I keep hearing the “fake news” Republican talking point that compares government-run universal health insurance to a visit to a Department of Moter Vehicles office — more precisely to an underfunded DMV that is short on staff and time-saving technology.
I live in Canada — and want to share my experience today with Canada’s medicare (the British Columbia version) for you to toss in the face of any red-capped relatives or workplace blowhards you hear trying to peddle this particular insurance-lobby/Republican lie.
I was working the soil in my garden with ungloved hands and sliced my finger on a shard of glass. The shard pushed a whole bunch of dirt into the wound. I haven’t had a tetanus shot in ten years, but — this being Canada and all — here’s what I did to fix that.
- Phoned my local corner pharmacy to make sure they weren’t too busy. (I could have picked any pharmacy in the province, because in a universal scheme, they all participate. (There is no such thing as “in-network” or “out network” — that is an American construct.)
- Drove to the not-busy pharmacy, where they already had my personal info on file (from earlier prescriptions). Alternately, I could have just shown them my government-issued health insurance card.
- Filled out a two-minute medical questionnaire for the pharmacist.
- Sat down while the pharmacist gave me the shot — five minutes after I arrived at the store.
- No lineup
- No waiting
- No “take a number”
- For tetanus — no need even see a doctor
- The pharmacist billed the government health insurance for the drug and for his dispensing fee
- .Neither the pharmacist nor I had to inform or seek permission from a bureaucrat for this charge to be authorized — it is authorized because I am a citizen and because tetanus shots are covered for everyone. Simple as that.
- There is no requirement for follow-up paperwork — all pharmacies are online with the government insurance plan
“Now,”
you can ask your MAGA-hat-wearing person,
“Does that sound like a DMV office to you?”
Pause.
Wait for squirming.