We Need Government Healthcare Like Canada!

[Dr Grump]

I lived in a border state for seven years. We locals didn't bother to go to the doctor on Monday because all the waiting rooms were filled with Canadians that had come across to the border to get American health care. They would rather pay for American health care than get what the Canadian government gave them for "free*".


* "Free" - higher taxation.

Fake news

 

[CWayne]

I much prefer the way many Americans wait for healthcare because they can't afford it.

All Americans, whether they can afford it or not, need only wait for the next appointment opening. Usually, less than a week.

 

[White 6]

So what's the point of posting this? You do realize life expectancy is based on many factors, don't you?

Life expectancy is DECLINING in the USA. It’s RISING in ALL other first world countries. Nothing is a more damning indictment of the quality and effectiveness of your health care system.

Heathy people are not profitable. Big Pharma addicted millions, and killed hundreds of thousands of people, pushing for more and more sales, and decrying government reporting requirements. Now they want to sell you expensive addiction cures. And $4000 one dose antidotes to overdose that they can manufacture for $40. Addiction is just so profitable!

As I stated, there are a lot of reasons for shorter life expectancy. It's not always related to healthcare. In fact, the people who die the most are those on Medicare.

Our terrible drug problem ends the life of over 90,000 Americans a year. Most of those deaths are younger people which brings down our life expectancy. Two weekends ago, 9 people were killed, and 14 others injured in Chicago. Most of that is drug related, and again, younger people. That's just one weekend in one city. There have been weekends there with over 50 shootings in Chicago. Many of our women have professional careers. Due to going to college, getting out and repaying loans, and starting their career, many women are waiting until they are in their 30's before being able to start a family. The later a woman gives birth, the more likely it will be for her to have a still born or a baby with severe enough problems to cause an early death.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. It's not directly related to our healthcare in this country.

True, there are many different reasons, but it just seams strange that the countries on the planet with guaranteed healthcare live longer the US citizens with supposedly the best healthcare available in the world. Maybe best healthcare doesn't count for much if you cannot afford it.

 

[Dr Grump]

Our terrible drug problem ends the life of over 90,000 Americans a year. Most of those deaths are younger people which brings down our life expectancy. Two weekends ago, 9 people were killed, and 14 others injured in Chicago. Most of that is drug related, and again, younger people. That's just one weekend in one city. There have been weekends there with over 50 shootings in Chicago. Many of our women have professional careers. Due to going to college, getting out and repaying loans, and starting their career, many women are waiting until they are in their 30's before being able to start a family. The later a woman gives birth, the more likely it will be for her to have a still born or a baby with severe enough problems to cause an early death.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. It's not directly related to our healthcare in this country.

Obesity is a bigger problem. Too many of you are fat.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

So what's the point of posting this? You do realize life expectancy is based on many factors, don't you?

Life expectancy is DECLINING in the USA. It’s RISING in ALL other first world countries. Nothing is a more damning indictment of the quality and effectiveness of your health care system.

Heathy people are not profitable. Big Pharma addicted millions, and killed hundreds of thousands of people, pushing for more and more sales, and decrying government reporting requirements. Now they want to sell you expensive addiction cures. And $4000 one dose antidotes to overdose that they can manufacture for $40. Addiction is just so profitable!

As I stated, there are a lot of reasons for shorter life expectancy. It's not always related to healthcare. In fact, the people who die the most are those on Medicare.

Our terrible drug problem ends the life of over 90,000 Americans a year. Most of those deaths are younger people which brings down our life expectancy. Two weekends ago, 9 people were killed, and 14 others injured in Chicago. Most of that is drug related, and again, younger people. That's just one weekend in one city. There have been weekends there with over 50 shootings in Chicago. Many of our women have professional careers. Due to going to college, getting out and repaying loans, and starting their career, many women are waiting until they are in their 30's before being able to start a family. The later a woman gives birth, the more likely it will be for her to have a still born or a baby with severe enough problems to cause an early death.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. It's not directly related to our healthcare in this country.

True, there are many different reasons, but it just seams strange that the countries on the planet with guaranteed healthcare live longer the US citizens with supposedly the best healthcare available in the world. Maybe best healthcare doesn't count for much if you cannot afford it.

Nothing strange about it. The US has problems unique of other countries. For instance, we drive more than people in other countries who use public transportation. We lose over 37,000 Americans a year in motor vehicle deaths. When women who can't stop using recreational narcotics have children, they too parish because their tiny bodies can't handle all the drug intake. So it's really not strange at all.

As Markle previously mentioned, we are an extremely diverse country. You are eight times more likely to be murdered by a black than a white. You can't make our murder comparisons to nearly all white countries.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Our terrible drug problem ends the life of over 90,000 Americans a year. Most of those deaths are younger people which brings down our life expectancy. Two weekends ago, 9 people were killed, and 14 others injured in Chicago. Most of that is drug related, and again, younger people. That's just one weekend in one city. There have been weekends there with over 50 shootings in Chicago. Many of our women have professional careers. Due to going to college, getting out and repaying loans, and starting their career, many women are waiting until they are in their 30's before being able to start a family. The later a woman gives birth, the more likely it will be for her to have a still born or a baby with severe enough problems to cause an early death.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. It's not directly related to our healthcare in this country.

Obesity is a bigger problem. Too many of you are fat.

I don't know that it's a bigger problem, but certainly adds to it, that's for sure.

 

[CWayne]

Our terrible drug problem ends the life of over 90,000 Americans a year. Most of those deaths are younger people which brings down our life expectancy. Two weekends ago, 9 people were killed, and 14 others injured in Chicago. Most of that is drug related, and again, younger people. That's just one weekend in one city. There have been weekends there with over 50 shootings in Chicago. Many of our women have professional careers. Due to going to college, getting out and repaying loans, and starting their career, many women are waiting until they are in their 30's before being able to start a family. The later a woman gives birth, the more likely it will be for her to have a still born or a baby with severe enough problems to cause an early death.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. It's not directly related to our healthcare in this country.

Obesity is a bigger problem. Too many of you are fat.

That is some serious truth right there.

 

[Meister]

I lived in a border state for seven years. We locals didn't bother to go to the doctor on Monday because all the waiting rooms were filled with Canadians that had come across to the border to get American health care. They would rather pay for American health care than get what the Canadian government gave them for "free*".


* "Free" - higher taxation.

Fake news

Fake news? How would you know? You're 8,000 plus miles from here. We see Canadian's from Alberta
and British Columbia using our healthcare facilities, Grump. No matter what you heard, we have good healthcare.

 

[Weatherman2020]

So what's the point of posting this? You do realize life expectancy is based on many factors, don't you?

Life expectancy is DECLINING in the USA. It’s RISING in ALL other first world countries. Nothing is a more damning indictment of the quality and effectiveness of your health care system.

Heathy people are not profitable. Big Pharma addicted millions, and killed hundreds of thousands of people, pushing for more and more sales, and decrying government reporting requirements. Now they want to sell you expensive addiction cures. And $4000 one dose antidotes to overdose that they can manufacture for $40. Addiction is just so profitable!

As I stated, there are a lot of reasons for shorter life expectancy. It's not always related to healthcare. In fact, the people who die the most are those on Medicare.

Our terrible drug problem ends the life of over 90,000 Americans a year. Most of those deaths are younger people which brings down our life expectancy. Two weekends ago, 9 people were killed, and 14 others injured in Chicago. Most of that is drug related, and again, younger people. That's just one weekend in one city. There have been weekends there with over 50 shootings in Chicago. Many of our women have professional careers. Due to going to college, getting out and repaying loans, and starting their career, many women are waiting until they are in their 30's before being able to start a family. The later a woman gives birth, the more likely it will be for her to have a still born or a baby with severe enough problems to cause an early death.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. It's not directly related to our healthcare in this country.

Yep. Democrat controlled cities are run like Wild West meets Al Capone.

 

[Dr Grump]

I lived in a border state for seven years. We locals didn't bother to go to the doctor on Monday because all the waiting rooms were filled with Canadians that had come across to the border to get American health care. They would rather pay for American health care than get what the Canadian government gave them for "free*".


* "Free" - higher taxation.

Fake news

Fake news? How would you know? You're 8,000 plus miles from here. We see Canadian's from Alberta
and British Columbia using our healthcare facilities, Grump. No matter what you heard, we have good healthcare.

I don't think anybody can say you have bad quality. It is the cost that is the issue.

As for Fake news. Anything I see typed by Flash I assume is fake....

 

[debbiedowner]

So you can wait 3 weeks after your general practitioner refers you to a specialist and 39 weeks for orthopedic surgery.

And Bloomberg says if you’re old, you can just die.

While Americans pine for 'Medicare for all,' Canadians look for US-style private insurance

A Strategic Counsel survey found 91% of Canadians prefer their healthcare system instead of a U.S. style system. A 2009 Harris-Decima poll found 82% of Canadians preferred their healthcare system to the one in the United States.

Healthcare in Canada - Wikipedia

The notion that health care in Canada is free or paid by taxes might also be responsible for lulling us into a deeper state of complacency. But this too is a false comfort. The average Canadian household spends $2000 on health care costs and $4000 on private insurance premiums. 65% of Canadians have some form of private health insurance most often provided through their employers.

How much are you paying into your company’s health care plan? The answer is not always obvious. Just because your employer offers a plan, doesn't mean it's a good one.

Why do 65% of canadians need private health insurance ?

You might want to ponder that one a bit.

On a related note, Bernie and his like-minded dimwit tribe tout "Medicare for All" by bleating that most people on Medicare are happy with it. They never address why it is that most people on Medicare need private-insurance Medicare Advantage plans, or why it is that the things they say they like about Medicare generally are actually from that Advantage plan.

As usual you don't know wtf you're talking about.

As usual, you think saying you're right without proving you're right will somehow convince someone.

As usual you are wrong.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

Ray, it's not just the insurance company profit that is adding to your costs. It's their administration. Obamacare required that insurance companies spend 80% of your premiums on your care, and they had to refund any amount less than 80% of your premiums not used on care. But 20% of your premiums are lost to the company. That's to pay for their underwriting, claims and pre-approval process. So if you're premium is $18,000 per year, $3,600 comes off the top and only $14,400 is spent on your care.

Another 10% is spent by hospitals and doctors on billings. My doctor's receptionist sends out one bill to the province per month. Your doctor sends out bills to each of the insurance companies his patients have coverage with. He has to collect co-pays. He has to hire a third party billing company to manage it all. Hospital billing departments are approximately 1/3 of administration staff. Not to mention the time lost in pre-approvals. One of my American friends was the "pre-approval" nurse in the clinic she worked at. Her entire job consisted of dealing with insurance companies on pre-approval. That one salary which was paid by the clinic that did nothing to help the patients.

Canadian doctors have more time to spend with patients and they can see more patients. More time and resources spent on patients and not on insurance company paperwork also lowers the cost of health care. Americans who get sick here and have to seek treatment in Canada are shocked that there are no questions about payment when they walk through the door. The entire focus is on treating the patient.

You could cut 30% of your health care costs by eliminating for-profit insurance - without affecting the prices being charged by doctors, waiting times or quality of care. Just eliminating the expense, duplication, billings and pre-approvals created by private insurance. And yes, the entire third party billing industry will be wiped out, but other than increasing the cost of health care, they's jobs aren't doing anything for health care except increasing the price.

Now I realize that you can't just wave a magic wand to make that happen. But 30% of your healthcare costs is a huge chunk of money.

Profits are what's left after taking X in amount of money, and paying X out. Health insurance companies (as I posted) have the lowest profit margin of other insurance companies. Yes, those profits are after administration costs along with all the other costs.

DumBama forced insurance companies to pay 85% of collected premiums on claims which decreased their ability to make profit. Insurance companies operate by taking your premium money, investing it, and the profits they gain from those investments help offset the claims they payout. So premiums had to increase because of that loss inflicted on them by the Democrats, who think they know how to run businesses better than the businesses do.

Left to their own without government intrusion, insurance companies are vastly more efficient than the government. That's why government hires the insurance companies to handle their billing for Medicare and Medicaid. If you eliminate insurance companies, then the government would have all those additional administrative costs, and we save very little.

You left out a whole range of expensive things that private insurance does which single payer does not, all of which reduce costs.

Underwriting: insurance companies have an entire department of actuaries reviewing your application, medical reports, and deciding on your premiums are. Single payer has a minimum wage data entry clerk inputing you name address and SS number.

Private insurance has a pre-approval process where doctors and nurses contact the insurance company to determine whether the company will pay for their proposed treatment. Medical staff at the insurance company decide if they will pay for it. Single payer doesn’t do pre-approvals, therefore eliminating the salaries and expenses hospitals, doctors’ offices and insurers. This frees medical staff to provide treatment to more patients, lowering costs to all.

No third party billing. With only one bill to send out to the government office, and no copses to collect, your receptionist can do the paperwork.

Lop off the administration and insurance company profit of 20% (I checked Ray - it’s 20% not 15%), add in the savings to doctors and hospitals for pre-approvals and billing -another 10% and you can easily save 30% on Administration

Third party billing charges between 7.9 to 10.9% of their billing’s with a monthly minimum of $999. That’s BEFORE we talk about pre-approval costs.

Single payer, enters the doctor name, posts his patient billings by OHIP number to confirm their card number is active and eligible, and issues a cheque. One bill to one insurer. No muss, no fuss, no medical reviews.

Spent a full year visiting Calgary (at least once a month). TV commercials replete with complaints about their doctor shortage.

Wonder why ?

 

[Sun Devil 92]

And wait...and wait...and wait.

I have to say, anytime I've gone to the emergency room, I've never waited. Either good timing or I waited too long in the first place.

As I said, every system has it's flaws. They are different from one another, but I've yet to read about a healthcare system that is perfect.

What I get perturbed by is when people come here and tell us how our system sucks so badly, and everyplace else around the world has such great government healthcare. The left tells us it's all the insurance companies fault, and not the government which is the real problem.

If we want to bring down the cost of our healthcare, get government out of it, not bring more government in.

The insurance companies are the reason you costs are so high, not the government. We pay administration of 7%, and some of the European companies pay even less - 5% of thereabouts. The US is around 35%. A big chunk of that is insurance company profit, "loss prevention", and administration, in other words, denying claims.

I've had private insurance for forty years and I've never had a claim denied for me, my wife, and my four children.

Helps a lot to actually learn the coverage offered instead of assuming, doesn't it?

It’s even better when there are no limitations or exclusions, everything is covered and nobody is ever denied.

Purge garbage.

There is as least one well publisized case where England would not approve an experimental drug and let a woman die (saying, in fact, she should shut up and and take it like a good Brit).

 

[bluzman61]

So you can wait 3 weeks after your general practitioner refers you to a specialist and 39 weeks for orthopedic surgery.

And Bloomberg says if you’re old, you can just die.

While Americans pine for 'Medicare for all,' Canadians look for US-style private insurance

Socialized medicine has NEVER worked.

 

[Mac-7]

I much prefer the way many Americans wait for healthcare because they can't afford it.

And I prefer the healthcare Americans get who can afford it

Rather than dragging them down to bad socialized medicine for everyone

 

[OnePercenter]

If you want to see the left's heads explode, offer them universal healthcare with the stipulation that it is citizen run. No government or politician can touch it or the money. Their heads go BOOM!

I've been promoting universal healthcare run by a private, non-profit, for years. Conservatives call it "socialism."

We all know that if politicians and government controls it, it will be a corrupt mess. Also, able body mooching lazy deadbeats need not apply. I'm not going to work overtime to pay the healthcare bills for some fat ass lazy bum. I'm happy to contribute to the truly needy who can't work a job and need our help. I'm NOT going to fund FREE shit for everyone. Another stipulation, STOP demonizing doctors and nurses. Forcing them to work for less to fund this is not the answer. Our best and brightest will run from the healthcare profession in droves. You will get your healthcare from a bunch of stupid shit losers who scored a D- in school and accidently kill patients on a regular basis.

The HMO Act was deregulated and now it's a corrupt mess.

 

[OnePercenter]

It’s funny you’re a Democrat do you like socialism which is communism which is what the Soviet union was. What do you think Putin is its like your your
Projecting what you really want lol

Long bow to draw. Pathetic.
Conservatives: Living in a sound bite world...and that's not a good thing. No substance.

It’s true.. democrats are communist (look at inner cities) soviet union was communist,, can you try to scare people and say Putin is a communist dictator like Stalin.. which you love! It’s like antifa they claim they are anti-fascist but they are the fascist lol

Since you work for Putin, is he a communist dictator like Stalin?

 

[OnePercenter]

If Reagan hadn't deregulated the HMO Act we'd not be here today.

Why?

I've had an HMO for decades and it has been GREAT!

Fantastic for you! How much was your premium, co-pays, and yearly deductible?

 

[OnePercenter]

When was Bernie in Venezuela?

Bernie Sanders has profusely complimented the Socialism in Venezuela. What difference does it make if he visited the country?

FLASHBACK: When Bernie Sanders Agreed the American Dream Was Easier to Reach in Venezuela Than the U.S.

Katie Pavlich
Posted: Jan 25, 2019 12:20 PM

First up, Bernie Sanders. On his official Senate website, Sanders touts a "must read" op-ed that declares the American Dream more reachable in Venezuela than the United States.

These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who's the banana republic now?

FLASHBACK: When Bernie Sanders Agreed the American Dream Was Easier to Reach in Venezuela Than the U.S.

You stated it was "Bernie's socialism." So you lied?

 

[colfax_m]

Ray, it's not just the insurance company profit that is adding to your costs. It's their administration. Obamacare required that insurance companies spend 80% of your premiums on your care, and they had to refund any amount less than 80% of your premiums not used on care. But 20% of your premiums are lost to the company. That's to pay for their underwriting, claims and pre-approval process. So if you're premium is $18,000 per year, $3,600 comes off the top and only $14,400 is spent on your care.

Another 10% is spent by hospitals and doctors on billings. My doctor's receptionist sends out one bill to the province per month. Your doctor sends out bills to each of the insurance companies his patients have coverage with. He has to collect co-pays. He has to hire a third party billing company to manage it all. Hospital billing departments are approximately 1/3 of administration staff. Not to mention the time lost in pre-approvals. One of my American friends was the "pre-approval" nurse in the clinic she worked at. Her entire job consisted of dealing with insurance companies on pre-approval. That one salary which was paid by the clinic that did nothing to help the patients.

Canadian doctors have more time to spend with patients and they can see more patients. More time and resources spent on patients and not on insurance company paperwork also lowers the cost of health care. Americans who get sick here and have to seek treatment in Canada are shocked that there are no questions about payment when they walk through the door. The entire focus is on treating the patient.

You could cut 30% of your health care costs by eliminating for-profit insurance - without affecting the prices being charged by doctors, waiting times or quality of care. Just eliminating the expense, duplication, billings and pre-approvals created by private insurance. And yes, the entire third party billing industry will be wiped out, but other than increasing the cost of health care, they's jobs aren't doing anything for health care except increasing the price.

Now I realize that you can't just wave a magic wand to make that happen. But 30% of your healthcare costs is a huge chunk of money.

Profits are what's left after taking X in amount of money, and paying X out. Health insurance companies (as I posted) have the lowest profit margin of other insurance companies. Yes, those profits are after administration costs along with all the other costs.

DumBama forced insurance companies to pay 85% of collected premiums on claims which decreased their ability to make profit. Insurance companies operate by taking your premium money, investing it, and the profits they gain from those investments help offset the claims they payout. So premiums had to increase because of that loss inflicted on them by the Democrats, who think they know how to run businesses better than the businesses do.

Left to their own without government intrusion, insurance companies are vastly more efficient than the government. That's why government hires the insurance companies to handle their billing for Medicare and Medicaid. If you eliminate insurance companies, then the government would have all those additional administrative costs, and we save very little.

You left out a whole range of expensive things that private insurance does which single payer does not, all of which reduce costs.

Underwriting: insurance companies have an entire department of actuaries reviewing your application, medical reports, and deciding on your premiums are. Single payer has a minimum wage data entry clerk inputing you name address and SS number.

Private insurance has a pre-approval process where doctors and nurses contact the insurance company to determine whether the company will pay for their proposed treatment. Medical staff at the insurance company decide if they will pay for it. Single payer doesn’t do pre-approvals, therefore eliminating the salaries and expenses hospitals, doctors’ offices and insurers. This frees medical staff to provide treatment to more patients, lowering costs to all.

No third party billing. With only one bill to send out to the government office, and no copses to collect, your receptionist can do the paperwork.

Lop off the administration and insurance company profit of 20% (I checked Ray - it’s 20% not 15%), add in the savings to doctors and hospitals for pre-approvals and billing -another 10% and you can easily save 30% on Administration

Third party billing charges between 7.9 to 10.9% of their billing’s with a monthly minimum of $999. That’s BEFORE we talk about pre-approval costs.

Single payer, enters the doctor name, posts his patient billings by OHIP number to confirm their card number is active and eligible, and issues a cheque. One bill to one insurer. No muss, no fuss, no medical reviews.

Spent a full year visiting Calgary (at least once a month). TV commercials replete with complaints about their doctor shortage.

Wonder why ?

Because no one wants to live in Calgary?

Rural America is pretty short on doctors too.