Be careful of what you ask for....

[FLmomof5]

You might actually get it. This is a lesson my mother taught incessantly as I was raised.

Today you hear a great deal of unjustified criticism of the US Healthcare system and progressives push for a NHS like UK or Canada. They believe that you will get better and cheaper care. That management's unceasing effort to earn the mightly dollar will cease and care will improve.

So....Canada's politician unapologetically comes to the US for his heart surgery....

And here is what we get to look forward to if we slide down this slope:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8531441.stm

The management still has "goals" to reach.

God help us all

[talaxandra]

Direct comparisons in pay and cost of living across countries is difficult even for professionals,bowever according to the 2009 rankings Melbourne (my capital) ranks 92nd least expensive in the world; Sydney (Australia's most expensive city) is currently 66th. Granted that's in large part because we've weathered the global financial crisis better than almost everywhere else in the West.

I have six weeks of annual leave (with 37.5% leave loading), two days of paid trade union training leave, 104 hours of paid study leave for an ongoing academic qualification and five days of paid study and conference leave.

After twenty years working in the Victorian public sector I have over six months of paid long service leave. After taking six weeks off to recover from fracturing bones in my hand, I still have six months of accrued sick leave available if I need it, with no concern that I'll lose my job if I fall ill.

Last year I grossed a hair under $AU90k last year, which is high by Australian standards. Thanks to salary packaging (which allows me to reduce my pre-tax income) I pay around 16% tax (my most recent pay: $3,119.63 gross, $510 tax), and I get a couple of thousand dollars of that back at the end of the financial year.

For the last three years I've travelled overseas for three or four weeks a year (Europe twice, and last year the UK and part of the East coast of the US). I live in a two bedroom apartment in one of Melbourne's most expensive suburbs, can contribute significant sums to charity and still save around $30K a year.

I choose not to pay for private health insurance, and accordingly pay a 1% surcharge tax on every taxable dollar I earn over $50,000. If I choose to join an insurance plan I'll have to pay a 2% penalty for every year after 30; I can get comprehensive coverage (including IVF) for less than $190 per month, including the surcharge.

I don't think Medicare's getting its funding off my back.