My health care experience in Canada, no waiting, EXCELLENT service.

[MoonRiver]

On a trip to Canada last week I got a bad bladder infection (if you've ever had one you know it shuts everything else
down until dealt with). Anyway, a pharmacist recommended I go to the local clinic. I was doubtful thinking it's like
those in the U.S. which are usually "free" clinics for indigents. Anyway, I went. It was right down the street from
the pharmacy. In fact these clinics are everywhere in Canada's big cities. If you have a problem you just walk in,
whether Canadian or foreigner. I went in expecting a loooong wait, as I was a walk-in American. Amazingly, or not, I
was immediately given paperwork to fill out and instructed to give a urine sample. After that I was talking with
the doctor in 8 minutes (yes, I timed it all just for DU, :D). The doctor was awesome! Immediately prescribed me an
antibiotic and pain med. I went back to the pharmacy, got my meds, and started my treatment shortly thereafter.

Happy to report I was feeling about 80% better and able to resume our sightseeing the next day. Now I am 100%
although still taking my antibiotic. No need for the pain killer anymore,
:woohoo: !


I report this to refute all the ridiculous reports about long lines in Canadian clinics, and the alleged
difficulty seeing a Canadian doctor. At least in my recent experience this perception is totally bogus.

[liberal N proud]

Accounts like your need to be publicized more

Instead we get the opposite propaganda of how terrible it is.

[dalaigh lllama]

1. How did you handle the payment?

Does your insurance cover this out of country or did you just pay for it yourself?

[MoonRiver]

3. We paid for it ourselves, but were told our insurance might reimburse us.

Clinic visit was $100, not bad even if we don't get reimbursed.

[nichomachus]

13. In the US, if you went to an ER, it would have cost you $1,500 minimum

[MoonRiver]

23. And the copay could have easily added up to what we paid in Canada. eom

[Telly Savalas]

20. I wonder if the urine sample made it cost more.

I went to a clinic once without a health card and I recall it only costing $40, but this was 5 years ago.

The knock on the Canadian system is that procedures like MRIs have long waiting lists, not so much primary care physicians.

At least in the big cities, walk-in clinics like you describe are much more common than in the U.S., and seeing a doctor in the evening or on the weekend is considerably easier there.

[MoonRiver]

22. Could be.

I was briefly in Canada 20 years ago, but had no health problems. I saw the doctor at about 10 a.m.

[SPedigrees]

2. My dad fell seriously ill while visiting England.

His condition called for immediate and expensive tests. He and his wife expected it would cost them a fortune, since of course their US medical coverage would not be accepted overseas. Surprise, all the tests and the exam were free. Even though my dad was not a UK citizen.

Every country but ours has exemplary health care.

[MoonRiver]

7. Glad to hear your dad had a great outcome!

There's a difference between Canadian and UK health care. UK health care is totally government subsidized, I think. That's probably why we paid a little bit and visitors to UK pay nothing.

[AnneD]

4. The only thing they have to sell you is fear........

I can't believe more folks haven't figured it out.
They scare you with long lines...hell it can't be a longer wait than than putting off care for lack of insurance or money.
They scare you with poor quality...like our uninsured, jobless get high quality care?????
They scare you that illegals are taking all the care...my friend developed a painful ear infection in UK. She was seen in an emergency clinic 5 years ago and we never received a bill yet, even though we offered to pay on the spot.

Insurance IS BIG BUSINESS. They will fight it tooth and nail. Go the opposite way of what they request and you can't go wrong. They know panic sells. It did for the banking industry. The health care system will not collapse-but a few insurance companies might if we go to a single payer system.

Signed-a Nurse that knows better.

[PatSeg]

5. Ed Schulz is going to Alberta

Hopefully he'll come back with similar stories.

[quidam56]

6. My health care experience in Tennessee & Virginia

As a former health care giver, I am shocked and sad to see what is called quality health care in TN & VA. Clearly PROFIT CARE is more important than PATIENT CARE. We must have public option NOW. http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=62 How many more innocent people will die for greed ? The very health care system we trust and depend on keeping us healthy is infecting our communities with MRSA ( Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureas )

[Demoiselle]

8. I had a nearly identical experience in Australia...

Same ailment (and yes, it does shut everything down until you can get it fixed!) same recommendation from a pharmacist to go to a local clinic.

The wait to see the doctor was longer...maybe an hour ...but the treatment was excellent. And the expense to us was minimal, even though we were American tourists.

[MoonRiver]

9. I might have just gotten lucky with such a short wait.

But there are so many of those clinics, I think maybe not. After we went to that clinic I started to notice other clinics all over the place.

[TommyPaine]

10. I read a similar story from someone who visited Denmark...

A year or so ago there was a letter to the editor in the now-defunct print version of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. An American tourist wrote about his experience in Denmark, where he had some kind of health crisis--can't recall if it was an accident, or some illness--but the person received top-quality, timely, *free* treatment. The letter writer was in total shock that such a system could exist, and felt quite guilty about not paying. He was understandably jealous about the huge gap between our system and theirs.

Considering I was once charged $90 for a five-second EKG as part of a physical exam, and that at one clinic I was given a 2-month wait before I could see a doctor for a general check-up, it's easy for me to see the positives of a Denmark-type system. Health care should be a fundamental right, not a privilege or for-profit venture.

[slipslidingaway]

11. Thanks, I wish we could at least have a real debate here in the US

:(

[Thrill]

12. Tell that to CNN. Who ran a Government plan hit piece where

a woman claimed she had to go to the US because it would take several months to get her treatment done

[Canuckistanian]

15. What kind of treatment?

Some treatments, like joint replacements or any kind of orthopedic surgery take months.

Almost anything else - the waiting times are just about the same as the U.S. At least that's how it is in Ontario.

Now, unless this woman is lying or has self-diagnosed herself as being worse than her doctor said - she'll still get reimbursed by whatever province she's from.

[Kber]

30. Agreed.

It seems pretty standard that you'll get treated for an ear or bladder infection right away, but if you need to make a regular OB/GYN check-up appointment, you'll probably wait months. And generally I'm OK with that, so long as urgent issues are treated urgently, which they are.

[nichomachus]

16. Saw that -- it was despicable

At the end of the story, they admitted that the Canadian system was better, but by the time they said that, they had already poisoned the well. But, they can't be accused of not presenting both sides.

[nichomachus]

14. A good friend had a similar experience in Spain

An ongoing back problem flared up. He went to the ER and was seen immediately. The did a complete workup, XRays, etc. They worked on him for 5 hours. They took him off the meds he had gotten in the US, which were worthless, but Pfizer had concealed that from the FDA and put him on new drugs, not yet available in the US. They set him up with a specialist for the following week. Total cost - $130 (US).

[Berry Cool]

17. I had a similar situation some years ago with a strep throat.

Woke up in a Canadian friend's house barely able to breathe because my uvula was so swollen. It was really scary, because I had been fine when I went to bed, and now I was gasping for breath. In a small town, on a Saturday morning.

There was no way for me to see a doctor BUT to go to the local hospital's emergency room. After a short wait (it wasn't exactly a busy time), I got to see a doctor who prescribed antibiotics right away, given that I would be returning home before there was time for a throat-culture result to turn up positive. I figured I was safe taking them anyway; I hadn't been overprescribed during my lifetime and if it was strep, the penicillin should knock it right out. Sure enough, within hours of starting the penicillin, I was feeling much better.

I had to pay some nominal copay for the drug, if I recall correctly, but nothing for the emergency room at all. I did have my friend's mother call my doctor at home, or try to, so he would know what was going on. But in the end I just went home, got a bill from my insurance for the copay later, and paid it. Wasn't that big.

The beauty of it was that the emergency room was more concerned about treating me than about making me fill out paperwork or making me pay upfront. It was like "OK, you're from the States, you can fill this out and your insurance will bill you." No biggie.

[invictus]

18. MoonRiver, how much did everything cost? nt

[MoonRiver]

21. $125.00 eom

edit my husband corrected

[Oregone]

25. Sadly, thats like a monthly premium in Canada for an entire family

:(

Sucks to be caught uncovered. All in all, it could of been worse

[MoonRiver]

32. It was no big deal.

Imagine what it would have cost if I'd been uninsured in the U.S.!

[pangaia]

19. China

I twice got food poisoning in China. The first time, in a small city- Dali in Yunnan Province- after staying in bed a day or 2 so I could stay near the can, I went to the nearest hospital which happened to be an Army hospital. Waited about 15 minutes..The doctor was really, really fine.. took my pulse, looked at my tongue, asked for a stool sample (that's another story)...gave a prescription for some "Chinese'(of course)medicine. I think it cost something like $10.
24 hours later I was good to go, although slowly. :>)

The second time, in Chengdu,I had a similar experience.

Another story--
My new wife is Chinese. I don't have health insurance for her yet, $6000!!!!. especially dental (a joke anyway). She had one removable 'false tooth' that had been made for her in China that she would take out every night.. She lost it. (OK truth- I lost it. I flushed it down the toilet in the middle of the night by mistake.)
We went to my dentist, who is, I always felt, quite good. He made one --about $1000-- she didn't like it, we kept going back for adjustments. it worked but---never right...

So last year when she went home to visit family she went to her dentist for an new one. The guy is an artist. He intentionally had her come 4-5 times to make little adjustments. (she is small and has REALLY REALLY tiny teeth!) The guys a genius.. He made the tooth BY HAND! Not with a mini CNC machine. BY HAND! A prefect tooth, perfect fit.. and maybe $200. The price isn't the most important thing. $200 for most Chinese is much more than $1200 for most Americans but the skill level was a world of difference.

This year she had a tooth extracted by my dentist. He quoted $3000-4000 for an implant ! WHAT!!! So-- she's back in China again now visiting family and going to school.. ..She had the root implanted by her old dentist in Qingdao a couple days ago.. Then when she is in Beijing later her dentist's FRIEND will do the tooth part. total cost about $600. Again, a LOT for most Chinese. It would be cheaper for her to fly to China for a tooth implant than to have it done here.
I ALSO need an implant. Guess what.. I'm going to China for it,.and eat my fill of REAL Chinese food, while I'm at it..

[Oregone]

24. There are rarely long waits with these private walk in clinics (its the elective surgeries)

To them its all about turn-around, and they can make a mint--probably more than family practitioners (and a lot of places do both).

Its the specialists that are the problem really. Canada needs more specialists in many fields (but note, Canada is about socialized insurance, not the medical end, so sometimes this shortage is due to market forces). Still, a median wait time of 4 and a half weeks isn't terrible for elective surgeries.

Ive NEVER had a negative experience at one of these clinics. They are everywhere here, quick, with some good doctors.

[Brigid]

26. This is what I always seem to hear . . .

whenever actual Canadians talk about their health care system. At least it deserves to be called a "system," which is more than can be said for ours. :eyes:

[WinkyDink]

27. Had a similar experience (different problem). Easy-peasy, no waiting.

[davidpdx]

28. I live and work in South Korea and their system here is really good

I can walk into any clinic and be seen by a doctor of my own choosing. We have a national health care system here and I pay 50% my employer pays 50%.

[MoonRiver]

29. What about people who are unemployed?

[davidpdx]

34. I believe you can buy into the insurance if you aren't covered though unemployment

But I'm not 100% sure how it works. I know people who are poor do get the insurance free. My in-laws have no income and insurance is provided for them by the government.

[Yavin4]

31. Stories Like Yours Make Me Want To Move To Canada

As I'm getting older, I realize that the U.S. is in a permanent state of arrested adolescence. We're a nation of people who believe that we will all be millionaires one day so why have these pesky social programs.

[Puzzler]

33. As a Canadian, I can say that your experience is 100% typical and accurate.

The other negative stuff you hear in the US media is 99% inaccuracies and outright lies. That's right, LIES!

[akbacchus_BC]

35. Am a Canadian too and our system is almost perfect. Sometimes

you have to wait at ER as they do a triage system which is perfectly understandable. We can have an ultrasound, x-rays, bone density tests and don't pay a dime. For specialised treatments like getting orthotics, that's another story, we pay upfront and once the relevant information is submitted to the insurance company, most of the expenses are reimbursed. Some companies have better coverage depending on the number of employees they have. My company's coverage does not cover glasses, contact lenses. Eye examination was covered but when Campbell came into power, he abolished that. We still get coverage for massages to the tune of $300 each year, but once again, you pay upfront and get reimbursed.

The doctors and nurses at ER are the best. I have no complaints about our medicare system. BTW, children up to age 25 are covered if they are studying but you have to provide proof.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

36. The care that I had in Canada was 100%