Proof Positive of Canada's Failing Healthcare System

A must read for Canadians and Americans alike!

The False Logic of Those Using the Race Card over Obamacare

Congress Veers Left on Health Care

Interesting article by Kimberley A. Strassel.

Best comment of the bunch:

Does anyone really believe that Obama will not do what Obama has always wanted to do?

The country that voted him into power does not like what he is proposing? So?? A tyrannical despot does not care as to what the country may think or how it may have changed even if it did vote him (53% anyway) in as President.

HealthCare is the biggest prize for Obama's philosophy - to contain and destroy as much of the productive capacities of the US of A and take away as much personal freedom people may have and place as much control in the hand of Federal Bureaucrats and authoritarians who would control every aspect of people's lives.

Talking to Americans

I've been listening to Dennis Miller's radio show since Day 1, but today was the first time I called in. I got to talk with both the host and Mark Steyn - what a thrill!

If you're interested, you can listen to it here around 9:40am PT / 11:40am CT / 12:40pm ET. Or you can listen to it here around 6:40pm PT / 8:40pm CT / 9:40pm ET.

Tune in earlier to hear the full interview with Mark Steyn.

What I'm Reading

Comedy, Bullies, and American Politics - by Rosslyn Smith

This has got to be one of the most well written articles I've read in some time. The author ties together several threads - comedians who have become bullies, mysoginists, and conservatives who refuse to defend themselves. Here's a snippet:

For years now much of our comedy has gotten increasingly mean. It laughs less and less at the contradictions inherent in the human condition and increasingly picks out and personalizes targets to demean and humiliate. In the world of the comedian-cum-bully, wit has been replaced with name calling and the wry irony of the nerdish observer with the swagger of the schoolyard bully who decides who is among the in group and who are "them", the outcasts to be made the butt of every mean spirited politically correct joke. Name calling is the stock in trade of the bully. So is telling the target who protests, "What's a matter, can't you take a joke?"

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The smothering embrace of nanny government - Mark Steyn

Speaking to an American audience, most of whom know not a thing about socialized medicine except what Michael Moore has told them, Steyn draws comparisons with things the readers will likely be familiar with. Here's a segment:

When President Barack Obama tells you he's "reforming" health care to "control costs," the point to remember is that the only way to "control costs" in health care is to have less of it. In a government system, the doctor, the nurse, the janitor and the Assistant Deputy Associate Director of Cost-Control System Management all have to be paid every Friday, so the sole means of "controlling costs" is to restrict the patient's access to treatment. In the Province of Quebec, patients with severe incontinence – i.e., they're in the bathroom 12 times a night – wait three years for a simple 30-minute procedure. True, Quebeckers have a year or two on Americans in the life expectancy hit parade, but, if you're making 12 trips a night to the john 365 times a year for three years, in terms of life-spent-outside-the-bathroom expectancy, an uninsured Vermonter may actually come out ahead.

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Nonsense has me incensed - Lorrie Goldstein

Goldstein has devoted a lot of his recent career to carefully researching the entire issue of so-called global warming and the politics behind it. He starts off his latest piece as follows:

Let me put an argument to you which will enrage the entire congregation of The First Church of Global Warming.

That is, that man-made climate change does not pose an existential threat to humanity.

A Primer for Americans on the NDP's Jack Layton

The name "Jack Layton" will be appearing in headlines across America over the next few news cycles. He's going to be appearing on behalf of the Democrat Party as an avid proponent of the Canadian Health Care system.

Do listen to what he says but also be aware of the following:

• He belongs to a party that is in 4th place in terms of seats.
  
• 4 out of 5 Canadians consistently reject the socialist class warfare message of Layton.
  
• You'll learn in this interview (beginning @ 7:00) that not all is rosy here in Canada.
• His nickname is "The Video Professor" due to his striking resemblance with John W. Scherer.
  

So, before you take him too seriously, please realize that most Canadians don't either.

Give Your Children a Big Hug!

Something incredibly touching happened Saturday morning that I've hummed & hawed about whether I should write about publicly. But I've had nothing but a positive reaction from the close friends I've shared it with so I don't see any harm in doing so.

As I wrote about last week, my charity, BC Digital Divide, recently received a large donation of used computer equipment from a corporate donor of ours. This has reinvigorated the organization and our techs are busily refurbishing the equipment to be donated to families in the near future.

On Saturday my mom & I drove to 3 locations to donate computers to the recipients therein. The last one was to the home of an 8 year old autistic boy. His mom met us at the door and welcomed us in. We were then introduced to her son. Physically he looked completely normal and if you didn't know otherwise, you'd think that he was just somewhat shy. The fact is though that he is unable to speak, not because of any problems with his vocal cords but because his brain is unable to perform the function of speech. So all he can muster are occasional one-syllable outbursts.

Seeing others around him talk effortlessly, he gets incredibly frustrated and upset.

We gave them an old laptop my mom had been using since 2002. Though it's ancient compared to today's technology, it was a worth a million dollars to that young man. For it will open up an entirely new world to him, and who knows where that will take him and his future learning.

The boy's mom insisted on giving my mom a big hug and then gave her a card with this letter:

When I walked down the path to the car, I immediately thought of all the little kids I know and how they all appear to be completely normal functioning children. Their biggest daily challenge is figuring out how they can eat less vegetables and more dessert.

If you are so blessed to have such children of your own, please give them a big hug the next time you see them. And realize how incredibly fortunate you are too!

Canada vs. America: Health Care, Taxes

One of my favourite writers is Amy Alkon, based out of Los Angeles. In the comments of this recent piece, her and some others delved into the cost of health care in America. Here's the comment I left:

This idea that health care insurance costs are out of control in the U.S. is pure fantasy IMO.

Amy is 45 and pays $300 per month.

I'm a year younger and pay $52 per month here in Canuckistan. I don't have a personal doctor because when my last one moved away it has become exceedingly impossible to find one who will take patients (and I live in a very urban area!). So if I get sick my alternatives are to go to a clinic or go to the Emergency at the local hospital. From anecdotal evidence from friends, I know that the wait each time will be in the order of 2 - 6 hours. Is that the "great" health care system you Americans are looking for?

Getting back to cost, here's a calculator to determine what Canadians pay in income tax. Plus, in BC we pay 12% sales tax (5% federal + 7% provincial) on most everything we buy.

How does our income & consumption tax compare with where you live?

Is Canadian Health Care the Solution for America?

I read this item with great interest. Any Canadian who is remotely governed by facts bursts out laughing when s/he hears Americans raving about the Canadian Health Care system and suggesting that it's the "perfect solution"!

Dorothy walked down a yellow-brick road and eventually found salvation. Something tells me that Uncle Obama is taking you down a red-brick road - as in red ink, permanent & drowning red ink.

Just imagine a future America with the banks, the automakers, and health care all managed by the "super competent" governments. Yikes!

Alternative Health Care Approaches

On one of my favourite blogs, this discussion is raging about health care. Since Canada was cited so much, I decided to chime in with my 2 cents:

Like with all things, one's views on health care depends a lot on one's political views.

I, for one, have TONS of evidence of ENORMOUS problems with the Canadian health care system. Its very nature breeds inefficiency. Yet once one gets past the [often] long waits then the actual care by the nurses & doctors et al is supposed to be superb.

SOME PERSONAL STORIES ...

I pay $52 per month for health care here in British Columbia. If I didn't make sufficient income then this fee would be waived. I'm in good health so haven't had to use the medical system for years. But if I did get sick then I'd have to try to find a personal GP, which is exceedingly difficult these days. Another option would be to walk into a local clinic which operates with a pool of doctors in rotation. My third option would be to walk into the Emergency of any local hospital. In the latter two cases you're guaranteed a multi-hour wait (note: 4 - 10 hrs isn't unheard of) almost all the time. Even with a personal GP you usually still have to wait.

My mom's in the hospital right now. Thankfully there was a bed available for her. If there wasn't then she'd be on a waiting list for who knows how long.

A good friend of mine, John, had some major heart problems for years. When it got so severe he went to his GP simply to get an appointment for a heart specialist. Then he waited and waited and waited. His wife morbidly joked that only time would tell whether she would sit in on an appointment with the specialist or with a funeral director. Eventually John did get into the specialist after 8 months. By that point things were so serious that he was immediately scheduled for surgery. And all that wait was simply to get a pacemaker installed. He's now doing better.

The father of a close friend of mine has been suffering with different types of cancer for a few years. While waiting for surgery for his stomach cancer, he started getting blurry vision. Only at the insistence of his daughter screaming at the medical officials to give him an MRI was one done. It turned out he had a brain tumor. Thankfully space was available within a week to have an operation to remove it. All went well. But if there had been many others in line then he would have had to wait & wait & wait.


SOME INTERESTING FACTS ...

Because of the crazy rules preventing one from paying for private medical care here in Canada, it's actually easier to take one's dog in for an MRI than to get one for a human.

The powers at be refuse to share the costs of one's medical treatment with the patients. I've advocated for years that a bill should be presented to each patient, albeit with the costs waived. But the hospitals have no real cost controls per say so they don't actually know what it costs to treat each patient. Let's be clear: if costs are not closely monitored then inefficiencies and corruption are certain to result.

I have heard before, but don't have this confirmed, that there are more MRIs in the City of Philadelphia than in the entire country of Canada.


SUMMARY

Things are slowly changing for the positive here in Canada with more of a mixture of private and public health care. The fact is that competition improves things, no matter how much the public sector health care unions are in denial of this fact. In my province currently between 40 - 50% of all taxes go towards health care. This number keeps on increasing. The fear is that one day it will consume 70% or even 80% of the budget.

I have no specific advice for my American friends but the notion that health care is peachy keen here in Canada is a myth that only the likes of Michael Moore and other Obamunists will buy into.

Entitlement Mentality from the Start

I'm a big believer in immigration. It is an important thing and in the case of Canada, it is absolutely necessary because of our low birthrates.

I belong to an Immigration forum because of the computer charity I created. A woman started a forum thread entitled "Three-month waiting period for healthcare". Here are some of the entries:

When I arrived in Canada, I didn't realize there would be a three-month waiting period before I could be covered under the public health care system. [A friend even joked that I wasn't 'eligible' to fall sick for those many months!!!] Does anyone have any expeierences where you needed medical care in those first three months and weren't covered? Do many newcomers actually get private health insurance?

I came to Canada with 7 months pregnancy and me and my husband had to pay for all the costs of the delivery, including doctors and hospital. Anyway, it was very clear on the information provided by the Government of Canada that we would have the three month waiting period. If it's fair or not, its another discussion. But we have to agree that at least for the skilled workers immigrants it is clear that we have to pay for all the costs related to health care in the first three months after arrival.

Some one told me that you can get your money back after when you are covered. However I am not sure if this is correct. I think the time for the medical cover takes 4 months. First month you have to wait for your bank statement to come thru post which takes 1 month and then 3 months for medical. May be you can show some other document perhaps such as accommodation but I am not sure. Waiting for my bank statement to come really then I will initiate my medical process. In fact I have my phone bill arrived thru posts but the medical centre did not accept this as a valid proof of residence.

Is it just me, or have these people already forgotten about what the word "privilege" means and instead converted them to "rights"? Whatever happened to newcomers wanting to come to Canada to work hard and make a contribution? Now it seems some of these folks already have the entitlement mentality from the get go. This is beyond sad.

A Canadian Comedian's View of Canadian Healthcare

On The Opposite End of the Self-Reliance Spectrum

We have England, with this crazy story.

Drunk women wearing high-heels will be handed flip-flops by police so that they don't hurt their ankles. Yes, you read that correctly. Remember, we're nowhere near April Fool's Day. This is a true story.

And I realize that some will argue that such a program makes financial sense because it cuts down on health care costs. But there is an obvious question that goes begging: Do we really want to live in a society that treats us all like 3 year olds, in which there is absolutely no need to be responsible for anything? For the Radical Left, this is their idea of nirvana. For some of us it's nothing short of an Orwellian nightmare!

Canadian Health Care Headline

Whenever my American friends tell me how much they're dreaming of having a "perfect" health-care system like in Canada, I just shake me head. Here's one more reason why:

More Serious Medical Care Required

Perhaps next time my mom will refrain from packing the actual kitchen sink in her suitcase!

Thought for the Day

I received this from my friend, Ken, in Chicago:

There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer's research. This means that by 2040, there should be a large elderly population with perky boobs and huge erections and absolutely no recollection of what to do with them.

I'm No Longer a Woman!!!

At least not as far as Mastercard thinks! Ever since I've had a Mastercard credit card, my receipts always showed up as "Mrs. Robert Werner". I had asked them about this before but they said there was no problem with my account. Using my credit card extensively on my recent trip, it became more of a nuisance than ever, with some very odd looks from some waitresses.

So I called them today and finally dealt with someone who saw what the problem was. I'm now a man again!

Imagine, a painless sex-change operation done in just a matter of seconds! Though there was an extremely long wait but us Canadians are used to that! :-)

Brian Day: Guilty of queue jumping or just a responsible parent?

Today, CBC Radio's Cross-Country Checkup is featuring a discussion about Dr. Brian Day's recent admission that he twice used connections to get himself and his young daughter ahead of the line for medical treatment.

Before the show even starts, I sent host, Rex Murphy, this e-mail:

I'd like to make a comment prior to any callers voicing their opinions on whether Dr. Brian Day was right or wrong about using his connections to get faster service for himself and his 5 year-old daughter. One might be able to make a legitimate argument that he shouldn't have done so for himself, though he could make an even better argument that restoring his own health as quickly as possibly meant that dozens, if not hundreds, of other patients were helped out as well.

But if anyone dares espouse that they would let their own 5-year old child suffer longer out of some sort of homage to "Canadian fairness" then they should immediately be called a liar. If they convincingly dispute this charge then the authorities should be called immediately to rescue their children, because they are clearly an unfit parent. Making such a claim is akin to a pacifist saying that they would not protect their child, through defensive violence if necessary, if an intruder broke into their home and threatened their child. Any person who actually stood on [very misguided] principle rather than defend their child resides in an area well beyond selfishness.

Canadian Health Care Debate

I attended this debate, hosted by talkshow personality and fellow blogger, David Berner. The problem with such things is that most people come with entrenched views and really aren't open to hearing anything from "the other side". Nadeem Esmail, from the Fraser Institute, presented many interesting examples from all over Europe, but the majority of people in the audience clearly preferred to keep their ostrich-like heads buried in the sand. This is but a small sampling of what politicians have to deal with every day of their lives!