John: But surely that might be due to diet. Chiming in with the Canadian experience (my Canadian experience), yes, there are waits in emerg (sometimes four hours or more if you're not a 'real' emergency). Possible wait times are posted in the waiting room. You come in, make your best plea to the triage nurse and sit down. But I can't tell you how much more secure I feel knowing that whatever procedure is necessary, there will be no charge. My mother has had two brain surgeries here in Canada. No charge. No charge for x-rays. No charge for doctor-ordered physio. You have a baby....you just walk out the door with your baby. You have hip replacement...you just walk out the door with your new hip. Yes, of course, we pay higher taxes, but I don't really care. I know I'm not going to lose my house and savings if I get really sick or senile. That means a lot...
But that's anecdotal evidence. Here are some numbers: http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_20071205 http://www.aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/facts_drugcost.cfm And here's a little article from Minnesota that tries to be even-handed. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/07/02/canadian_healthcare/ Should be working, Ursula ----------------------------------------------- John McCreery wrote:
....there is no denying the results--the longest average life spans in the world.
------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
