HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Essay Topic: Difference between Canada and USA health care for IBDers

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/4/2010 5:14 PM (GMT 0)
This is the topic I have decided... Anybody here north of the border that I could ask some questions later down the line?
Posted 3/4/2010 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
I am Canadian ....depends on the questions but I have a background in health studies so I might be able to help
Posted 3/4/2010 7:39 PM (GMT 0)
I am also Canadian. I am willing to help in any way possible.
Posted 3/4/2010 8:44 PM (GMT 0)
Sure.
Posted 3/4/2010 9:03 PM (GMT 0)
I am Canadian, live in Ontario canada.
Posted 3/4/2010 10:04 PM (GMT 0)
I'm Canadian and I'd love to help. I live in Quebec.
Posted 3/4/2010 11:25 PM (GMT 0)
<-Canadian, born and raised in Ontario, living and loving in Alberta currently. Feel free to ask away!!
Posted 3/4/2010 11:49 PM (GMT 0)
Also Canadian, from Niagara Falls. More than willing to give my take on things. 

Tom

Posted 3/5/2010 12:30 AM (GMT 0)
i was dual citizen for 10 years, had surgery there and here, our daughter was born in calgary, wish we were back there now. I'm aware of both systems.

Posted 3/5/2010 1:28 AM (GMT 0)
which U.S health care system are you looking at? Private, gov't, etc?
Posted 3/5/2010 4:01 AM (GMT 0)
Truth is guys... I am a graduating senior who needed to take a theology class to complete my course work.

I took this Christian Medical Ethics class, and I am doing TERRIBLY in it. The teacher is the jesuit who apparently is a nationally accredited medical ethicist. In essence he knows everything I know nothing..

As some of you can imagine college and IBD is difficult.... I will be devastated if I have to go to school another semester because of this class..

I have 1.5 months to write this term paper....

To answer your question Navy, I am looking at the whole enchilada Government, Insurance companies, etc...

Since I have found this site I check it everyday, and everyday I see a post about someone that is being denied certain drugs, etc...

My teacher is a big time humanitarian who travels to 3rd world countries to treat conditions like AIDS. When I was explaining how these instances where drug companies screw patients with chronic illnesses over is one of the biggest issues in health care he laughed in my face, and schooled me on all the terrible things going on in Africa....

When I actually mentioned to him that I HAVE IBD (I don't like to tell people) he changed his tune.... Truth is for a guy in the medical community I don't think he knew much about Crohns/Colitis....

I like this teacher, but he is arrogant... I want to blow him away with this paper... Most importantly I want him to realize that there are many sick people whom appear healthy that are struggling to survive just like the people in 3rd world countries. To do this I am going to need all the help I can get...

Thanks...
Posted 3/5/2010 12:28 PM (GMT 0)
You should bring up the whole Remicade cost to him and ask him if he knows anyone that can afford 10,000 a month without insurance. Maybe bring up the point that even if you have insurance you still have to pay a %10-20 copay every dose which is anywhere from every 4-8 weeks. Luckily the company saw it and is now trying to help with the copay assistance programs but is still very expensive. While remicade may be the most expensive, the other medications are not cheap and there are many people who can not afford the copay and try to manage on their own until they end up in the E.R. The majority of these people are middle class citizens but are struggling because they can not buy supplemental insurance to help them due to pre existing conditions. Their only other alternative is going to a less expensive drug like prednisone that causes severe side effects in the long run. It is very sad if you are not poor enough for medicaid, not completely disabled so medicare is off the table, and not rich enough to pay for it on your own. I am not one that is without insurance but I still have to pay a heavy price until I hit my max out of pocket and I am on social security disability. I would be more than happy to answer any questions but do not want to get into a political debate.
Posted 3/5/2010 12:53 PM (GMT 0)
I live in Toronto, you can fire me off any questions you want and i shall gladly answer them. I dont think we have it as bad as you do in the states though as far as the financials go, our health care system is alot more accomodating from what i have read. Alot of horror stories from the U.S. on this board, stuff that i cant believe even occurs since i am used to not paying a cent for anything, if i get sick i go to the doctor, show my health card, done, if i go to the hospital, show my health card, done, plus my company pays for 95% of my drug costs up to $10,000, then they pay 100%, no deductibles, i have been to the states many times travelling, i definitly like it down there, but i feel bad for those who experience that kind of a health care system, kind of scary.
Posted 3/5/2010 1:12 PM (GMT 0)
A very good research source on Canadian health care is the Fraser Institute, a Canadian-based think tank. Just google them and you should find lots of data.

Posted 3/8/2010 8:11 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with tsitodawg--the costs of treatments are enormous and it seems like insurance companies and pharma are just trying to make money off of us.


If you need some info on US health care, let me know; I can look for my notes from a healthcare class I took last year. A good movie to watch would be Sicko (although it may exaggerate at some times...).
Posted 3/8/2010 8:51 PM (GMT 0)

MikeB said...
A very good research source on Canadian health care is the Fraser Institute, a Canadian-based think tank. Just google them and you should find lots of data.


Actually the Fraser Institute is NOT a good source of unbiased opinion.  It is a libertarian organization that publishes public policy papers (forgive the alliteration) that support privatization of all public services.  I'm not trying to argue that privatization is necessarily wrong, but if you're looking for an even handed analysis or health care in Canada that's not the place to go.

But what do I know I just live here. ;)

Posted 3/8/2010 8:59 PM (GMT 0)
I graduated from college last may and lost my health insurance. I live in the US by the way. I am currently without health insurance and could give you A LOT of information from the standpoint of someone with a chronic active disease with no insurance. Let me know if you need my help.

Sam
Posted 3/8/2010 9:48 PM (GMT 0)
I don't think there's anything wrong in acknowledging that we in the first world do not have to deal with (in general) the problems experienced by people in the third world.

Mind you, I also think that you have a good case for arguing that this is a moral, ethical and stewardship issue. If a country does become affluent, what should it do with that affluence? Is it right to use valuable national resources on non-essentials while leaving some citizens in penury because they have been struck down with illness or misfortune? Didn't Jesus say that he came to give people life in all its abundance? Are sick people having a joyous and abundant life when they are so burdened with stress and worry and financial problems, on top of their physical issues?

It seems to me that we have a moral duty to work out how to treat chronically-ill people well, here and now. It is said that Crohn's, diabetes, obesity etc are first-world health issues. If that is true, then there is a good chance that third-world people will start having to deal with these new health issues themselves if, together, we help them rise out of poverty. If that happens, then it seems to me that we have a moral duty to provide some sort of roadmap by which these countries can formulate their own health care strategies that are humane and actually work... and if that's to happen, then we need to work out how to do that in the first world, now.

Does that help?

Ivy.
Posted 3/8/2010 11:49 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with Ivy – that we have a moral obligation to help those in need. And there are so many ways we can contribute – donating money and/or time to charity hospitals, clinics, support groups, research efforts, etc. There are so many lonely people in nursing homes – it just breaks my heart! – and it is easy to join in a visitation group.

Maybe something to cover in your paper is that in through out the past, hospitals were founded by religious orders or wealthy individuals and groups. The idea that government should be responsible for our healthcare is quite recent. By the way, the folks who initially set up the US government didn’t include healthcare as a job of the government nor did they identify it as a basic human right (like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) -- even though they personally knew very well about the need for healthcare. In that time (and as today in most of the world), if you could not afford healthcare, you had to rely on charity. Actually, Ben Franklin established a charity hospital in the then Colonies (Pennsylvania Hospital). An interesting read is Franklin’s “Appeal for the Hospital”
http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf2/hospital.htm


Ivy, I think you are referring to John 10: “So Jesus again said to them … I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. … I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10: 7-11) But He never promised a good life in this world – his focus was on the next life. He did say he would be with us and never let us go, and the next life is going to be fantastic for those who are saved.
Posted 3/9/2010 1:20 PM (GMT 0)
Actually Rider the Fraser Institute is not a libertarian organization. Like all such research organizations it has a point of view, but that does not mean that data reported by those groups -- from right or left -- is necessarily bogue. A good rule of thumb for anyone embarking on a research paper like the one this thread proposes is to consult a wide range of sources, not just those you deem politically acceptable.

Posted 3/9/2010 1:38 PM (GMT 0)
Many people forget that the US does have a government health care system in the VA, and it has it's good and bad parts. But it is limited to those who have served, and their some of their dependents.
Posted 3/9/2010 3:47 PM (GMT 0)

MikeB said...
Actually Rider the Fraser Institute is not a libertarian organization. Like all such research organizations it has a point of view, but that does not mean that data reported by those groups -- from right or left -- is necessarily bogue. A good rule of thumb for anyone embarking on a research paper like the one this thread proposes is to consult a wide range of sources, not just those you deem politically acceptable.

Yes I agree with your last sentence specifically.  But the point of my post stands - that the institute has a narrow point of view and isn't an optimal source for unbiased opinion on the subject.    I only felt compelled to point out the general pholisophy of the source you mentioned because you didn't make it obvious in your first post, that's all.

They may shy away from calling themselves libertarian, but an analysis of their positions seems to tilt in that direction. 

And I love Bill Maher, by the way.

Posted 3/9/2010 4:29 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I'm in Canada too. I hear about the odd wait time horror, but neither I nor anyone in my family have experienced this much.

I have found that when I call specialists or surgeons, I get in right away. Every time. But when I leave it up to my family doctor to call around, I usually don't get in to see a specialist or surgeon as fast.

Maybe that's part of the difference in US and Canada. My understanding is PPL in the US have to shop around more for docs, whereas in Canada, most people rely on their family docs to make all the appointments to specialists and surgeons and that could be why sometimes there is a bit of a wait.
Posted 3/11/2010 1:17 AM (GMT 0)
The other thing you might like to compare/contrast is the difference in decision making about getting care.

In Canada, nobody thinks twice about going to see the doc. We just go if we have to. We don't think about papers, finances, insurance, nothing. All we have to think about is going to the doc and getting treatment. We do have to pay for our medicine though. But most of us have insurance and if people don't, they get other government benefits if they qualify.

In the States, I've heard countless times how ppl (on this board for example) hesitate to see their docs or go to emerg. because of insurance/financial issues. That doesn't exist in Canada.
Posted 3/11/2010 2:05 AM (GMT 0)
Why did Danny Williams come to the U.S. for heart surgery? I've read both sides, but the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12