All are equal in medical eyes...Canadian Style
There are always two sides to an argument, and I find myself on both sides of this argument in the moments that I am in right now. The Canadian medical care system, ahhhh, to wonder about it. I have just recently found myself with a minor injury, well minor since that it is not classed as an 'emergency' or 'serious' injury that jumps me to the front of the line of those in need, but only causes great pain and discomfort when working. This injury of mine is a minor hernia. Now, in an office environment, a hernia really wouldn't cause that much problem since you sit around and as long as you dont have to lift heavy boxes of paper to the xerox or move heavy potted plants for female co-workers that are trying to 'spruce up the office', then you are pretty much alright. However, working in a kitchen environment where you are on your feet 12 hours a day and where 'light duty' basically means you lift the 40lbs bag of potatoes and leave the 50lbs bag for the next guy, a hernia really doesn't help the day go by nicer.
I find myself on the receiving end now of getting treatment and a diagnosis for this injury. Granted, I have been diagnosed by a glorified EMT (camp medic), by a general family doctor physician and by a third year surgeon medical student because the real surgeon was called away to emergency surgeon on my time and date of the appointment and I had to be rescheduled for two weeks later (after having waited for 3 and a half weeks for this appointment). All these medical minds have agreed "yep, you got a hernia" though only the surgeon student could really give me a more precise diagnosis while the other two seemed to be reading from a medical dictionary on my symptoms and all.
So now I find myself waiting to hear from a doctor/surgeon on how I am going to get this fixed and cleared up to get back to work. Currently I am at work, on light duties, but like I said 'light duty and kitchen work' above, that really doesnt say much. So I sit back and question the effectiveness of the whole medical care system. I mean, if this was a 'pay for the play' kind of doctor, I could really just walk into a doctor's office and if he didnt want to see me, or operate in a reasonable amount of time, then he really didnt want my business and I would just go to the next doctor available. I would probably end up then going to the one that would charge the most since they are obviously the most skilled since they charge the most and if their cost was so high then the normal folk couldnt afford him and he would be open for business. I would then have been looked at, sliced and diced and back to work within 5 week times, rather than the nearly 2 months to date and still waiting to get looked at by the surgeon to get past the preliminary diagnosis. I figure I have at least another 5-6 weeks for an operating date, and then 5-6 weeks for healing and recovery, leading me to a good 5 months of having this little 'ailment' and getting it looked at and done with.
Now I start to bitch and complain about the system. Why do I have wait all this time for a doctor to look at me, give me a cure and fix me so that I can get back to work and make a living? Why does Canada have such a huge shortage of doctors and medical professionals? why do we pay our doctors/nurses so little, forcing them to look to other countries for enough money to pay for their debts like medical school and upgrading of their skills? shouldn't we say "these doctors are important to our life style of health and wellness, and therefore to keep these best people would should pay them huge sums of money or else they will just go to other countries or other facilities"? we need them, so we should pay them hugely. I figure if the Canadian Gov't paid the doctors enough, then they wouldnt leave, and I wouldnt be sitting here with pain and agony because I dont want to scum off the system of medical disability or workers compensation but actually want to do an honest days work for an honest days pay.
But then I sit back and do the mental calculations and all. Currently, coming from the Northwest Territories, my medical bills for this, and other medical treatment, has been zero dollars. I only pay for the drugs that are prescribed to me, and even then I get them at a reduced rate because of my companies health plan, and I can even look at reducing that even more by going to private insurance companies and getting a drug plan through them. I guess I am ahead of the game since I really am paying nothing to the medical system, except through my taxes to the gov't, and in the end I am getting loads of benefits. I mean, if I was charged for going to the medic, then that would have been $35. Of course, going to the general physician would have been more expensive considering they did more schooling and are doctors instead of medics, so that would probably have been another $60 for a 10 minute visit. Then a referal to a surgeon (more specialized and schooled=more money involved), possibly a $120 visit for the 20 minute visit and the booking for surgery. So, that would mean $215 would have been spent by me alone just to get to where I am now. That has nothing to consider what it would cost for the actual surgery to happen of a day in the hospital for the slice and dice with a full knock out (I figure no man on the face of this earth has any desire to actually be awake while another man is not more than 3 inches from his manhood with a very very sharp cutting instrument) will run me in the future. Even if I was to give a generous estimate of $5,000 for the whole operation to happen, that would lead me to a total of $5,215, not counting the prescription antibiotics and pain killers for the recovery to happen. All this for free since I am from the North. Had I been covered under Alberta health care, then that would be different, since I would be paying $44/month in health insurance coverage. Now, at that rate, I would have to have paid into the system for 118.5 months to have reached that amount of money. Nearly a full 10 years of my life would have to have been paid $44/month for me to total how much this one operation would cost me. That doesnt take into consideration the fact that in those 10 years of paying for this one operation, I could go to the doctors as many times as I wanted to for check ups, concerns about bowel movements or even the sniffles. I could be the hospitals biggest GOMER (Get Out Of My Emergency Room) and I would still be paying into the system. Of course, after all this time, I could have my children born at the hospital for free, I could have any injury stitched and sewn up for free, I could even have my children covered for their mumps, measles, chicken pox and the countless amounts of items shoved up their nose, ears or swallowed (as all kids do). All this for only $44/month. Hmmmm, talk about a good deal huh? no wonder people from all over the world whose countries does not have a health care system want to come to Canada and gain citizenship so that they can bring their dying and sick relatives over to take advantage of the system.
Only down side to this wonderful 'all are created equal' system, is that with the shortage of doctors and medical professionals, their work load increases and wait time increases. So on one hand I am getting a great bargain for the money I am spending, but on the downside my wait time is increased hugely. Though, personally, if it all comes down to it, I would much rather be around a doctor/medical professional that is paid adequately than one that is paid highly to keep them on the staff. Why? simply put, I dont want a mercenary doctor who sees me only as a pay cheque than a patient looking at me. I mean, if a doctor sees you as a patient then they will try their hardest to keep you alive and well because it is in their best interest to keep all people alive. If they lose a patient, it hurts them greatly and they will feel guilt. However, if a mercenary doctor who sees you as a pay cheque loses you, the one thing on their mind might be "will I get paid for this?". While both will fight to keep you alive, I would much rather have one passionate about my health making the effort to pull me back from deaths door, than the one that sees me as his next Ferrari payment, or summer home deposit. Also, if a doctor is in the medical field for his own personal feelings, then that doctor might be more willing to go that extra mile, to help out all the rich and poor alike, to stay healthy, alive and well. Whereas a doctor that is only in it for the money (since they could basically be wooed away by other companies and corporations for the extra pay) will only be interested in curing and helping the rich, whereas the poor are of no consequence since they cant afford the doctors price.
Oh well, on the whole, guess I am pretty well off and should stop grumbling huh? I got what I want, adequately paid doctors who are probably working here in Canada because they love Canada and love to make sick people, regardless of the sicks financial height, well again.
I find myself on the receiving end now of getting treatment and a diagnosis for this injury. Granted, I have been diagnosed by a glorified EMT (camp medic), by a general family doctor physician and by a third year surgeon medical student because the real surgeon was called away to emergency surgeon on my time and date of the appointment and I had to be rescheduled for two weeks later (after having waited for 3 and a half weeks for this appointment). All these medical minds have agreed "yep, you got a hernia" though only the surgeon student could really give me a more precise diagnosis while the other two seemed to be reading from a medical dictionary on my symptoms and all.
So now I find myself waiting to hear from a doctor/surgeon on how I am going to get this fixed and cleared up to get back to work. Currently I am at work, on light duties, but like I said 'light duty and kitchen work' above, that really doesnt say much. So I sit back and question the effectiveness of the whole medical care system. I mean, if this was a 'pay for the play' kind of doctor, I could really just walk into a doctor's office and if he didnt want to see me, or operate in a reasonable amount of time, then he really didnt want my business and I would just go to the next doctor available. I would probably end up then going to the one that would charge the most since they are obviously the most skilled since they charge the most and if their cost was so high then the normal folk couldnt afford him and he would be open for business. I would then have been looked at, sliced and diced and back to work within 5 week times, rather than the nearly 2 months to date and still waiting to get looked at by the surgeon to get past the preliminary diagnosis. I figure I have at least another 5-6 weeks for an operating date, and then 5-6 weeks for healing and recovery, leading me to a good 5 months of having this little 'ailment' and getting it looked at and done with.
Now I start to bitch and complain about the system. Why do I have wait all this time for a doctor to look at me, give me a cure and fix me so that I can get back to work and make a living? Why does Canada have such a huge shortage of doctors and medical professionals? why do we pay our doctors/nurses so little, forcing them to look to other countries for enough money to pay for their debts like medical school and upgrading of their skills? shouldn't we say "these doctors are important to our life style of health and wellness, and therefore to keep these best people would should pay them huge sums of money or else they will just go to other countries or other facilities"? we need them, so we should pay them hugely. I figure if the Canadian Gov't paid the doctors enough, then they wouldnt leave, and I wouldnt be sitting here with pain and agony because I dont want to scum off the system of medical disability or workers compensation but actually want to do an honest days work for an honest days pay.
But then I sit back and do the mental calculations and all. Currently, coming from the Northwest Territories, my medical bills for this, and other medical treatment, has been zero dollars. I only pay for the drugs that are prescribed to me, and even then I get them at a reduced rate because of my companies health plan, and I can even look at reducing that even more by going to private insurance companies and getting a drug plan through them. I guess I am ahead of the game since I really am paying nothing to the medical system, except through my taxes to the gov't, and in the end I am getting loads of benefits. I mean, if I was charged for going to the medic, then that would have been $35. Of course, going to the general physician would have been more expensive considering they did more schooling and are doctors instead of medics, so that would probably have been another $60 for a 10 minute visit. Then a referal to a surgeon (more specialized and schooled=more money involved), possibly a $120 visit for the 20 minute visit and the booking for surgery. So, that would mean $215 would have been spent by me alone just to get to where I am now. That has nothing to consider what it would cost for the actual surgery to happen of a day in the hospital for the slice and dice with a full knock out (I figure no man on the face of this earth has any desire to actually be awake while another man is not more than 3 inches from his manhood with a very very sharp cutting instrument) will run me in the future. Even if I was to give a generous estimate of $5,000 for the whole operation to happen, that would lead me to a total of $5,215, not counting the prescription antibiotics and pain killers for the recovery to happen. All this for free since I am from the North. Had I been covered under Alberta health care, then that would be different, since I would be paying $44/month in health insurance coverage. Now, at that rate, I would have to have paid into the system for 118.5 months to have reached that amount of money. Nearly a full 10 years of my life would have to have been paid $44/month for me to total how much this one operation would cost me. That doesnt take into consideration the fact that in those 10 years of paying for this one operation, I could go to the doctors as many times as I wanted to for check ups, concerns about bowel movements or even the sniffles. I could be the hospitals biggest GOMER (Get Out Of My Emergency Room) and I would still be paying into the system. Of course, after all this time, I could have my children born at the hospital for free, I could have any injury stitched and sewn up for free, I could even have my children covered for their mumps, measles, chicken pox and the countless amounts of items shoved up their nose, ears or swallowed (as all kids do). All this for only $44/month. Hmmmm, talk about a good deal huh? no wonder people from all over the world whose countries does not have a health care system want to come to Canada and gain citizenship so that they can bring their dying and sick relatives over to take advantage of the system.
Only down side to this wonderful 'all are created equal' system, is that with the shortage of doctors and medical professionals, their work load increases and wait time increases. So on one hand I am getting a great bargain for the money I am spending, but on the downside my wait time is increased hugely. Though, personally, if it all comes down to it, I would much rather be around a doctor/medical professional that is paid adequately than one that is paid highly to keep them on the staff. Why? simply put, I dont want a mercenary doctor who sees me only as a pay cheque than a patient looking at me. I mean, if a doctor sees you as a patient then they will try their hardest to keep you alive and well because it is in their best interest to keep all people alive. If they lose a patient, it hurts them greatly and they will feel guilt. However, if a mercenary doctor who sees you as a pay cheque loses you, the one thing on their mind might be "will I get paid for this?". While both will fight to keep you alive, I would much rather have one passionate about my health making the effort to pull me back from deaths door, than the one that sees me as his next Ferrari payment, or summer home deposit. Also, if a doctor is in the medical field for his own personal feelings, then that doctor might be more willing to go that extra mile, to help out all the rich and poor alike, to stay healthy, alive and well. Whereas a doctor that is only in it for the money (since they could basically be wooed away by other companies and corporations for the extra pay) will only be interested in curing and helping the rich, whereas the poor are of no consequence since they cant afford the doctors price.
Oh well, on the whole, guess I am pretty well off and should stop grumbling huh? I got what I want, adequately paid doctors who are probably working here in Canada because they love Canada and love to make sick people, regardless of the sicks financial height, well again.
posted by Capt_Canuck at 2:55 AM
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