Oh Wait..
When Torontonian Jill Anzarut, then 34, felt something in her breast, it never occurred to her that it might be cancer. “I had thought a tumour would feel like a wad of gum under my skin,” she said. When she mentioned it to her doctor at a checkup several months later, an ultrasound was ordered. Worried by the results, the doctor sent her to Princess Margaret Hospital’s Gattuso Rapid Diagnostic Centre for a biopsy. Two days later, Ms. Anzarut was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer.
Worse, the cancer has a high likelihood of reoccurring if not treated with the drug Herceptin, which can cut the chance of cancer returning in half. But Ontario only provides the drug to those whose tumours have grown to be larger than one centimetre in diameter. Ms. Anzarut, by catching her cancer early, disqualified herself from the best possible treatment. Her appeal for an exemption was rejected on Thursday.
Of course ya know she, nor anyone else for that matter, is allowed, BY LAW, to buy supplementary medical insurance that would cover these sorts of eventualities...
I have a friend that needs two knee replacements, she is only 49, guidelines for knee replacements due to arthritis in her Province are slated for those who are 60 and over. She is at the bottom of the list as a result, she may well have to wait 11 years, raising three children, going to have go on long term disability, she is mortgaging her house to get it done this summer in the US of A.
Thank God we have have free medical care or I'd begin to worry.
6 comments:
Worry Grey Lady , worry .I would have gladly paid , had I known that surgery for a severe break on my left foot and a subsequent half-assed job of casting , would leave me lame . I have no confidence in our healthcare system .
Oh I worry Ursula, I do worry. Everybody but the blind knows we have serious problems with our system, it is beyond me how the US can think we are the way to go.
All our best doctors left here to go work there...I wonder if this means they might come back if Obama care gets shoved thru?
For the thirty-nine million souls who have no form of healthcare in the US , it has to be an absolute nightmare.
I can only speak for myself , but,the one time I had need of the medical system while on vacation in the US ,I was really impressed .If you have insurance and can afford to pay , the system can work for you . There was no wait time .
As for Obama's plan ,if indeed by some miracle it manages to squeak through , it will look nothing like Canada's Healthcare system . The healthcare system in the US was designed to relect the American philosophy of "user pay". The concept of "universal healthcare" ,as envisioned by Tommy Douglas , was inclusive and its goal was to provide maximum service ,unlike,the American model , whose primary goal is to generate maximum profit .
What ever tommy's intention or design he has saddled us with what is fast becoming a real stinker. I can't help but think there is a happy medium between the countries that might would work better for the population. I know two tier is a bad word in Canerder, but If I chose to I should have a choice in MY country to pay for better faster service, thus enabling those that can't afford it faster service by getting out of their way.
Unfortunately in such a scenario as you describe , the strain on the medical system does nothing to improve the service , in fact it could possibly cripple it .
Professional services , equipment and medical staff will all be siphoned off to the private sector.
Good evening Ursula,
I hope you are wrong, I for one am ready to see an additional avenue implemented to enable Canadians to spend their won money in a free manner in our country instead of having to leave it like a thief in the night to get the Medical care we want and deserve. I would rather see those dollars here then in Cuba, India or the United States. We are supposed to be a free country, then why is it we are not free in this area?
Forgive me for saying so but your first post lead me to believe, on top of the current system, you were open to a more free market approach to Medical care and more rights and freedom for the individual to determine, finance their own care.
You take care now.
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