americans readily accept and defend the lies and propaganda that U.S. insurance companies have perpetuated over the years about the Canadian healthcare system. Medical care is not free. It is paid through taxes but to say that Canadian income tax rates are "outrageous" is nonsense. For filing jointly in 2007, the Canadian max fed rate is 29% on taxable income over $120,887 vs., the U.S. rate of 28% of taxable income over $128.500, 33% over $195,850, and 35% over $349,700. In the province of Ontario the max rate is 11.16 on taxable income over $70,976 whereas in California the max rate is 9.3% on income over $86,934. Medical treatment is usually given in a timely fashion. The argument that people have to wait for months for medical care is nonsense. In the past few years I have lost my father, uncle, and two cousins to cancer. Currently, I have two other cousins who have been diagnosed with cancer. In each case there was never any wait to see the doctor or perform an MRI or CAT scan. Also, my mother underwent hip replacement surgery that was not urgent without any unnecessary delay. For the past few years she has received all the necessary follow-up home health care and equipment without any problems. Iâm sure there are times when one will not be seen immediately if the medical problem is not urgent but this is no different than in the US. I am fortunate to have access to doctors at UCLA and Cedar-Sinai but sometimes I have to wait several weeks to see my doctors. I have also come across many patients expressing this frustration in California. Of course there will always some people who will be dissatisfied with medical care regardless of the type of system but Iâm certain that the vast majority of Canadians would never chose the US system over the Canadian one. I certainly have never met one. Young medical doctors are not flocking to the States. This may have been true up to the 1980s because potential income was higher. I personally knew of a few who made such a move. However, with the increased dominance of managed care, this financial incentive has decreased dramatically. In the US doctors have to constantly fight insurance companies, are inundated with paperwork, and have to wait for months before being reimbursed. Some have even stopped being providers for some of major insurance carriers, with one of my doctors being one of them. By the way, most of the doctors I have come across support a system similar to Canadaâs. It is only the greedy ones who oppose any change. It is this same greed that gave rise to managed care in the first place. To say that the health care in Canada is substandard by US standards and far more advanced and sophisticated is again pure nonsense. Major hospitals in Toronto (e.g., Mount Sinai, Sunnybrook, and the world-renown Hospital for Sick Children) are top notch and superior to many American hospitals. The irony is that the U.S. has some of the best doctors in the world but one of the worst medical systems among industrialized nations. I hope that this situation will someday change. However, I think this take a long time due to greed, distorted priorities, and lack of concern for fellow Americans that many politicians and Americans seem to harbor. We need a much more humane medical system that will insure all of its citizens and free seniors from worries about health care coverage, as is the case with the Canadian system.
SUMMARY: If working Americans would just realize how much less income tax they pay vs Canada, they could easily purchase good health insurance with the difference. Having lived in both countries I can assure you that US Health care is far more advanced, sophisticated and efficient compared to Canada's. [/B][/QUOTE] Okay lets see . insurance for a 25 year old $100 no medical examption. Great , cant go wrong Insurance for a 45 year old person $500 per month and will exempt coverong from ant problem you had wrong with you since you were 12 . Oh you had border line high collesteral you arent covered for any sickness that is related to high collestoral. OH you lied on your application you said you weighed 205 we ahave proof you weighed 230 so we wont cover the sickness you had last month related to excess weight, We have cancelled our policy for false information on your application . buddy the health system is screwed up . When it starts affecting white america it will be a problem . Companies cant continue to offer health insurance to employees at a 25% increase annually .
First of all well over 40% of people don't have health coverage, so you should recalculate to maybe $600 billion per year. Also, I don't know where you got $300/month. I pay almost $500. Some doctor's group did a study a couple of years ago and determined that we already pay more overall than it would cost to provide "free" health care for everyone. Personally I don't really care if it's provided by the government or private industry, I just want lower cost, universal availability and no limit on coverage. Most people don't realize that private insurance is capped at one or two million. Try to get coverage after that if you have some expensive disease. As someone already pointed out on this thread, one reason private health care is so expensive is that doctors need to cover their "assets" with liability insurance and extra tests.