Financially speaking, what are your thoughts on universal health care? Would you rather be taxed more but have guaranteed health coverage for everyone?

I always feel so sad when I read on the boards that people are in debt because of medical bills or that they are having to make a decision based on their budget as to whether or not they should go to the doctor. It makes me wonder what your thoughts are on this subject.

I am so grateful and thankful that I've never had to make such a difficult decision. We have universal health care in Canada. We're one of the highest taxed countries in the world but ...
*we can go to the doctor for free
*stay in the hospital for free (we do pay for prescriptions and things like casts and crutches)
* have surgery for free (unless it is cosmetic)
*we get one year guaranteed paid maternity or paternity leave (this can be shared between parents)
* we get $100 per child / per month for each child under 6 (this is a new thing)
* kids under 18 and adults over 65 get free eye doctor appointments

What are your thoughts?

__________________

I have heard there are many 'down-sides' as well. My friend lives in Canada and says the wait times to see specialists are incredibly long, and surgeries and things like that are frustratingly inadequate?? I'm doing a poor job explaining this. She says you don't even get to see a pediatrician for your kids... you just have a regular doctor. She has crohn's disease and has dealt with the medical system in Canada for many frustrating years. I have also seen programs (dateline or 20/20???) on people from Canada who come here for treatments b/c the quality is poor /wait times are excessive in Canada.

I support universal healthcare and believe we need to make some serious changes to our own system. But, I don't want my quality of care (or urgency of care) to suffer for it.

I have heard similar complaints about the school systems. Although there is less crime and the schools are probably a bit "better" overall, there is little choice. If public school isn't working for your child/family, there are very few alternatives (there was only one private school in her area, and it was actually too far away and too expensive to even consider it...)

It could just be the area she's in... I don't know. I'm curious to see what your response is, b/c dh has discussed moving to Canada. Or, having a house here and one there.

btw my good friend is in Fredericton New Brunswick, and another friend of mine who lives here is from British Columbia. I asked her, "Why the heck did you move here????"

__________________
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss

Not sure how I feel about it. I've heard negative and positive things from Canadians. I would not like being told which doctor I could see.

__________________
DS-16
DD-13
DD-5
DS-3

Well, I too, live in Canada. I have never had to face any inadequicies in the system, thought I know they exist. I am glad to know that when and if I have another child, not only will dr's appts, tests, U-sounds, hospital stay and post natal care are completely free, but also that I get a year home, paid. And if there are any complications that my baby has a long hospital stay, my one year leave is extended for as long as the baby in in hospital. If I want to take 6 mnths, and DH wants to take 6 months we can do that as well. I can bring my sons to the dr's for check ups, flu shots, immunizations etc and the only thing is costs me is time. I can't imagine having to pay for these things. Here is Newfoundland we are now fighting for full funding for MS drugs as well as a few Altzermiers meds. So I know it is far from perfect, but it works for me!
Alana

__________________

I just realized, I should mention that dh works for the government, so we do have very good benefits. I never realized how good until reading some posts on here, like the cost of medications and urgent care visits!! Holy moly!

* We have no co-pays, ever
* We don't pay for any ER visits or urgent care...all free
* Prescriptions are $3 - $9, I've never paid more.
* Dental is all covered, but for extra things we pay a percentage (like, I wanted porcelain fillings so they were considered 'cosmetic' so I paid a %)
* I'm "unassigned" so I can go to 5 different pediatricians if I want...(like, if one has flu shots available and another one does not etc...)
* I don't know how other plans work, but when I'm pregnant, we don't pay a cent. (Good thing, b/c my medical bills have been in the hundreds of thousands!!! )

Aside from medical, dh gets the GI bill and early retirement with *excellent* retirement pay and benefits.

Sorry, just plugging the good benefits of government work! I do tend to forget it's not this way elsewhere. Although, large corporations are pretty good at taking care of employees aren't they? The insurance brokerage I worked for had excellent benes. Maybe things have changed.

__________________
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss

I am from the UK, and they have universal health care too. The waits for specialized treatments and surgeries can be long. But paid maternity leave and benefits for kids are good.

I think if we do develop a system, we should look at other countries and see if we can provide a health plan that picks the best things out of the other countries and tries to control the negative things too.
The basic fact is that taxes would go up, but think of it as paying in advance for medical procedures you might need in the future. People are soo taxphobic, they want the benefits and expect God to come up with the money for the programs.
I have been to Norway, where they are taxed about 30-40% of take home pay, but their social system is very, very good, so we need to pay up if we want to have a good system and not have people with no medical care and big medical bills.
getting off my soapbox now......

__________________
We buy things we dont need,
with money we dont have,
in order to impress people
we dont like?
(Ramsey, D)

Healthcare is one of my top issues. I don't know if universal care is the way to go, but I do know that something has to be done. Unless you are fortunate enough to work for the government or a big company and have excellent benefits, health insurance is extremely expensive. Right now, we are paying somewhere in the neighborhood of $570 per month (pre-tax, so we can't deduct this from our taxes) for health and dental (no vision). On top of that lovely expense, we have $30 copays, large deductables (I can't remember how much they are), and a tiered drug plan ($10, $30, $50). Due to the expense, we have to think long and hard before someone in this family goes to the doctor.

I don't have a problem paying some money for health insurance, but I have a problem paying $570 per month. It should be somewhere in the neighborhood of $150-$200 and no more. If health insurance were more affordable and insurance companies weren't so nitpicky about what they will and will not cover, then I don't think the subject of universal care would even be on the table.

I realize that Canada's system isn't perfect, but I often wonder if it's inadequacies are played up by our government so that they can scare voters into not wanting universal care. Unfortunately, costs are getting out of control and the government is going to have to step in and do something so everyone has the ability to receive healthcare. Healthcare isn't a frivolous option, it's a necessity. People shouldn't have to mortgage their futures just to receive treatment for an illness.

I have also heard a lot of the criticisms of the Canadian system but we haven't experienced any of them. The wait times are very long for non urgent care. And it's true, not all kids get to see a pediatrician. Our ds (special needs) has a pediatrician but he needed to be referred from our family doctor.

We can choose who we like for a doctor, but not for schools. When we bought this house we told the agent "It has to be within the bounds of the school we want. Do not show us a house outside of the bounds. We do not care how long it takes. We want our kids going to this school." If we even lived one block farther, we'd be in a way less better school.

Our government benefits here are really good too as are teacher's benefits and salaries that include fully indexed pensions. But for those people not working in government, (including us), it is a tremendous benefit to be able to get medical help no matter how much or how little we have.

__________________

I have mixed feelings. My husband's company provides an excellent benefits package that we contribute to monthly. This is now. Rewind to 2001 when he was unemployed for TWO YEARS and coverage for our family through Cobra was 1100/month. Which we needed because of some preexisting conditions. I see the need for change for those that have no other or very limited options, but I am a control freak that does not like to be told what to do and when to do it.

That's the way it is where I live. If you want your children to go to a particular school, you have to live in that district. I think some districts will make a few (very few) allowances for people not living in their district. I've never heard of being able to choose your public school no matter what district you live in, but maybe it's just where I live that it's not an option.