Health Care :: Canada VS United States
By milondali07
@milondali07 (334)
United States
February 15, 2010 2:51pm CST
We moved to Montreal maybe about two years ago. One of my parents had a job transfer there in Quebec and little did we know it was French. In Florida they really don't tell you anything about Canada. We just learn about our state, the US, and countries we've been at war with, and World History (Which doesn't include Canada). So anyways I lived there for about a year. Yes, they have FREE Medicare and you have to wait in a hospital for sometimes 12 hours to receive treatment. While in the US you pay for your insurance but I believe you receive premium treatment and there are hospitals everywhere. On top of it, I noticed they have English Hospitals & French Hospitals. When I went into a French hospital, I was bleeding with a deep cut in my foot, they wanted me to pay $950.00 just to see a doctor, and wait 6 hours to see a doctor because my Medicare expired since I was 18 and not enrolled in school. People are PACKED UP in the hospital waiting, some people screaming and making disturbing noises. Of course we didn't pay, new york is an hour away so we drove there and we were seen in less than 15 minutes in Plattsburgh thanks to Blue Cross Blue Shield. Another experience I had was someone had died waiting to see the doctor in the Emergency room. In Montreal they have crazy taxes and everything is expensive, I mean the whole system is tore up. My family had to endure two years of Montreal, I left after 1 year and went to Miami,FL (my hometown). And boy, I did not want to go back at all!
Would you rather live in Canada because they have medicare that's free + you wait 10 hours + you pay HIGH taxes from your paycheck/sales/etc. Even the grocery store is just expensive!
or live in the US, pay for your insurance, see your doctor when you are scheduled to, or go to the hospital and be treated accordingly (not put in a waiting list of 150 people waiting to see 1 doctor in an emergency room) & pay our normal taxes!!!
1 person likes this
7 responses
@newtalent (1112)
• United States
15 Feb 10
I am originally from Toronto Canada and never experienced anything like that. My life was on the line when I small to the point where they were going to arrest my dad for speeding. Needless to say i am alive and doing well. They did not speak English nor french but they did manage to get the help I needed. I am a citizen too so I do not know if that made a difference. I am for socialized medicine especially for those they may not be able to afford it. I have waited hours to see a doctor here in the states because of a trauma , car accident, that took priority over me, I even ended up having a miscarriage that may or may not been prevented in the hospital waiting to see someone and i even told them i was pregnant. I had to use the restroom and there he went, Which incidentally when i told them what happened - i got asked why didn't call them first.. Hello I did hit the button.. Kind of passing the blame on me. I was out of there as quick as I could be and swore to never go back which I have not.I have heard monitors go off and no one came running to see what happened immediately and the person passes away. Was it preventive? Nobody really knows. Every situation is different and unique. Some places do not even have the basic medical care available to them. You did say your card expired to, and the requirement was to enrolled in school to keep your medical. You have to follow protocol to receive benefits. What I don't understand is how another took your insurance or did you overlapping insurance? If you did then they should of taken it. Insurance is becoming quite expensive, some doctors do not even carry malpractice insurance so you cannot sue them. Everyone takes risks in their life and must be held accountable for their own actions. Anyway everything sounds like ended up well. I guess key is to not make it to the ER.
@milondali07 (334)
• United States
15 Feb 10
Yes, in other places it might be better for you to go to the hospital than Montreal. Mainly because there are so many immigrants there is barely any room for people to fit in the ER. What I'm really talking about is Quebec because they do have different taxes and prices that are much higher than any other place in Canada. They have the highest shortage of doctors, hospitals, & clinics because the pay is very low for doctors. For some people living there is very difficult to make ends meet, which is why most of them end up doing some sort of fraudulent activity.
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@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
15 Feb 10
milondali07 I already live in the US all my long life, and maybe you are much more affluent than I or my son, but I do not see that our health care system is all so great. Even on hmos you have to wait for referrals and wait and wait. And the cost of most health insurances
here in Ca are horribly expensive and a lot of working people just go without. no its not a mecca by any means.As for expensive we live in the most expensive state in the US and its just going up and up. While I would not like to move to any other country we do need some help on health care issues for those who are too young for medicare.
here in Ca are horribly expensive and a lot of working people just go without. no its not a mecca by any means.As for expensive we live in the most expensive state in the US and its just going up and up. While I would not like to move to any other country we do need some help on health care issues for those who are too young for medicare.1 person likes this
@milondali07 (334)
• United States
15 Feb 10
I understand that it may be hard for you to live in California ( because it is very expensive) Miami has gotten very expensive as well so we now moved to Houston and things are GREAT. Medicare is affordable and pay isn't too bad. Houses are still selling & renting, not as fast as they used to but it's still very good here. Other than that, I believe that if people can't afford to live in certain states then they should go to other states that will let them live comfortably and live a happy life. I love the US, and despite issues with health insurance and the government, I believe there are ways around that.
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@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
16 Feb 10
i cant beleive you didnt do any research on Montreal or Canada for that matter before you moved there!
as for wait times in the hospital, that is not always true. if you go to urgent care (which is often part of the hospital,) you are seen and out within a couple of hours. i dont know what montreal is like, but ontario isnt that bad. we do, however, pay high taxes for our 'free' health care.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
16 Feb 10
Surely there must be some reasonable compromise between the two systems?
@floridia (296)
• Algeria
15 Feb 10
well, i have two sisters living in Rockledge, Miami, they are offering me to move and live with them but i didn't.
Quebec is a very cold place it is peaceful and quite, the elite of the people live there because the most of them are immigrants and have been choosen with serious conditions.
i like Canada despite the high living costs.
my friend, that 950 dollars which they asked you to pay it it was of the health assurance, because when you entered canada u didn't paid it.
the same thing is applicable in US.
1 person likes this
@milondali07 (334)
• United States
15 Feb 10
First of all, when I went to Canada we were there because of one of my parents is a diplomat and they were going to work there, we received a health card. Secondly, We don't have to pay for anything, the 950.00 was because I wasn't in school and I was over 18 years of age (which is very stupid) & my card had expired. Montreal was very peaceful where I was at in the West Island ( a very rich area). The downtown area where I was had people fighting sometimes at night and it wasnt very quiet to me. I was all over the place and yes it was very cold and what not but it also was very boring and full of people who did not like America because they were not let in our country and didn't like that I didn't speak their ugly way of speaking french. There's a lot of African Gangs, Bikers, and others that run escort agencies in the middle of town with no cops to stop it because they are all bought out and a large growing gay community that is very "out there" as they could possibly be. People refrain from using deodorant, most of either live with their parents at the age of 30 or aren't married at all (which is a VERY common thing) and have lived together for years til their elderly state. Which is why I would never bring children there. Obviously, you must have not lived there before so you might not have known. Most people cannot afford jobs and end up taking the bus or metro (as they call it) which is just packed up with people like CRAZY. But that's besides the point, My friend.
@MrNiceGuy (4141)
• United States
15 Feb 10
Thank you for posting this. It is important that those ignorant to the health care reality see stuff like this before the US health care reform destroys our health system and our economy. I love to see the other side being represented on the internet and in the media where it is so seldom talked about.
