The Truth About Canadian Healthcare
Why can’t America’s healthcare system be more like Canada’s? Here’s a better question: why would you want it to be? French-Canadian entrepreneur Alain Lambert has first-hand experience with both Canada’s and America’s healthcare systems, and he offers some cautionary tales. Canadian-style healthcare might not be as good for your health as you think.
To view the script, sources, quiz, visit https://www.prageru.com/video/the-truth-about-canadian-healthcare
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Script:
Why can’t America’s healthcare system be more like Canada’s?
Here’s what most people who ask that question think they know about Canadian-style healthcare:
1. Everybody gets covered.
2. It’s free.
3. It’s great.
Number one is true. Everybody is covered.
Number two is false. Nothing is free. Canadians pay for their insurance through their taxes. And, as you might expect, the tax rates in Canada are very high.
And number three is… well, let’s just say it’s questionable. Let’s find out how questionable. But before we do, let me tell you a bit about me.
I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. That makes me French Canadian. I’m so French Canadian, my name—Alan—is spelled A-L-A-I-N. I have also lived and worked in the United States. I have experienced both Canadian health care and American health care. Here are some of my experiences with the Canadian system, the one so many Americans aspire to. I believe they are typical. So do the Canadians I know.
Experience #1:
In September 2000, my wife was seven months pregnant with our youngest daughter. One day, my wife started having severe lower back pain. She suspected kidney stones—she had them in the past. But she was very pregnant, so we needed to check it out. Kidney stones are bad, but something going wrong with the pregnancy would be a lot worse.
We went to the emergency room of our local hospital in Montreal. This was Thursday. She was admitted to the hospital and given morphine for her pain. She couldn’t get an ultrasound the next day because the machine for this procedure was fully booked.
She didn’t get the ultrasound during the weekend, either, because ultrasound operators don’t work on weekends. Finally, on Monday afternoon, she got the test—after I begged her doctor to do something so we could find out if indeed my wife had a kidney stone or something had gone wrong with the pregnancy. Thank God, it was the former and not the latter.
In the United States, a pregnant woman doesn’t wait a day to get an ultrasound if the baby’s health is in question. And ultrasound technicians are available on the weekend.
Experience #2:
One of my friends struggled with back issues for years. Eventually, he needed surgery. Like all people with non-life-threatening conditions in Canada, he was placed on a waiting list. The pain got so bad, after a few months he went to see the specialist and pleaded for an operation. The specialist asked, “Are you suicidal?” My friend responded, “No, I’m not suicidal—I need a back operation!” The specialist concluded, “If you are not suicidal, it means you can handle the pain.” Had my friend waited, his surgery would have been covered. Instead, he went to Florida and paid $20,000 out of his own pocket to have the surgery immediately.
In the United States, if you’re in terrible pain, you can get a back surgery within days.
Experience #3
Several years ago, I was diagnosed with polyps on my colon. Since I have a family history of colon cancer, I was advised to get a colonoscopy every year. I went to see my specialist in May to set up my next procedure. After a brief consult, he told me to book the colonoscopy with his secretary on my way out. She told me that the doctor could perform the procedure in November. Being used to long waiting times, I felt that was rather short, so I said, “Great, that works for me.” She replied, “Not this November. Next November.”
For the complete script, visit https://www.prageru.com/video/the-truth-about-canadian-healthcare
source
I got a colonoscopy next day. LOL It's too bad our government is under the spell of the healthcare industry and big pharma. If they weren't our prices would be much less.
When president trump got covid he was cured at a government run hospital. Secretary austin is now being treated in a government run hospital. Neither have any out of Pocket expenses no deductibles no copays just treatment in a government run hospital. And stop telling people it's free. It's paid for by the taxes we pay the same taxes that give billions of dollars in subsidies to oil companies and pay the CEO'S of defense contractors 50 million dollars a year.
Shut up
live in the neterlands,we just pay every mounth some money but our health system is great! stil i wanted to live in canada with my wife, she is born in canada, but themore i see how bad canada is with health ,we almost decide not to move there..i feel very sad,because i love canada but my wife is in a wheelchair now and have many medicen.so don,t know what to do..why are the poeple in canada does not protest in canada? everybody must stop working all over canada and strike!! you just let this go on and nobody do something about it..looks like a third word country
I lived in Canada for a year and dealt with the Canadian Healthcare system. Their healthcare is free and you sure get what you pay for!
I normally agree with your videos but on the subject of healthcare there's a lot you're not covering or taking into account. Like how outrageous medicine prices are in the US, to the point Diabetics die because they can't afford treatment, or how HMOs dump their loyal customers, who have been paying insurance for decades, when they get some serious or chronic disease…
so free stuffs are dulls stuffs
Notice how they mention Canadian healthcare instead of countries like Switzerland or denmark.
"If you're not suicidal that means you can handle the pain"….?
Sounds like something Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin would have said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-Ms1ZekHVU
God Bless America!
In America, the CEO of GoFundMe went to Congress to say his creation is mostly used to pay for medical bills.
I’ll take Canadian healthcare before America’s disaster of healthcare system any day.
As an American, I think it comes down to this. If you’re low income, the American system will bankrupt you…if you even get medical care since you avoid it because you know you can’t afford it. If you’re wealthy, you’d rather just pay the measly $10,000 for a surgery rather than wait a few months because you have more than enough money. “Nearly 45,000 annual deaths are associated with lack of health insurance”. That doesn’t happen in Canada unless under very rare circumstances.
I get the point and I totally agree with you. The thing is, even though I understand the drawbacks of Canadian healthcare, they are not even close to what people go through in my country as far as healthcare is concerned. For me the solution is a fully-privatised healthcare system with no social insurance. Though I still believe that having an insurance should be compulsory as it happens in Switzerland or the Netherlands.
canadian healthcare was so trash simple…
I'm Canadian. All of my doctors have been wrong about absolutely everything! The medical profession here in Canada terrifies me.
What he forgets to mention is that you can get back surgery in america, but it will cost you a fortune
Canadian healthcare is better than the american system. Wait times are marginally worse. Unfortunately there is euthanasia but that will be overturned
PROPAGANDA!!
Consider yourself lucky you could pay for those surgeries and test in the US, but lots of Americans cannot afford those, let alone insurance, and moving to another country with better health care ends up being the only option if they wanna live. Canada is usually first choice because it's closer yo America. Our Healthcare system may not be the best, but it's sure damn hell of a lot better than yours!
HEALTHCARE SHOULD BE A HUMAN RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE!!