[quote=SFGate]Danny Williams, the premier of the Canadian province of Newfoundland, traveled to the United States earlier this month to undergo heart valve surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. With his trip, Williams joined a long list of Canadians who have decided that they prefer American medicine to their own country's government-run health system when their lives are on the line.
But just as American hospitals are becoming popular vacation destinations for about 40,000 Canadians a year, California's Senate is pressing ahead with its effort to make the state's health care system more like the one in the Great White North. The Senate recently approved a bill sponsored by Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, that would install a government-run, single-payer health system in the Golden State. The Assembly will soon consider the measure.
Lawmakers should take Williams' case to heart. Canada's experience shows that government health care leads to waiting lists, rationing and lower quality of care.
For instance, Canada suffers from a scarcity of physicians. Over the last decade, about 11 percent of doctors trained in Canadian medical schools have come to the United States to practice. Physicians' salaries are set at artificially low levels by provincial authorities: The average Canadian doctor makes just 42 percent of what an American physician does.
Canadian patients also face wait times for medical procedures. Nearly 700,000 Canadians are on a waiting list for surgery or other treatments.[/quote]
Read more: [url]http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/24/EDVV1C6HTS.DTL#ixzz0gWaMMxIS[/url]
(No, SFGate has nothing to do with all those other gates.)
[quote=Fox News]A prominent Canadian politician’s decision to undergo heart surgery in the U.S. has touched off a debate about national health care in his own country.
At the center of controversy is Danny Williams, premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. Williams’ decision to head south across the border for his surgery is drawing fire from defenders of the Canadian health-care system – a favorite example for proponents of a government-run health care in the U.S.
Williams, a millionaire and former lawyer, left Canada on Monday to seek treatment at an unspecified hospital in the U.S. It is not clear what kind of surgery he’ll undergo, though Newfoundland Deputy Premier Kathy Dunderdale said that having the surgery in the province was not an option.[/quote]
[url]http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584816,00.html[/url]
[quote=Winnipeg Free Press]ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - After listening to Danny Williams's explanation for getting heart surgery done in the United States, the leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP says the procedure should be made available to all the province's residents.
Lorraine Michael said Wednesday she is pleased the premier is making a successful recovery from the procedure he had done in Miami.
But she said since the same procedure is available in Canada, the province should fund it through the health care plan for anyone who wants it done.
The mitral valve repair Williams received Feb. 4 at Mount Sinai Medical Center is considered a minimally invasive way of doing the procedure.
The traditional method requires a 10-centimetre incision in the middle of the chest and cutting through the breast bone, or sternum.
In a statement, Michael argued others should be able to have the procedure done, regardless of their financial position.
"Given that the premier was able to avail of this surgery because of his above average financial means, will he now consider the many other Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who might require similar opportunities in the future?" said Michael.[/quote]
[url]http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/ndp-says-all-in-nl-should-have-chance-for-same-heart-surgery-as-williams-85216007.html[/url]
At least the Canadian system actually works.
Use maple syrup to address the wound. Leaves and twigs can be used to apply a tourniquet.
Yea, if it worked, why did he go to Florida for the surgery?
[QUOTE=Glaber;20410820]Yea, if it worked, why did he go to Florida for the surgery?[/QUOTE]
Miami 90210.
[IMG]http://ratalent.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/baywatch38.jpg[/IMG]
There's a reason some Canadians go down south to get their surgeries done. Most people seem to forget this. The premier there, well, he's rich. He has no problem with paying for a quick surgery. It has nothing to do with the quality, just the fact you can buy a top spot down stairs, where up here, you wait your turn, and if you need the surgery badly, chances are, you're going to get it. How many people in the states can say that they enjoyed their healthcare system? They pay too much, deal with health care insurance companies which do not seem to be ok with anyone doing anything ever in terms of medical treatment, and what not. I'm pretty happy with my system as I wouldn't be able to have health care insurance in the states, nor would they cover anything that would be worth it.
Maybe he just wanted to take a vacation to warmer climates and luckily there was a hospital in Miami.
Not to mention the fuckton of specialists that are brain-drained into the US.
rich people obviously need to be used as a marker for comparison in the US
They say their health care is so good yet they come to the US when they need an operation.
:smug:
[QUOTE=AtomicWaffle;20410852]Not to mention the fuckton of specialists that are brain-drained into the US.[/QUOTE]
Kill the specialists!:black101:
[QUOTE=Glaber;20410820]Yea, if it worked, why did he go to Florida for the surgery?[/QUOTE]
[img]http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/3816/canadianmoney25748920.jpg[/img]
FYI Canada has a prime minister, and that was merely the premier of Newfoundland, the province that no one really cares about anyway.
[QUOTE=JDK721;20410901]They say their health care is so good yet they come to the US when they need an operation.
:smug:[/QUOTE]
Yeah, just ignore anything contrary to your opinion.
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;20410931]Yeah, just ignore anything contrary to your opinion.[/QUOTE]
I know I do.
From what I can gather, he's rich, so he goes to Florida so he doesn't have to wait for a surgery. The more common folk in Canada get their surgeries completed too, but slower.
[QUOTE=JDK721;20410901]They say their health care is so good yet they come to the US when they need an operation.
:smug:[/QUOTE]
Want me to find stories about Americans coming to Canada to get healthcare because they're broke?
[editline]12:45AM[/editline]
[quote]A prominent Canadian politician’s decision to undergo heart surgery in the U.S. has touched off a debate about national health care in his own country.[/quote]
Fox News is jizzing everywhere because of this, I can tell.
[B][URL="http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1169106.html"]The surgery Williams received was for cosmetic reasons, and only four facilities in Canada offer it.[/URL][/B] The article also says that serious heart conditions average only two or three weeks wait before being operated upon in the country.
keep trying, Fox News
Yes, if you're very wealthy, our system is fantastic.
Look, the US has a great health care system...
IF YOU ARE RICH. That's the problem, it is catered to the wealthy. So it is no surprise people from other country come here for health care, cause usually when they do they like to make it rain.
So? You want to make it cheeper? Allow people to buy and use their health coverage from other states and reform tort.
[QUOTE=Glaber;20411198]So? You want to make it cheeper? Allow people to buy and use their health coverage from other states and reform tort.[/QUOTE]
It's been proven that tort reform will only help a small amount.
So? If it will help with bringing costs down at all, why not do it? especially if it's been proven to work.
:foxnews:faux news:foxnews:
[QUOTE=Glaber;20411198]So? You want to make it cheeper? Allow people to buy and use their health coverage from other states and reform tort.[/QUOTE]
are you trying to protect the idea that you should have to put yourself in massive debt to enormously rich insurance companies to get life-saving surgery?
[quote]"It is quite possible that the procedure he is getting is so specialized that the top doctors doing it are to be found only in the U.S.," Siegel said.[/quote]
Keep dreaming, Fox.
[QUOTE=Wakka;20410814]Use maple syrup to address the wound. Leaves and twigs can be used to apply a tourniquet.[/QUOTE]
Hahaha this was funny the first few times now it isn't.
[QUOTE=ImBill;20411625]are you trying to protect the idea that you should have to put yourself in massive debt to enormously rich insurance companies to get life-saving surgery?[/QUOTE]
You make it sound that being able to buy heath insurance from Ohio and being able to use it in Texas increases the debt. Why do you hate the free market?
[QUOTE=Glaber;20413535]You make it sound that being able to buy heath insurance from Ohio and being able to use it in Texas increases the debt. Why do you hate the free market?[/QUOTE]
ahahahaha fuck the free market. The free market is not more important than human life
and the reason he came down to the U.S. is because he can afford to pay extra money for extra special care. It has nothing to do with the effectiveness of Canada's health care system.
And what about all of the Americans who go to go across the border to Canada for health care because they can't afford health care in the U.S.? That happens all the fucking time ([url]http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/20/world/americans-filching-free-health-care-in-canada.html?pagewanted=1[/url]) and you don't know about it because you only read the same biased, shitty news sources that support your uniformed world view.
I've said it before and I will say it again: Glaber: you don't know anything about politics. You don't. You're quite possibly the least informed, least knowledgable person on this entire forum and yet you keep posting, ignoring every bit of evidence that is constantly being hurled at you.
Danny Williams is making his career on pissing everyone in the country off.
Anyone remember his ABC campaign during the federal election?
[editline]12:36PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=laval;20411056][B][URL="http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1169106.html"]The surgery Williams received was for cosmetic reasons, and only four facilities in Canada offer it.[/URL][/B] The article also says that serious heart conditions average only two or three weeks wait before being operated upon in the country.
keep trying, Fox News[/QUOTE]
I love the Herald
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