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Some facts Ms. Holmes doesn't mention when she describes her desperate attempts to get an MRI and then surgery for a "brain tumor" because of a six month waiting list that would have killed her because she had "brain cancer":
1. Ms. Holmes didn't have brain cancer. She had a benign cyst. Yes, it can cause some nasty problems, just like an acoustic neuroma, but like an acoustic neuroma, it's not fatal and not usually considered an emergency.
2. This is why Ms. Holmes faced a wait for an MRI and possible surgery: her condition was not considered an emergency or life threatening.
3. There are plenty of private MRI clinics near Ms. Holmes's home in Ontario where she could have been seen quickly. It is unknown why she chose to go to the United States for something she could have had for less cost in Canada.
4. Her choice to go to the United States for immediate treatment rather than remain in Canada cost her family $100,000, much of which was financed by a second mortgage and by loans from family and friends. This is no different from what Americans routinely have to do when they don't have insurance at all, or their insurance provider refuses treatment, or when their 80/20 plan leaves them facing enormous bills, so it is unclear as to what advantage she gained by coming to the United States rather than seeking private care in Canada.
No healthcare system is flawless, but given how lousy American healthcare can be, and how insurance companies routinely dump expensive patients from their rosters, and given how I was nearly forced out of my job because I had a potentially expensive condition, and given that I am uninsurable if I leave Massachusetts, permanently...well, is it any wonder I'm seriously considering retiring to Canada?
1. Ms. Holmes didn't have brain cancer. She had a benign cyst. Yes, it can cause some nasty problems, just like an acoustic neuroma, but like an acoustic neuroma, it's not fatal and not usually considered an emergency.
2. This is why Ms. Holmes faced a wait for an MRI and possible surgery: her condition was not considered an emergency or life threatening.
3. There are plenty of private MRI clinics near Ms. Holmes's home in Ontario where she could have been seen quickly. It is unknown why she chose to go to the United States for something she could have had for less cost in Canada.
4. Her choice to go to the United States for immediate treatment rather than remain in Canada cost her family $100,000, much of which was financed by a second mortgage and by loans from family and friends. This is no different from what Americans routinely have to do when they don't have insurance at all, or their insurance provider refuses treatment, or when their 80/20 plan leaves them facing enormous bills, so it is unclear as to what advantage she gained by coming to the United States rather than seeking private care in Canada.
No healthcare system is flawless, but given how lousy American healthcare can be, and how insurance companies routinely dump expensive patients from their rosters, and given how I was nearly forced out of my job because I had a potentially expensive condition, and given that I am uninsurable if I leave Massachusetts, permanently...well, is it any wonder I'm seriously considering retiring to Canada?
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-20 11:38 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-07-20 11:56 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-07-20 12:16 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-07-20 11:51 am (UTC)From:Also, I bet the ad-makers gave her money to pay off those debts.
I wish "Orac" (the blog name of a oncologist) had a chance to tell his story to a wider audience. He helped the surviving sister of a woman who had only been brought in for care when she lost consciousness hours before dying. For years, his short-lived patient had hidden her cancer from her family, because her sister and mother would have gone broke along with her to pay for her treatment. The tumor had broken through her skin months before, and the deceased's apartment was strewn with bloody bandages from her frequent change of dressing.
So, jumping the queue in Canada means raising money for private care, and possibly travel. In America, not being able to afford health care means a slow, painful death. For 22,000 people a year, according to the most recent stats.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-20 11:57 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-07-20 04:38 pm (UTC)From:Also, Toronto is not the entitety of Canada. Just because you have to wait in Toronto, doesn't mean it's the same length of time in Halifax. My mum was called a week ago thursday to come in and meet her surgeon Friday morning. He wanted to operate on her knee, a bone graft, instead of waiting another couple of months to see if it would heal. Surgery is scheduled for this coming Friday morning, would have been done last friday morning, but he was on vacation. That's two weeks for non life threatening.
Alot of what is being said in your media about our health care system is complete fabrication...sometimes paid for by your Insurance companies. I'd be willing to put money that this lady's case is one of those instances.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-20 11:44 pm (UTC)From:I have lived with both systems. This crap about "don't let the government in between you and your doctor?" I don't have words for how wrong that is. When I go to my doctor here (the doctor that I picked, incidentally), I hand over my health card, and that's it. No copay. No paperwork. No inexplicable bills. No insurance BS. The insurance companies in the US get far more in between me and my doctor then the government ever has in Canada.
This chick has gone to a shiny US hospital and been convinced that the grass is greener over there. She has never had to live without insurance because her employer can't afford it as a benefit to their employees, or worse yet, because she happened to have lost her job. She has never had to put up with crap like an insurance company refusing to pay for maternal care because it was a "pre-existing condition."
I agree, Canadian healthcare is not perfect. We have issues (for instance, we need more family physicians.) But very few people become destitute here because they cannot afford health care.