Canadian Health Care

Mike Kapic  July 15, 2011

During a trip to Canada in July of ’09, I began having muscle contractions and pain very similar to the symptoms I had in late 2006 that began a long hospital stay and two back surgeries in Reno NV. After a few days, we decided to go to the local ER. We waited about five hours before we were admitted to a curtained room. Another half an hour later, a nice looking doctor came into the room. She asked about the problem and I explained, in a synopsis, of what I thought it might be.

“Well, Mr. Kapic, this isn’t the USA. We don’t have fancy diagnostic equipment like Cat Scans or MRI’s here. We…

I interrupted her, “I believe a white cell count will tell the story.”

“Of course, we can take some blood and have it analyzed.”

A technician finally arrived and took blood. We waited another hour for the results. Finally, the doc came back into the room with the news that white cell counts were normal. I had probably pulled a muscle and should take Ibuprofen for the next few days. We thanked her, paid the bill and left.

To sum up: Canada spends more of its health care money on doctors, staff and hospitals than they do on equipment. It wasn’t cheap for an outsider either. $750 for a five minute visit and a blood test that took an aggregate seven hours.

Canadian friends, who come to AZ in the winter with us, tell us that they prefer the US system and often delay procedures to schedule them during their time here. It’s quicker, more through, although I would guess more expensive. Unless their paid-into-system pays for it.

In December of 2011, my neighbor, Hank, told me Canada has a bad medical system. It’s hard to get basic care much less needed care. Also, he says, the older you get, the less they give you. Our other neighbor, Adam had to be hospitalized a few days ago and other Canadians on the street all said, it was good it happened here instead of home. It seems Canadians in general feel the US’s care is better than the universal health system in their socialist society. Adam was refused care in the US by Canadian bureaucrats and told to return to Canada for treatment. He returned shortly afterward but was denied care and died of a heart condition soon after.

This is what “single-payer healthcare looks like.”