More on healthcare

[pecunium]

The Denver Post has a decent column up, Debunking Myths about Canadian Healthcare

There is also a forum for discussing it.

It's interesting, as one reads the comments (almost 450, at this count) to see the difference between those who think the US system needs to change, and those who don't.

Those who want to see it change cite studies, and polls. Those who don't cite opinion pieces, or make unspported statements (someone blamed Natasha Richardson's death on there being no helicopter; never mind that she refused treatment).

Most of the "rebuttals are things on the order of, "The US is best", and, "We don't want the beauraucrats making decisions". There are also the, "Gov't can't do anything right crowd."

When a Canadian opines (esp. those who have lived both places) that they like/prefer the Canadian system, they are called liars.

But my favorite comment was this one

I'm a Canadian, and I can tell you that we do have American-style care here in certain areas. I went to my medical provider when a member of my family broke a leg. I was astonished by the invoice for the operation: consultation fee, anaesthetic, bandages, various drugs, needles, assistance of three people, specialist- the invoice was three pages long. The total was nearly $1350.00. And I was very interested because I'd never seen a medical invoice before.

When another member of my family broke an arm, there were two operations, three casts, and twenty rehab visits without every seeing a single piece of paper.

Of course, the broken leg was my dog. The broken arm was my son.

You Americans treat your children the way we treat our dogs.

Comments

[pescana.livejournal.com]

I didn't say so last time, but I am with you completely on this. I grew up with military health care. It worked. Now, as a woman in my forties who's had cancer (never mind it was a rare form with a 15% mortality rate), I live in complete dread of the day my COBRA runs out or I can't pay the $400/month anymore.

We need this, and we need it now. I know too many people living without insurance or living on COBRA and struggling to pay for it. This is not acceptable.

[harimad.livejournal.com]

Military health care works for some, not for others. BTDT but I haven't been able to tease out the variables to determine why the VA and active duty care is far more variable than the U.S. norm.

[pescana.livejournal.com]

Variable in cost or effectiveness, or something? I'd be curious to hear what you do find.

Agreed, I'm not saying it was perfect. But military doctors saved my life when I was four, they saved my brother's hearing, and care was always available.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

It's mostly an issue of budget, locale, and client load. LA has lots of vets, so things are crowded.

Wadsworth is right next to UCLA, so it has good residents, but that meant I was seeing a new one every time I did a periodic (though the overseeing rheumatologist never changed).

Palo Alto is next to Stanford, I expect them to be much the same. Sepulveda (in LA) isn't next to a med school, so the specialists are (so I am told) handled differently.

The VA is also funded inconsitently. Under Bush is was a bit starved. Obama seems to have moved money around, and he put Shinseki in charge (which was a thumb in the eye to Bush), and Shinseki cares (I'd follow him pretty much anywhere, so I may be biased, but the bias is because he cares).

[pescana.livejournal.com]

My memories are a bit fuzzy, and I was mostly healthy growing up. But I'm fairly certain it was a military doctor who preventing me dying of pneumonia (this was in New York). Same with my brother's ears, in Hawaii. And I know my sister and I were both delivered by a Navy doctor, also in New York.

It drove me absolutely crazy to hear the Bush administration shout "Support the troops!" when we also heard about how consistently underfunded things were.

Some of the places we lived were too small to have military hospitals, so we saw regular doctors. I don't think my parents had to pay for it though. I should ask.

[pescana.livejournal.com]

Hang on. When I was 18 and we were moving in a motor home from Juneau to New Orleans, I passed out at Wall Drug Store. I was taken in an ambulance to an Air Force hospital somewhere near Mount Rushmore, which was not a short drive, and somewhere in the haze of pain and narcotics I remember they did this because paying for the ambulance was cheaper than taking me to the emergency room elsewhere.

I have no idea what hospitals they have in Wall, South Dakota, and maybe the level of care was part of the consideration too. But I will definitely ask.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Nothing makes me happier than not being a dependent of the military. The substandard care. The waits. It was a disaster. Horrible. It didn't work at all. Nor does it work for vet friends of mine, or vet family members.

We need something, but I wouldn't hold military care as what to aspire to. Not with people I know who suffered from it.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Whereas I have never had any problems with it. Efficient, thorough, attentive.

The only problem I ever had was a poor practitioner (dentist) and I never saw him again (becsause one can refuse). But optical, top notch. Internal medicine, top notch.

Related care, top notch. VA has been good to me too.

[pescana.livejournal.com]

I am really sorry you've had such bad experiences. I'm not saying we all need military care, I'm saying that we need to have a system where the inability to pay doesn't equal inability to get health care.