I’ll say it again* – It should be a Criminal Code offence for any sitting member of parliament or provincial MLA to leave Canada for medical treatment.
I’ll say it again* – It should be a Criminal Code offence for any sitting member of parliament or provincial MLA to leave Canada for medical treatment.
Kevin B:
You assert that the cost o your treatment in the us was more than it would have been cda. Unless you have the cost of that shot as it would have been charged if you were an American travelling in cda then you have no case.
And the doctor saying that the service would have only cost three thousand in cda is pulling a number out of his a$$. Charges for OOC claims are far higher than the domestic rate and you friend hasn’t got those numbers at hand.
TexCan:
I dare say you would be still waiting in the hallway of the Emergency Department
Oh, foo. A few months ago, my pancreas finally gave out, and my diabetes pills were ineffective. I went into “diabetic ketoacidosis”, which was pretty gruesome. I had a pulse over 140, and sky high blood pressure. The triage nurse had me processed in less than 15 minutes, and in a bed shortly thereafter – and it would have been quicker except that in my addled state, I went to the wrong waiting area, and they had to search for me. Less than 30 minutes after arrival, I had been seen by two doctors and a gaggle of nurses, had an IV in each arm, and they were hooking up an EKG. Now, it was 8:00 AM on a Tuesday morning when I got there, so I realize that might not be the busiest time in an ER. I also realize that walking in in my state (the docs thought I was on the verge of a heart attack) probably got me treated more quickly than if I’d come in with a non-life threatening condition like a broken foot. But I thought they did a very efficient and speedy job.
As for hospital costs (this was almost ten years ago, so they’re quite likely higher now), but my ortho told me that one night in the hospital would run about $1,500, and that the cost of the X-rays and setting the bone probably wouldn’t exceed that. And the US costs are doubtless higher than they were a decade ago.
Kate gets my vote, but so does Vitruvius (in this case) Grey Bull @ 9:29 PM; Danny William owns N/L. Yup, bought and paid for. And further more, he’s welcome to it!
Danny Williams has just handed a huge gift to proponents of privatization of health care in Canada. Unless he doesn’t survive.
“The deputy premier of Newfoundland and Labrador says Danny Williams is undergoing heart surgery in the United States because the treatment he is seeking was not available in his home province. ”
OK, fine.
Can the deputy premier confirm then that all cardholders of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Care Plan are entitled to such treatment in the US as well?
Well, OBVIOUSLY, Vitruvius is RIGHT and Kate and confreres are WRONG.
I see Kate’s assertion in the same light as Shaidle’s foreign policy solutions like: “nuke ’em”. Not meant to be taken literally but as hyperbolic expressions of fully justifiable anger and frustration.
When ordinary Canadians are legally prohibited from going stateside for health care the rule of law would require prosecution of any member of the political class who broke this law.
The previous paragraph should be interpreted as a “statement of the bleedingly (no pun intended) obvious”.
Some posters identify our health care in a positive light through personal experience,but not all of us have been as fortunate.I waited two years for shoulder surgery and because of a very active lifestyle have spent hours upon hours in hospital waiting rooms only to be given Tylenol threes.Now I’m aware that my then diagnosed muscle pulls are two herniated discs,torn rotater cuffs,and an extended and rotated SI joint,all causing atrophy and arthritis.
Can anyone be sure that the good doctors in Florida are understanding ABC Danny’s dialect, describing his health problem to them, and they aren’t preforming a sex change operation in response to his malaise?
It will be Lord Thunderin’ Jaysus! when he wakes up.
“they aren’t PREforming” Nice spelling there, A**hole.
Doctor-“Danny, you need heart surgery. You can stay here and wait for months, maybe longer, or you can use your own money and have it done sooner”
If you had the cash, what would you do?
Should there be two-tier health care? Yes, definitely. Is there? No.
Interesting. In all the comments nobody mentions allowing privatized healthcare to come into Canada. I read in the paper that 43% of Ontario’s budget in dedicated to medical/healthcare. I did some quick figuring and I pay about $6600/yr just for healthcare through my taxes, my wife pays about the same–maybe a little higher. So as a family we pay $13K/yr on healthcare that is non-existent. My son had a gash in his lip a few months ago and after waiting 7 hrs in the waiting room at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, we left without receiving ANY medical aid or care. The computer is a wonderful thing, I requested a medical/healthcare insurance quote from the US for a family of 4 with $3million coverage for each person, it gave me a number of different companies and the prices ranged from $400 to $800–that’s for a family of four. So doing yet a little bit more math, if I was going totally private I would pay as low as $4800/year to a high of $9600/year (with no waiting, etc)–today in the “free” system I pay $13k/yr–and my kid goes without medical care after waiting 7 hrs because our medical care is rationed by some bureaucrat.
To me this just confirms what I have always said, that we ALREADY have 2 tier health.
Those who can afford it or are covered through employment, get extended health care. Those who can’t – no fillings for you.
Those who can afford it, can go to the US (or any other country) for immediate or better (?) treatment. Those who can’t – wait.
“I have no problem with politicians going south on their dime to get their ailments looked after”
I question whether Danny is going on his own dime. The politicians always have a better Plan for themselves than do we peasants, so there’s a good chance their medical services plan includes paying for all or part of their foreign surgical requirements.
Some intrepid Reporter should ask the musical question,”are you paying for it yourself,Danny,or is it another privilege of Rank”?
the reason danny has to go to the states for treatment is that his heart is the size of a grape…he neads micro surgery.
Eight years ago, in the Calgary Herald, Ezra Levant noted that Jean Chretien had launched negative tv ads that accused Ralph Klein of bringing the dreaded “US-style” health care to Canada and threatened to fine Alberta an amount equivalent to every dollar of private money that went into health care.
Turns out ol’ Chretien had no intention of limiting his own right to access private care.
Levant:
“Whatever Chretien does to (Alberta), and whatever capitalistic acts he accuses Klein of engaging in, Albertans should know this: Jean Chretien takes his own family to private health clinics. In fact, he doesn’t just use U.S.-style private clinics. He actually goes to private clinics in the U.S.
“And he flies to those U.S. private clinics on Canadian government jets, paid for by Canadian tax dollars.”
Instead of making it a Criminal Code offense for any politician who uses private care, maybe we should enact a law stating that any politician who advocates against private care for regular Canadians but then attempts to use private care for him/herself and/or his/her family should be required to sign a pledge promising to cease and desist all legislative attempts to prevent other Canadians from accessing private care.
I can’t imagine that anyone would have a problem with that, but I’ve been wrong before.
“the reason danny has to go to the states for treatment is that his heart is the size of a grape…he neads micro surgery.
Posted by: stubby at February 2, 2010 3:40 PM”
The guy with the heart the size of a grape donates his salary to charity. Chew on that Stubby.
Your wife give you that name?
The guy with the heart the size of a grape donates his salary to charity
So obviously accepting the salary causes tax problems that can be conveniently avoided by making charitable donations. Go polish somebody else’s chrome. Ya damned rights I’m cynical – I haven’t seen a politician yet that does something out of the goodness of their black little hearts.
Let’s see who goes outside our great health care system: Danny Williams. Jean Chretien and Robert Bourassa. Dalton Camp jumps the line and gets a heart transplant while others wait years. This is a short list. BUT remember that MP’s have access to DND hospitals across Canada anytime. It is never reported who uses this option.
Posted by: stubby at February 2, 2010 3:40 PM
“the reason danny has to go to the states for treatment is that his heart is the size of a grape…he neads micro surgery”.
“needs micro surgery” MSM correction.
Thats his brain stubby, don’t be so tacky Eh!
Canada without a Newfie is is nothing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijLPFNOhx_o&feature=related
“Oh, this is the place where the fishermen gather,
In oilskins and boots and Cape Anns battened down.
All sizes of figures with squid lines and jiggers,
They congregate here on the squid jiggin’ ground”
Sing along and piss on Danny!
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0003294
Remember that Jack Layton, leader of the NDP also used a private medical facility in Toronto for his hernia. What was that again about noblesse oblige *sarc*?
Anne: wonder how many here get the “(not from Cornwall)” reference LOL… We could tell you were not her, as *you* made sense!! Cheers
Sometimes the political polemics just piss me off.
I had the stent procedure at that same hospital in Victoria last November. Without I wouldn’t be around to get mad today. Yes, I was flown there by air ambulance and had to find my way home. 4 years ago my wife had a terrible bone disease and I paid for the MRI rather than wait months.
Whatever an individual must do to get proper and timely treatment gets my support. If politicians have no compassion then we must do everything in our power change things.
Unfortunately, out here in B.C. the opposition is the NDP. When they had power, things were a hellava lot worse.
ordinary Canadians are legally prohibited from going stateside for health care
I’m pretty sure that is not the case.
Anne: wonder how many here get the “(not from Cornwall)” reference LOL… We could tell you were not her, as *you* made sense!! Cheers
Posted by: reprobate at February 2, 2010 6:26 PM
Yes…this Anne sure isn’t like the one FROM Cornwall…I enjoy your posts alot Anne (not from Cornwall).
Glengarrian & reprobate;
I wondered if anyone had caught on.