Health Care is an example of how crazy this place is. This should be a done deal without any hassle or grief! All these loco people worried about government bureaucrats are just odd ducks. I can’t possibly understand or relate to them. Whenever you travel you observe other people don’t feel stressed about that particular part of life, where as Americans have to hope not to get sick. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is.
Great video! If there’s one silver lining to all of this, it’s that we have things like the internet, and youtube – the truth about other countries can’t be hidden by the clouds of stupidity and greed hanging over America for long.
As I write this, I’m reminded of how modern communication brought down the Soviet Union – they couldn’t keep the truth from their people either. To realize that our country is almost as imprisoned as the subjects of the USSR were – by capitalist greedheads instead of by communist aparatchiks is one of the first steps in awakening from “the American Dream”.
Great video, thanks.
“What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience? – Adam Smith”
We have this kind of healthcare, it’s called Medicaid and it is there for people who do not earn above 133% of the poverty level. That’s $17000 per year for a family of two with no assets. That’s an $8/hr full-time job. If you are suddenly sick, you can get on Medicaid retroactively if you are a minimum wage worker.
What a deal!
I, on the other hand, own a business that pays me $24000 per year. My name is on the title of a house with maybe $100K equity. I pay $3000 a year health insurance with a (you’ve heard it) $10,000 deductible. So if I get sick, I pay OOP $10K before my insurance may kick in. Or they may choose to retroactively uninsure me. In that case, I would have to sell my house and my business – which is my income – and which supplies 2 employees with income – to qualify for Medicaid. Oh, and divorce my husband.
This is sick.
We have this kind of healthcare, it’s called Medicaid and it is there for people who do not earn above 133% of the poverty level.
That’s not the eligibilty requirements I see when I go to the Medicaid site and look through their pdf.
(Had a busy day and couldn’t get back to watch the video before now.)
That is a good video. I’m going to send the link to a friend with I was discussing this a few days ago. He was trying to convince me that the Canadian system was bad. I have friends in Canada and they may complain about provincial politics messing things up by underfunding health care but they do believe in and like the system.
Dear QrazyQat,
I’m just making friends right and left this week.
On the pdf document I think you are talking about: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidGenInfo/Downloads/MedicaidAtAGlance2005.pdf
on pages 2 and 3 it has the numbers I stated. Not everyone, even impoverished people, are eligible, but in many states categorically needy people can be on medicaid, even if not disabled.
Especially the lines describing eligibility
Pregnant women and children under age 6 whose
family income is at or below 133 % of the Federal poverty level.
and
Caretakers (relatives or legal guardians who take care of children
under age 18 (or 19 if still in high school)).
stand out for me.
I’ll give you a concrete example:
I know a married couple who work for $8.50 and $10.00 an hour. She is pregnant. She is on medicaid. That’s great. I want healthy babies. Their baby is then covered to 18+ years old on medicaid.
If I became pregnant (a remote but not unheard of possibility), I would be required to pay every cent, because my self-employment health insurance won’t cover maternity.
If I have a $20-$50k bill, just for having a baby – something about 95% of women do in their lifetime – I am pretty much financially ruined.
Expanding medicaid or medicare – that is already functional – very functional in our valley for certain people – to all people who want to apply would make sense.
Health insurance companies which dangle carrots in front of people and have so many restrictions that you will lose your house, your business, your retirement, etc. does not make sense.
It especially does not make sense that the government, the big boogie men according to Republicans, keeps giving the insurance companies money in the form of concessions.
It’s a big screw for all those people who have the American dream of working for themselves, standing on their own feet, paying their fair share of taxes and living in the greatest nation on earth.
Thanks for a great video! This is exactly what I hear my Canadian friends and acquaintances say about health care, so I feel that it is a very accurate portrayal of the Canadian perspective, and long overdue. If there are forms of intelligence (emotional, spatial, musical, mathematical, etc.), surely there is one for health care. Or is it simply what grandma called common sense?
Yup. That’s certainly how I feel. And I am a real Canadian.
Maha — when I clicked on the link (at 10:49 am), a message came up that the clip was removed. Can you described what was said in the clip?
PurpleGirl — it’s fixed now. Some technical glitch, apparently.
Yeah, we can’t have that Canadian socialism here. Then the CEOs couldn’t properly rape the working class.
Pingback: The Mahablog » The Harsh Realities of Canadian Health Care | Canadian im migration live today
Health Care is an example of how crazy this place is. This should be a done deal without any hassle or grief! All these loco people worried about government bureaucrats are just odd ducks. I can’t possibly understand or relate to them. Whenever you travel you observe other people don’t feel stressed about that particular part of life, where as Americans have to hope not to get sick. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is.
Great video! If there’s one silver lining to all of this, it’s that we have things like the internet, and youtube – the truth about other countries can’t be hidden by the clouds of stupidity and greed hanging over America for long.
As I write this, I’m reminded of how modern communication brought down the Soviet Union – they couldn’t keep the truth from their people either. To realize that our country is almost as imprisoned as the subjects of the USSR were – by capitalist greedheads instead of by communist aparatchiks is one of the first steps in awakening from “the American Dream”.
Great video, thanks.
“What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience? – Adam Smith”
We have this kind of healthcare, it’s called Medicaid and it is there for people who do not earn above 133% of the poverty level. That’s $17000 per year for a family of two with no assets. That’s an $8/hr full-time job. If you are suddenly sick, you can get on Medicaid retroactively if you are a minimum wage worker.
What a deal!
I, on the other hand, own a business that pays me $24000 per year. My name is on the title of a house with maybe $100K equity. I pay $3000 a year health insurance with a (you’ve heard it) $10,000 deductible. So if I get sick, I pay OOP $10K before my insurance may kick in. Or they may choose to retroactively uninsure me. In that case, I would have to sell my house and my business – which is my income – and which supplies 2 employees with income – to qualify for Medicaid. Oh, and divorce my husband.
This is sick.
We have this kind of healthcare, it’s called Medicaid and it is there for people who do not earn above 133% of the poverty level.
That’s not the eligibilty requirements I see when I go to the Medicaid site and look through their pdf.
(Had a busy day and couldn’t get back to watch the video before now.)
That is a good video. I’m going to send the link to a friend with I was discussing this a few days ago. He was trying to convince me that the Canadian system was bad. I have friends in Canada and they may complain about provincial politics messing things up by underfunding health care but they do believe in and like the system.
Dear QrazyQat,
I’m just making friends right and left this week.
On the pdf document I think you are talking about: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidGenInfo/Downloads/MedicaidAtAGlance2005.pdf
on pages 2 and 3 it has the numbers I stated. Not everyone, even impoverished people, are eligible, but in many states categorically needy people can be on medicaid, even if not disabled.
Especially the lines describing eligibility
and
stand out for me.
I’ll give you a concrete example:
I know a married couple who work for $8.50 and $10.00 an hour. She is pregnant. She is on medicaid. That’s great. I want healthy babies. Their baby is then covered to 18+ years old on medicaid.
If I became pregnant (a remote but not unheard of possibility), I would be required to pay every cent, because my self-employment health insurance won’t cover maternity.
If I have a $20-$50k bill, just for having a baby – something about 95% of women do in their lifetime – I am pretty much financially ruined.
Expanding medicaid or medicare – that is already functional – very functional in our valley for certain people – to all people who want to apply would make sense.
Health insurance companies which dangle carrots in front of people and have so many restrictions that you will lose your house, your business, your retirement, etc. does not make sense.
It especially does not make sense that the government, the big boogie men according to Republicans, keeps giving the insurance companies money in the form of concessions.
It’s a big screw for all those people who have the American dream of working for themselves, standing on their own feet, paying their fair share of taxes and living in the greatest nation on earth.
http://www.lyricstime.com/south-park-blame-canada-lyrics.html
yes, indeed, blame Canada!
Thanks for a great video! This is exactly what I hear my Canadian friends and acquaintances say about health care, so I feel that it is a very accurate portrayal of the Canadian perspective, and long overdue. If there are forms of intelligence (emotional, spatial, musical, mathematical, etc.), surely there is one for health care. Or is it simply what grandma called common sense?