I just can't believe our health system

I feel bad for your husband as I have not have gout but know that I had high uric acid? well, i know that this condition is very painful and should not have to wait until their is availablility. I live in the US and I know we are going to get this sytem as the next fall the Democrats will probably get the white house and it will be only a matter of time before this "entitlement" is law..but who is going to pay for this? The public with poor service and no service.. I am 63 and on Social security but a pension with Blue Cross and Blue shield optical and dental..but even these plans will go away i am afraid. this is happening all over the world..unless you are rich enough or are already a doctor or have connections you will have to wait wait wait... Yes, the system was like what you described..a doctor was five dollars and you saw him...i had a Thai doctor who had a clinic..first come first serve..but i did not have to wait long..and now i have a Philippine doctor and see him once a month..but i pay him a 55.00 a visit..but i think he is worth it..as I have high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and now he has me losing weight on a diet and i have lost 25 pounds but I diet and exercise..swimming in the YMCA and water aerobics is not hard on your joints..also i have insomnia but i don't have to work and the swimming and hot water in the whirlpool helps a lot..drink lots of water and also i learned to drink green tea..it is drank a lot in the orient..but i take garlic and lots of veggies and frut...but i still like red meat..but not too much..lol fish. brown rice and chicken..good luck ..I guess we will have to be our own doctors an nurses..i hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

I thought it was great when I heard people didn't have to pay for health care in Canada until after you posted this. It's all fine and good to not have to pay but to not be able to get in to see a doctor at all, that's ridiculous. We live in the states and my brother has had pancreatic problems for over 6 months; in and out of hospital. From all of the tests/x-rays, etc., he'll be paying for the rest of his life even though he has Kaiser insurance through his job. Here there's no problem getting in to see a doctor, it's paying the bill. I just don't understand all of this. Here, the doctors make you wait forever, in the lobby, then you wait in the examining room; they see you for perhaps 10 mins. and you're out! The more people they see in a day, the more money they make. I know there's a better way but noone wants to do it because it isn't advantageous to them.

That is terrible what your husband and you and your family had to go through just to get an appointment with a doctor about his hands. That had to be a scary time for all of you and hope that your husband is doing better and will be just fine. The health system in the US needs a lot of improvement as well as I have had a hard time getting appointments as well. If my family doctor is booked, I will go to the nearest medical center. Doctors do make a lot of money which means that they should make more time for their patients.

This is only one of the problems that I have heard about with the free health system. There are a lot of people that think that we here in the US should have free health care but I don't think we will be gaining any thing. We really do have the best health care in the world. sure it could be better but so could a lot of things. Not every dr is going to be good nor is every hospital going to be the best not as long as people run them because some people just don't really care.

Grandma, I think a lot of the problem is because the doc's in canada have a cap on how much money they can make, so a lot of young doctors are being trained in canada and then moving to the states where they can make as much money as they can see patients and can charge their own prices to do what it is they do!! We have less and less doctors every year i think!! Is there no emergency unit in the hospital in your town ? If i can't get in to see a doc right away and its something urgent that is usually where i end up, even if i have to wait 8 hours to see a doc, i always get to see one.. I dont think its as bad everywhere in canada as it is for you where you live.. But i do agree with you its getting worse and worse as time goes on. I hope your hubby is feeling 100% again soon, and sorry you had to go through all of that to get him to a doc! I feel your pain! I would certainly be just as frustrated!!!

Actually I find the health care system in BC not to bad there are premiums for Medical Services Plan, but if you are low income it is free of about $7 per month, there are late or 24 hour clinics galore, but the big bottle neck is getting medical support services, like your husband could have seen a doctor immediately, but getting an xray or such things it can be a problem because they are done at private places or the hospital and so if every doctor needs more information is needed it fails, and that takes about 3 days.

I think in his case, he should have gone to an emergency room, and been checked right away. It's bad when there are so many Canadians that don't have a doctor. You must be glad though that you didn't have to pull out your Visa card before he was treated. I don't begrudge doctors a good living. They should be well paid for their knowledge, and the responsibilities they have. Do you think a paycheque of 100,000-200,000 or so is too high, when a CEO of a company is making millions? I don't.

I think health insurance is a problem in a lot of places. Problem is these companies are more concerned with their bottom line and making money than about the health care. It is not just the insurance industry either. It is everyone. I just do not get why the care of the patient cannot come first these days. It is always about the money now.

My sister-in-law who is now traveling with her husband in Arizona told me the trouble that she had getting a doctor to give her an appointment in Saskatonn. I had no trouble getting an appointment when I started bleeding (it was a cyst) but we had to wait eight hours in a waiting room and after the check up, we had to go to another hospital because everything is now catagorized. There is a hospital for women giving birth, a hospital for old people, a hospital for feminine problems, etc. Now my husband is retired and we have Blue Cross, but I hope I never get sick. I told my husband with the long waiting period, I will just die and save them the trouble.

That is awful. I have always heard that helath care in Canada is better than USA. However, in USA you can drive to a hospital and they have to see you even if you have to wait for hours. However, house calls by Doctors are a thing of the past. I don't know of any doctor that will drive to see a patient unless the patient is filthy rich!

That is the silliest thing I have heard. Your husband actually works at the hospital and couldn't get an appointment to be seen? That is just ridiculous! You would think they would want to take care of their maintenance person for Pete's sake! Well, thank goodness you handled that or who knows how long it would have taken him to be seen or taken care of. Gout can be dangerous. I do happen to agree the state of affairs regarding health care all over the world is just outrageous. I have insurance through my husband because he is in the military, but I haven't actually seen a real doctor since I have been here. It's always a Physicians Assistant. Half of the time I am misdiagnosed and I have to demand to see a specialist, who tells me that a Physicians Assistant should have known to look for these symptoms so on and so forth. My friends ear drums ruptured because of their inaptitude to care for us as patients. To see a specialist is a joke. I have to go through rings of fire to get that done. Then after 7 to 10 days I get my referral in the mail and then I have to wait 2 months to see a dermatologist or any other specialist. Trust me I know how sickening it can be with insurance, much less without it!

I am glad your hubby got to see a doctor and was able to get the medicine he needs. Gout is very painful. I am from the USA and we pay for our own medical care until we get Medicare and then we pay a protion of it. I do not want to have socialize medicine and that is what Hillary Clinton wants if she becomes president. I do not want that because I see bad things coming down the line. I do think your system needs work. I think someone should be able to see a physician when they need to. I also think our system needs help because a lot of our people do not have health insurance. I am glad your hubby is doing better

Here in the US we have to pay. And if you don't have insurance you had better not get sick! We seriously need to rebuild the medical industry..and that's what it is. Big business! The bad thing is that the rich can afford the insurance and the poor they take care of. It's the middle man that can't afford the premuims. And the hospitals seem to be lackadazical.....not really caring. I don't know what happened. Here in the old day they used to also come when you needed them. Now it's a profession to get into just to make alot of money!

If I have my facts correct, you basically don't have to pay for health insurance in Canada, which means you pretty much don't have health coverage? I think it's quite ridiculous and unacceptable to handle things this way. I'm from Michigan and obviously here in the US we have to pay for our medical coverage. I'm rather have to pay for something like that than be completely ignored as was true in your and your husband's case! You're right about doctors being so rich and not really having to do anything to receive their wealth other than go to school for a few years to get their doctorate. I don't think that's the way things should be. Don't get me wrong, being a doctor or nurse is a wonderful thing, but sitting around doing nothing while people are out there suffering from bad health and not knowing what to do about it isn't the way things should go! I definitely agree with you about everything you touched on in this discussion. You most definitely should not have to go through that much trouble to find a doctor to simply examine your husband's condition. Stuff like this really frustrates me. I wish the Canadian health system was better. I believe the US health system could be better also, but what you have to put up with is absolutely unacceptable! I hope you and your husband get everything straightened out for your health needs. I'm glad a doctor was finally able to see him. Take care, my friend.

I still like it better than the American health system. Even if things may be better somewhere else, would they be attainable if we had to pay for them? Down here in the USA, people are afraid to get sick because they can't "afford it." Something needs to be done with both systems. Neither one is really the answer.

there was a time I was coughing badly and needed a doctor. my family doctor's receptionist said he was on vacation and so I had to go to a clinic to book someone else. I once had a surgery and I got home I was in a lot of pain my husband called the hospital and they said I must get in line in case of emergency. But I was in a lot of pain I couldn't even move. My husband was so frustrated if I couldn't move how would we get in line? I agree with you that house call should be made available even if we have to pay for them to travel. I heard there is some kind of insurance we have to pay monthly for that, but I prefer to pay when I need it not when I don't. I don't remember this company name now.

Honestly, since you don't pay for it be thankful for it. I'm not sure how the Canadian system works but let me tell you my story. I'm a student and mom that is unmarried. I do not work but I'm fine moneywise at least to get by. The thing is being unmarried I can't get on my man's insurance policy so I pay 300.00 a month for medical care. There are no state programs for me because I'm not pregnant or terminally ill or disabled in anyway. I just plain and simple can't keep paying this much and if I drop it I won't be able to get new cheaper insurance because I have had cancer. The kicker is it would be higher if I could still have children. So I would gladly take some free health care even if i did have to fight for it sometimes. Though I'm not familiar with that system, I may have to do some research and learn about it. But free and waiting is better than nothing...Look on the bright side..your not in the US. I love it here but sometimes things like this make me mad about America. Have a great day.

Honestly, since you don't pay for it be thankful for it. I'm not sure how the Canadian system works but let me tell you my story. I'm a student and mom that is unmarried. I do not work but I'm fine moneywise at least to get by. The thing is being unmarried I can't get on my man's insurance policy so I pay 300.00 a month for medical care. There are no state programs for me because I'm not pregnant or terminally ill or disabled in anyway. I just plain and simple can't keep paying this much and if I drop it I won't be able to get new cheaper insurance because I have had cancer. The kicker is it would be higher if I could still have children. So I would gladly take some free health care even if i did have to fight for it sometimes. Though I'm not familiar with that system, I may have to do some research and learn about it. But free and waiting is better than nothing...Look on the bright side..your not in the US. I love it here but sometimes things like this make me mad about America. Have a great day.

Yeah, did you hear about that in all schools they are taking away all junk food now, because they are trying to be more healthy.

part of it is population growth. More people, more appointments, not enough time. And true, doctors do want more money too.