americans wait longer to see primary-care physicians than patients in britain, germany, australia, or new zealand--all countries with strong public-health systems.
nearly one quarter of americans reported waiting six days or more for an appointment with their doctor. new zealand scored best, with just 3 percent waiting that long, followed by australia (10 percent), germany (13 percent), and britain (15 percent).
canada rounded out the bottom, with more than a third waiting six days or more. similarly, america shares with its northern neighbor the dubious honor of being ranked last in terms of patients' ability to make same-day appointments.
only 26 percent of americans and canadians reported being able see their doctor on the day they called, compared with 60 percent in the netherlands and 48 percent in britain....
I beg to differ. I worked for a doctor that moved here from Canada, he left because of inadequate diagnostic equipment & wait times that placed his patients at risk. He told me of a patient he sent to the ER one afternoon, then 2 days later he passed through the ER on his way to another facility & found his patient still sitting dutifully in the ER, 48 hours later.
I beg to differ. I worked for a doctor that moved here from Canada, he left because of inadequate diagnostic equipment & wait times that placed his patients at risk. He told me of a patient he sent to the ER one afternoon, then 2 days later he passed through the ER on his way to another facility & found his patient still sitting dutifully in the ER, 48 hours later.
Yes, in Canada. We had 6 doctors in the group, all from Canada. The doctor I worked for is also married to a doctor (different specialty). They were Canadian born & raised, loved their country, but were very critical of their health care system.
When he told me that private insurance had been made illegal to prevent patients from circumventing the system, I was blown away.
His wife told me about the mother of one of her patients, she needed a MRI of the brain, they suspected a tumor, but every time she went for her scheduled visit, an emergency usurped her & she was rescheduled. In the mean time, her cat came down with leukemia, had a CT, was treated & cured. By the time her mother got her MRI, it was too late, she died of brain cancer & the daughter inherited the cat.
This was back in 1998.
Now I read that Canada is looking into private insurance......
americans wait longer to see primary-care physicians than patients in britain, germany, australia, or new zealand--all countries with strong public-health systems.
nearly one quarter of americans reported waiting six days or more for an appointment with their doctor. new zealand scored best, with just 3 percent waiting that long, followed by australia (10 percent), germany (13 percent), and britain (15 percent).
canada rounded out the bottom, with more than a third waiting six days or more. similarly, america shares with its northern neighbor the dubious honor of being ranked last in terms of patients' ability to make same-day appointments.
only 26 percent of americans and canadians reported being able see their doctor on the day they called, compared with 60 percent in the netherlands and 48 percent in britain....
Yes, in Canada. We had 6 doctors in the group, all from Canada. The doctor I worked for is also married to a doctor (different specialty). They were Canadian born & raised, loved their country, but were very critical of their health care system.
When he told me that private insurance had been made illegal to prevent patients from circumventing the system, I was blown away.
His wife told me about the mother of one of her patients, she needed a MRI of the brain, they suspected a tumor, but every time she went for her scheduled visit, an emergency usurped her & she was rescheduled. In the mean time, her cat came down with leukemia, had a CT, was treated & cured. By the time her mother got her MRI, it was too late, she died of brain cancer & the daughter inherited the cat.
This was back in 1998.
Now I read that Canada is looking into private insurance......
My post was sarcasm. Did you notice the Oh and how is it Americans have the money to pay for pets healthcare. My son paid $900 for knee surgery on his Yorkie.
My post was sarcasm. Did you notice the Oh and how is it Americans have the money to pay for pets healthcare. My son paid $900 for knee surgery on his Yorkie.
Oops, my sarcasm detector is on the fritz. I gotta get that checked. Before I spend my own money on it, I'll look into the new health care bill for provisions to have it repaired. Everything else not pertaining to health care is in there, maybe they'll fix it too.
Specializes in Gyn Onc, OB, L&D, HH/Hospice/Palliative.
Wow, I've never lived in a town that didn't have free or reduced price clinics supported by local doctors & hospitals for patients without insurance.
The town I currently live in is small, (about 7,000 people) & we have 3.
I agree, if one is truley "poor" they would qualify for medicaid, if they are the working poor there are places that offer services and fees income based on a sliding scale. I find it interesting that people who can't afford to pay for insurance can afford to own cars, pay for rent/mortgage, groceries, flat screen tv's, cell phones, computers etc. It's really a matter of priorities. One can always pay to see a doctor (with money) no insurance needed there. The big problems come in of course with expensive tests, treatments and hospitalizations. There are options, even for kids of the uninsured, to get health care. Maybe the government should think about offering the already socialized medical plan--Medicaid, to include the working poor. It would cover those in the gaps without forcing all of us into it. Socialized medicine = socialized society, we would say goodbye to our liberty and freedoms we so much enjoy in this country.
I agree, if one is truley "poor" they would qualify for medicaid, if they are the working poor there are places that offer services and fees income based on a sliding scale. I find it interesting that people who can't afford to pay for insurance can afford to own cars, pay for rent/mortgage, groceries, flat screen tv's, cell phones, computers etc. It's really a matter of priorities. One can always pay to see a doctor (with money) no insurance needed there. The big problems come in of course with expensive tests, treatments and hospitalizations. There are options, even for kids of the uninsured, to get health care. Maybe the government should think about offering the already socialized medical plan--Medicaid, to include the working poor. It would cover those in the gaps without forcing all of us into it. Socialized medicine = socialized society, we would say goodbye to our liberty and freedoms we so much enjoy in this country.
14 million of the uninsured are fully eligible for government assistance through programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP, yet for some unknown reason, don't apply for benefits.
A 2008 study by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute showed that a whopping 70 percent of uninsured children are eligible for Medicaid, SCHIP, or both programs. And roughly 27 percent of non-elderly Americans who are eligible for Medicaid haven't enrolled and simply live their lives without health insurance, according to the Urban Institute.
If millions of Americans aren't availing themselves of taxpayer-funded coverage, why should we think that an even bigger government healthcare bureaucracy would solve the problem?
For families that face catastrophic diseases like childhood cancer, there's St. Jude, Who will not only cover the cost of treatment, but will cover the cost of travel, food & lodging for the entire family.
You can google 'free care for qualifying....' & find free providers galore.
I find it frustrating when I read these sob stories about kids dying of cancer because they don't have insurance, I believe these stories are contrived to make us believe there's a crisis, when in fact, there's not.
St. Jude turns no one away, regardless of ability to pay, as do all the above linked facilities.
GN Dave
39 Posts
Sure they don't.... they go to the U.S. to be treated, as anyone who works in healthcare along the northern border states can attest...