Our healthcare system's benefit is that you can't be suddenly bankrupt due to a disease. I.E if you get cancer, you're not gonna be in sudden need of 250K to survive.
I'd say we need to improve our healthcare with a two-tier system, rather than single-payer.
Here's a dirty little secret: A lot of people end up not paying their hospital bills in the US. Hospitals and doctors then sell the debt to debt collectors for pennies on the dollar, and declare the loss on their taxes.
Yep and they keep negotiating with insurance for a while. Never pay the first bill as likely sooner another cheaper revised one will likely show up, but if you paid the first one it's mot like you'd get a refund for the difference later.
I would not say the US healthcare system is perfect, but the Canadian one is also far from it.
With respect to going bankrupt, in the US, you get health insurance to mitigate that. Obviously not everyone can afford health insurance, so that is an issue and something to look at fixing. But then again, getting squeezed to death with taxes (and health care is one of the biggest expenditures in the Canadian government's budget) isn't great either.
However, the worst thing about Canada's health care system is that because we get this so called 'free' health care (not free, taxpayers are milked to an insane amount to pay for it), is that we have to give up our rights in exchange for it (give up right in exchange for something most of us pay for. Man, the government is too good to us!(sarcasm if it wasn't obvious)).
For example (I'll use Ontario in this example as I know the most about what went on here and continues to go on) people were being told to stay home except for essential travel (a form of house arrest which is a removal of human rights) because our health care system was over-run (there were conflicting reports, in certain areas it was actually doing better than usual, so much of this could have actually been a lie. And according to the government's numbers, 3 extra people per hospital is enough to over-run it, however those might not be distributed evenly, so while one facility/hospital may get no extra people, another one may get 10). In context, this health-care system is over-run every year around this time for flu season and they never do anything to fix it. But even better, we were being told all summer by the government that there would be a second wave. And while they wasted money on advertisements related to this so-called pandemic, they didn't do anything about preparing for this so-called second wave they claimed was coming. So the government is able to mismanage the health care system and then use that as an excuse to take away our rights. I don't see that as a good trade-off. I'd rather be 250k in debt than have my human rights confiscated. But then again, I work for a living, the amount I pay in taxes for this failing system I could easily purchase health insurance 5 times over.
Another and quicker example is Quebec. Their health care system got so bad that the government lost a court case, on human rights grounds, and it forced them to allow private health facilities to operate in parallel with their public system. A little background: In most of Canada (definitely in Ontario, but no longer in Quebec), all health care facilities have to be part of the government's system, by law. You cannot have a private clinic that takes money from it's patients. In Quebec, their system got so bad, the courts acknowledged that by denying people access to private health care, the government was infringing on their human rights, chiefly because they could not rely on the public system their to treat them in a remotely timely manner (you apparently have to wait years just to get a family doctor in Quebec in many areas).
I will close this rant with just one quick point. One other down side of public health care is that you don't have a choice about the quality of treatment you will receive. You get what the government decides to give you and unless you decide to go abroad, you can't get anything else. So basically, if you get lucky, you will be treated well (and I know people who have gotten really good treatment in Canada). But if you get un-lucky, you're stuck with the treatment or facility you are given even you may very well die due to the sub-standard treatment (when compared to what you could have had if you were lucky) . You do not have the option to shop around. It's like a lottery. The leftist really like limited resources to be distributed on a lottery basis as opposed to some one willing to put effort into getting better treatment if it means more to them.
Insulin is a whole other story. It's a generic drug developed in the 1920s. As far as I know, Canada does not subsidize it so what you pay is the cost of producing it.
There is something messed up with the drug industry in the States. They usually use the excuse (for drugs under patent) that it's to re-coup the cost of developing the drug. But that just doesn't fly for insulin which was developed almost 100 years ago. Trump got the prices to drop, but under Xiden, they shot up again.
We pay a fortune in taxes. Federal income tax, state income tax (in some states), sales tax, property tax, school tax, inheritance/gift tax, medicare, social security, etc. etc. etc. We are taxed to death. But since it is spread out people don't realize how much we really pay in taxes. They even tax you if you want to take your own money out of retirement! It's insanity. I'd say 1/4 of our entire income goes to taxes.
My husband believes we should have a flat sales tax on goods. No income tax/property taxes, etc. Life necessities have a lower tax % and luxury items have a higher tax %.... this eliminates the IRS alltogether, and it naturally balances out that the more you buy and consume, the higher taxes you naturally pay. Poorer people will still pay less in taxes because necessities would be taxed at a lower rate.
Income tax is so ridiculous and unconstitutional, it's not even funny.
Well, I mean, that's all well and good that you have high taxes, but to be fair, your equation is missing out on the 0 dollars you pay in health insurance premiums. I know Canadians, and I know your drug insurance is nothing compared to the US.
In the US, we pay upwards of 1200 to 3000 dollars a month in health insurance premiums. That's 14,400 to 36,000 a year for a lot of people. You have to add our taxes + our health insurance premiums to compare against your taxes.
Show me the job in the US that pays your whole insurance. Even if you work at a major corporation, you get money taken out of your pay for health insurance.
That's one of the major hindrances to economic success in the US. Insurance is tied to your job, so it's a lot harder to start a business in the US because if you get stuck with a major medical bill while getting your business off the ground, you're done.
I knew a guy in Lorain Ohio, had that exact thing happen to him. Started a pizza shop, it did pretty well, was figuring he'd break even by end of year 2, got diagnosed with cancer, had no health insurance, blew his brains out at 43.
Our healthcare system's benefit is that you can't be suddenly bankrupt due to a disease. I.E if you get cancer, you're not gonna be in sudden need of 250K to survive.
I'd say we need to improve our healthcare with a two-tier system, rather than single-payer.
Here's a dirty little secret: A lot of people end up not paying their hospital bills in the US. Hospitals and doctors then sell the debt to debt collectors for pennies on the dollar, and declare the loss on their taxes.
Yep and they keep negotiating with insurance for a while. Never pay the first bill as likely sooner another cheaper revised one will likely show up, but if you paid the first one it's mot like you'd get a refund for the difference later.
I would not say the US healthcare system is perfect, but the Canadian one is also far from it.
With respect to going bankrupt, in the US, you get health insurance to mitigate that. Obviously not everyone can afford health insurance, so that is an issue and something to look at fixing. But then again, getting squeezed to death with taxes (and health care is one of the biggest expenditures in the Canadian government's budget) isn't great either.
However, the worst thing about Canada's health care system is that because we get this so called 'free' health care (not free, taxpayers are milked to an insane amount to pay for it), is that we have to give up our rights in exchange for it (give up right in exchange for something most of us pay for. Man, the government is too good to us!(sarcasm if it wasn't obvious)).
For example (I'll use Ontario in this example as I know the most about what went on here and continues to go on) people were being told to stay home except for essential travel (a form of house arrest which is a removal of human rights) because our health care system was over-run (there were conflicting reports, in certain areas it was actually doing better than usual, so much of this could have actually been a lie. And according to the government's numbers, 3 extra people per hospital is enough to over-run it, however those might not be distributed evenly, so while one facility/hospital may get no extra people, another one may get 10). In context, this health-care system is over-run every year around this time for flu season and they never do anything to fix it. But even better, we were being told all summer by the government that there would be a second wave. And while they wasted money on advertisements related to this so-called pandemic, they didn't do anything about preparing for this so-called second wave they claimed was coming. So the government is able to mismanage the health care system and then use that as an excuse to take away our rights. I don't see that as a good trade-off. I'd rather be 250k in debt than have my human rights confiscated. But then again, I work for a living, the amount I pay in taxes for this failing system I could easily purchase health insurance 5 times over.
Another and quicker example is Quebec. Their health care system got so bad that the government lost a court case, on human rights grounds, and it forced them to allow private health facilities to operate in parallel with their public system. A little background: In most of Canada (definitely in Ontario, but no longer in Quebec), all health care facilities have to be part of the government's system, by law. You cannot have a private clinic that takes money from it's patients. In Quebec, their system got so bad, the courts acknowledged that by denying people access to private health care, the government was infringing on their human rights, chiefly because they could not rely on the public system their to treat them in a remotely timely manner (you apparently have to wait years just to get a family doctor in Quebec in many areas).
I will close this rant with just one quick point. One other down side of public health care is that you don't have a choice about the quality of treatment you will receive. You get what the government decides to give you and unless you decide to go abroad, you can't get anything else. So basically, if you get lucky, you will be treated well (and I know people who have gotten really good treatment in Canada). But if you get un-lucky, you're stuck with the treatment or facility you are given even you may very well die due to the sub-standard treatment (when compared to what you could have had if you were lucky) . You do not have the option to shop around. It's like a lottery. The leftist really like limited resources to be distributed on a lottery basis as opposed to some one willing to put effort into getting better treatment if it means more to them.
Trust me. I know. I'm in BC. Fuck my life.
Still, I pay measly $2000 per year for insulin, vs the $40,000 I have to if I lived in the states.
Insulin is a whole other story. It's a generic drug developed in the 1920s. As far as I know, Canada does not subsidize it so what you pay is the cost of producing it.
There is something messed up with the drug industry in the States. They usually use the excuse (for drugs under patent) that it's to re-coup the cost of developing the drug. But that just doesn't fly for insulin which was developed almost 100 years ago. Trump got the prices to drop, but under Xiden, they shot up again.
We pay a fortune in taxes. Federal income tax, state income tax (in some states), sales tax, property tax, school tax, inheritance/gift tax, medicare, social security, etc. etc. etc. We are taxed to death. But since it is spread out people don't realize how much we really pay in taxes. They even tax you if you want to take your own money out of retirement! It's insanity. I'd say 1/4 of our entire income goes to taxes.
My husband believes we should have a flat sales tax on goods. No income tax/property taxes, etc. Life necessities have a lower tax % and luxury items have a higher tax %.... this eliminates the IRS alltogether, and it naturally balances out that the more you buy and consume, the higher taxes you naturally pay. Poorer people will still pay less in taxes because necessities would be taxed at a lower rate.
Income tax is so ridiculous and unconstitutional, it's not even funny.
Income tax is literally the 16th amendment.
It uh... doesn't get any more constitutional than that, sorry.
You can dislike it, but it went through the ratification process, so it's the Constitution now.
You will never in a million billion years get the Supreme Court to rule an amendment to the Constitution unconstitutional.
But, who defines luxury items?
The people stealing your money
How many Canadians lose their homes over hospital bills though?
So what is approximately the percentage you take home after all the income taxes?
"The average Canadian family spent more than 42 per cent of its income on taxes in 2019"
That's including sales taxes, property taxes, and whatever else.
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/taxes-versus-necessities-of-life-canadian-consumer-tax-index-2020-edition?utm_source=Media-Releases&utm_campaign=Canadian-Consumer-Tax-Index-2020&utm_medium=Media&utm_content=Learn_More&utm_term=531
Well, I mean, that's all well and good that you have high taxes, but to be fair, your equation is missing out on the 0 dollars you pay in health insurance premiums. I know Canadians, and I know your drug insurance is nothing compared to the US.
In the US, we pay upwards of 1200 to 3000 dollars a month in health insurance premiums. That's 14,400 to 36,000 a year for a lot of people. You have to add our taxes + our health insurance premiums to compare against your taxes.
Get a job that pays your insurance
Show me the job in the US that pays your whole insurance. Even if you work at a major corporation, you get money taken out of your pay for health insurance.
That's one of the major hindrances to economic success in the US. Insurance is tied to your job, so it's a lot harder to start a business in the US because if you get stuck with a major medical bill while getting your business off the ground, you're done.
I knew a guy in Lorain Ohio, had that exact thing happen to him. Started a pizza shop, it did pretty well, was figuring he'd break even by end of year 2, got diagnosed with cancer, had no health insurance, blew his brains out at 43.