They are *all* from the USA.

http://www.cracked.com/article_17429_6-most-terrifying-medical-malpractice-cases-ever.html

An EMERGENCY room is for EMERGENCIES. Not vague wrist numbness a few days after a skate boarding incident; nor is it meant for diagnostic services such as a “blood test.”

Triage is a normal medical proceedure: and let me put it to you this way – How happy would you be if YOUR loved one died from massive head trauma because of someone demanding a blood test for an unspecified ailment?

Secondly – in Ontario at least: walk in clinics are exactly that – there is no requirement of having a “primary care” physician. I do not have a family practitioner at the moment – I was not happy with the level of care I received (not because of any government interference – there are good doctors and bad, like any profession) so I am currently looking for a new one. Only once has my visit to the walk in clinic (which is typically a “wait in line and take your turn” scenario: as opposed to EMERGENCY rooms in hospitals) taken more than an hour.

Thirdly: my mother was diagnosed last october with a very rare agressive form of cancer. Within a week of diagnosis, she started her chemo: a month after chemo finished, her surgery: a month after surgery her radiation. (each wait between treatments was medically required, not government-mandated.) She has had daily visits at home from registered nurses, and generally her care has been top notch.

Canada has a blended system of government and private insurance. It works for us – but remember that we brought it in during the 1970’s – during a time of economic strength, and for less than 20 million people at the time.

I am very glad for our system. My mother’s cancer, my father’s pacemaker, my mother in law’s cancer, my father in laws various ailments. My own health issues and my husband’s motorcycle accident. All have received excellant care within a reasonable time period.

ANY system has failures that can be highlighted – no system is perfect. Canada’s system DOES work – imperfectly at times, but it does. It doesn’t mean it will work for the USA. I don’t have a crystal ball – but I give a thumbs down to Steven Crowder for a video that was rich in propaganda and quite short on facts.

Normally I’m quite a fan! Cheers and thanks to Steven for all the other great work he’s done – but this one I call foul.

And on another note, I love how something which is heavily taxed can still be considered “free” by much of the public.

Long emergency room waits are a problem everywhere there are hospitals. If you want to judge based on that, you could argue that this is an indictment of the American system.

YYZ on July 14, 2009 at 11:33 AM

And you know when that started? About the time they socialized emergency rooms, when it became law that hospitals had to treat everyone that came to an emergency room, for free if necessary, no matter what the issue. As a result, we have people flooding emergency rooms to get treated for every little ache, pain and sniffle instead of visiting their doctor….many of them crossing the border illegally specifically to take advantage of the system.

That being the case, not quite sure how giving everyone “free” health coverage as national policy will make things better. It won’t. It will simply encourage more people to run to the medical system to get their fair share of all this “free” health care.

Just say no to nationalized health care.

It is not a healthcare insurance problem, there just aren’t enough doctors in the country to treat people for free. The average debt is over $300 to train a doctor and they are expected to work for free? Not hardly. It seems that a high percentage of doctors that are trained in the US annually are not citizens and return to their home countries after training. Perhaps if we limited the number of new entries not from america the problem would subside. OR, require all doctors not from America, here on Visa to work for 5 years in a community sponsored hospital and accept no payment for services of uninsured.

Long emergency room waits are a problem everywhere there are hospitals. If you want to judge based on that, you could argue that this is an indictment of the American system.

YYZ on July 14, 2009 at 11:33 AM

Sort of. From your link (bolding mine):

had been waiting in the emergency room at the city-owned Kings County Hospital Center for nearly 24 hours

Here in the Los Angeles area, there was a huge problem a while ago where a woman also died in the ER, waiting for treatment. That hospital, however, was not owned by the city. It was the county.

Why do we always pile more crap on top of crap.

workingforpigs on July 14, 2009 at 1:48 PM

Because we are indoctrinated into believing the myth that ‘taking away’ government is always a bad thing.

In 100 years, how many laws will we have? How will it be possible for anyone to understand it all? ‘Mens rea’ will be a formidable defense!

The medicare system was ruined with the Kennedy Kassebaum Act and has been in a death spiral since.

We know the costs are going to be enormously high. The care….enormously low. So why on Gods green earth, do some believe Obama can do it better than countries who already have it, and have less of a populace than we do? More people on this, more costs to taxpayers.

And always keep in mind, that Obama, nor anyone working for government, and UAW workers, will not be required to go into this type of health care system. Then ask yourself….why?

Yes, yes…..we are much smarter than all these other countries and their decades of failures. We will ration health care a new way!