How bad does health care suck in Canada?

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by CardiacCoug

I have had plenty of negative experiences with private billing/insurance also. But when my 3-year old son had MRSA osteomyelitis and a 103 degree fever last year I was glad he could get an immediate MRI and immediate surgery that saved his life. Houston has more MRI machines than all of Canada and an excess of operating rooms and orthopedic surgeons because medicine is profitable. When you really need it, it's good to have our system, even with all its flaws.

I'm all in favor of squeezing the insurance companies out of the picture. They are leeches on patients and doctors. Methodist Hospital is our enemy (I'm at St. Luke's) so yeah, I agree that they suck. I'm in favor of prosecuting insurance fraud and for heavy penalties on doctors and hospitals for this behavior.

As far as the VA, I think it works well for those who don't want to pay anything extra for their health care and have limited expectations. I would be OK with a two-tiered system in the U.S. -- VA-style health care for those who want to rely on the government and private health care for the rest of us. The VA is fine for some, but not good enough for me and my family. I expect a better level of care and am willing to pay for it.

VA is the best in some things. I'll let you guess what they are. Beat private hospital systems hands-down.