[BartSimpson]

Brenda Brenda:

How many Americans do you think shop cross border for medication?

Now that the free market has dealt with the problems of old people buying meds in Canada...not many. Most pharmaceutical firms now offer discounts to old folks buying their own meds so they're now able to buy their meds cheaper in the USA than they can by going to Canada. Add to this the major pharmacy chins now offer massive discounts to Medicare clients...Wal Mart has guaranteed $8 prescriptions for certain people.

$1:

It works both ways. Like everything works both ways.

But hey, the US is bigger and better huh

Right on both counts. Everything does work both ways. But I have a feeling that if Canada were able to frequently send people south for medical treatment then they would not have to invest in health facilities in Canada. They'd just give you a bus ticket to the US for your cancer treatment. Consequently, I think that local Canadian care would suffer if your health administrators were able to save money by sending people south.

The US being bigger *is* necessarily better because we have economies of scale at play. A market of 330 million people is necessarily going to have more choices...and comparatively cheaper prices...than a market 1/10 the size.

Yes, I know direct costs are less in Canada, but there are many other factors that make a net cost lower in the USA. The proof of that is while our current system costs about $1.5 trillion per year, the new "cheaper" Obamacare will bring the total US health bill to $2.45 trillion per year and then the IRS is projecting a LOSS of tax revenue of around $350 billion per year as costs get moved from the for-profit column to the non-profit column. That effectively raises the bill for government to $2.8 trillion per year.

By adopting a system that more resembles Canada's we will have higher costs all the way around. And to cut those costs the excess capability our system has right now - that many Canadians end up needing - will have to be cut.

And then what happens to kids like the one in this article who was told there was nothing to be done for him in Canada? Because nothing will be done for him in the US, either.

[Brenda]

Fly him to Europe.

I don't necessarily think that the Canadian system should be adopted. I think there should be looked at various countries and the way they have done it, and take the best of that, and learn from their mistakes made.
I for one think it is very important that everybody is insured, that you don't go broke over medical costs, no matter how poor, middle class or rich you are, AND that the system should not be abused. I also think that since the kids are the future, they should be taken care of, regardless.

This particular child, and the one that needed the insuline pump that was in the news not too long ago, shouldnt even be newsworthy. It should just have been taken care of and paid for by the insurance. THAT is what you pay for.

I don't mind a $5 or $10 doctors fee every time you go, unless your doctor thinks you should return. There are a lot of options, but from what I hear (and that really angers me), people "do not want to pay for others who are less smart, who make less money or abuse the system". I have heard it said, and really, how can you call yourself a society with people like that???

[BartSimpson]

Brenda Brenda:

Fly him to Europe.

You mean where the conversation has started to privatize health care and to end government subsidized care as a luxury?

[Brenda]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Brenda Brenda:

Fly him to Europe.

You mean where the conversation has started to privatize health care and to end government subsidized care as a luxury?

You can have both systems in one country...

[bootlegga]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Second, I don't see the US forming a North American Healthcare Agreement with Canada because, hate to say, it would be kind of one-sided. For the time being, at least, it's Canadians coming south because they don't want to wait or don't have the care they need available in Canada. I mean no offense when I say this, but if Canadians are unable to find specialised care when they need it in Canada, why would Americans be able to?

Well, if you guys stopped stealing (oops, hiring) a lot of the doctors we train every year, maybe we could find specialists in less than 9 months!

[BartSimpson]

bootlegga bootlegga:

Well, if you guys stopped stealing (oops, hiring) a lot of the doctors we train every year, maybe we could find specialists in less than 9 months!

Maybe if Canada had a more competitive market than we have you'd be able to pick from the cream of OUR doctors.

[Brenda]

Well, Americans spend more on fast food each year than on higher education, soooo...

[BartSimpson]

Brenda Brenda:

Well, Americans spend more on fast food each year than on higher education, soooo...

The two expenditures are not related. One is a market function based in the fact that all people in the USA need to eat. The other is a hybrid government and private sector function based in the fact that about three million people in the USA are pursuing higher education at any one time.

Fast food made about $120billion in 2007 and to spend $120 billion on three million people would be $40,000 per year per the each, which would be highway robbery for an education.

Frankly, were we spending $40k per year on each student's higher education you'd be complaining about that.

[Brenda]

Ah, no, I would not complain about spending money on education. I rather see the government spend money on that, than on healthcare for the obese who are mostly of lower income groups... Dont get me wrong, I want healthcare for everyone, but if we can prevent obesity...

[Brenda]

$1:

Frankly, were we spending $40k per year on each student's higher education you'd be complaining about that.

My issue with this comment is that, that I think education should be free. So no, I would never be complaining about education.

I rather pay taxes for people to have a good education and the ability to build up a good pension, than for an Old Age Pension, that by the time I am "entitled" to it, will not exist anymore, but I had to pay for the people that get it now, AND pay for my own education.

[Public_Domain]

[Public_Domain]