I recently emailed my cousin in Toronto, Ontario regarding her thoughts on the Canadian health care system. I was pleased with the response that I got and that she actually discussed the question with some of her coworkers.
With permission, I am reproducing it below.
My email
Hey ****,
This is gonna sound like a random message, but i wanted to ask you a question. Congress and the Pres are making a push on health care, which doesnt sound like the "universal healthcare" that other countries have. Instead, the gov't wants to have a public plan that people can buy because the prices would be better. Pretty much, government will start its own insurance company as is gonna try to force insurance companies to lower their prices to reasonable ones.
Anyways, a lot of the commentators refer to the "socialism" of france, england, and yes, canada. They say citizens in those countries are ticked off because of the taxes involved. They say people do not receive the "best" care and that proper care is at a very slow pace. They say that some dont even get the care that they need.
I dont know your political leanings and i dont need to know them. But, can you tell me what you or other canadians think about your health care system? Just curious. No rush.
Your cousin, ***
Her response
Hey ***,
I actually saw this message while i was at work today and i asked my colleagues their opinions. What a great conversation we had! In a nutshell, we think that these commentators that you refer to are spreading their own propaganda by saying we're "ticked off" and comparing it to "socialism". Not even close! I believe that the average Canadian (including myself and my tax paying friends) think that our health-care system (in Ontario, at least) is something worth protecting. Do we complain about taxes? Who the hell doesn't, lol! We also realize that it is awesome that we can go to the doctor at any time (either our own or a walk-in clinic) and receive very good care. I disagree that we receive care at a very slow pace. For the majority of cases, our healthcare system meets the needs of its patients in a very timely manner. Yes, we do have long wait times for MRIs and maybe a few other things, but the vast majority of people are not all waiting for an MRI. We love our healthcare, we are all treated equally and WELL. Once in a while there are politicians who start talking about privatizing health care and the huge majority of people backlash against it, insisting that that would created a tiered system like in the US and that it would suck big time.
So, does Joe Average in the US have more money than Joe Average in Canada, because they don't have to pay this extra income tax? From what we see here in the newspapers about the US economy, doesn't look like it (no offense to your fellow Americans).
Our healthcare may not be perfect (nothing ever is), but we'll be darned if it was any other way.
Anyway, I hope that sort of answered your question....I'm sure this conversation could go on and on and would be quite interesting....
***
PS> did I mention we think our beer is better than yours too??LOL!!!!
Have a great day, eh!
When we hear repugs stating their talking points about how citizens of these countries hate their health insurance, follow it up with, "Have you talked to any of them personally?"
Diarist, David Kroning, provided this link about lies about the health care system in Canada.
Health Care Lies About Canada