Thread: sicko by MM
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Old 01-30-2008, 08:00 PM   #12
mke
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Toronto
Posts: 64
Well yes I'm happy in Canada and my care and that of my family has always been exemplary. There are waiting lists for elective procedures like joint replacements and cataract surgery. ER waiting times can be awful, except for those who really need to be in the ER. In remote areas access to medical care is difficult. The lobbyists for the status quo in the US are going to stress those facts.

No system is perfect, I know that with endless funds I could get faster care in the US. I am not sure I would get better care.

In the late 80's I was a second level manager in a community hospital with around 400 beds, the usual mixture of chronic, medical, surgical, about 20 mental health beds, lots of maternity traffic. There was purchasing dept with around 3 or 4 people. There were about 5 secretaries in total, one of whom did billing part time.
One night I watched a documentary about a hospital in Oregon, same size more or less, same mix more or less. There was a whole separate building full of people who did nothing but billing.

And that is exactly why US citizens pay 60% more for worse outcomes, why by any accepted measure of public health they are way down on the list. You aren't paying your health care providers - you pay your insurers.
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Mary in Toronto

1998 left side ER/PR+, node-, lumpectomy and rads
2005 right side ER/PR-/HER2+, nodes+, neoadjuvant AC, taxol, lumpectomy, rads, 12 months herceptin
2008 back to the left, ER/PR+/HER2-, node-, bilateral mast.
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