OldDog

Meh, as an American working in Canada the taxes are a lot more than a "little" higher. It's not so much just the income tax, but the sales tax is double, gas is 40% more, food is retarded (I mean who the fuck pays $10/lb. for cheese?). My rent is double, and even mailing a letter is 6x as expensive as the states.

As for healthcare, it's not free. It costs about the same monthly for the provincial plan and my supplemental as it did for my previous employer's group plan in the states. My employer pays for my provincial plan, but it damn sure isn't free.

Free healthcare is a misnomer. The only real difference is access to care and lack of all the private insurers and their fucking profit margins. However, it seems to be moving more and more that way here as well.

Albeit major medical is covered at 100% under the provincial plan. Try finding a 100% coverage plan in the states these days, maybe 15 years ago. Actually my coverage was 100% for everything but dental back in '95 and it cost me $80/month. Ah, the good 'ole days. Fuck! I'm getting old. You damn kids the hell off my lawn!...

PS: Had to say something, I've never had a snowboarding injury as I'm just starting this year!

CheeseForSteeze

The billed amount was around $1500 so nothing that extraordinary. I dislocated my elbow which required a trip to ER, some x-rays, the ER meds and materials.

sheepstealer

Broke my collarbone in two places last year. Elected to have surgery as I'm still a younger guy and didn't want to deal with potential complications down the road. They inserted a pin into my shoulder that I had to walk around with for a couple months.

Total cost was about $15,000, including everything from hospital transport, doctors visits, surgery, etc.

Thank God for insurance under your parents being boosted to 26 years old. I think almost all of it was completely covered. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Donutz

I'm in Canada. My father-in-law had a quadruple bypass a couple of years ago. He and his wife are not homeowners, not rich (or even well-off), live on his pension. But he came through that process not bankrupted. It seems to me, viewing it from the outside, that you can have reasonalbe coverage in the US if you have a good job and a good employer with a good medical plan available. But if you're in the lower end of the employment spectrum, you're screwed. So it comes down to a philosophical and moral question of whether the attitude "fuck'em. It's their problem." is acceptable for a society. In Canada, we've decided it isn't. YMMV.

__________________

Illegitimi non carborundum

Mountain Days: 30

jdmccright

Most people on the lower end are on welfare and get it paid 100% by the tax payers. Its kinda a punishment to be middle class now. We have shit for coverage, like 70% plus a 500 to 1000 up front.

OldDog

Yup, like I said the only real differences are the lack of 100% coverage in the states and the shitty access to care in Canada. Being on a waiting list for months to see a specialist is retarded.

I think one of the main reasons for the higher tax rates in Canada has more to do with a limited population and a lot less industrial tax base. More of an assumption as I haven't really studied the issue.

jdmccright

Really if someone would streamline healthcare in the US and not allow hospitals to charge $10 for a pain pill and $400 for a brace I can get at Walmart for $20 we would see 100% again.

Cycle4Fun

Then we can tell them that they don't have to provide any services until a patient shows proof of insurance or pays up front.

That's not morally acceptable to me. Medicade covers you if you're at poverty level. It didn't cover you if you have a job that doesn't provide insurance. You had to pay out the wazoo for personal coverage. The new health care law is better than the past system. It's not perfect though. Myself? I like Germany's healthcare system.

My costliest injury was a dislocated patella during baseball practice in high school. Ambulance trips and MRI's are costly. Even with insurance.

BoardWalk

Gerbil extraction....I mean a friend had it done.....

Gdog42

Well now that Obama's back in the house we get our healthcare for FREE!
And by free I mean we have to pay more taxes, but worth it. I'd rather pay more tax then have to pay thousands of US dollars after waking up from a surgery. That sure would be a nice surprise...
A couple years ago I damaged the nerve connecting to my right shoulder, and couldn't raise my arm, higher than 90 degrees. For 3 months the doctors sent me from one doctor to the next claiming they didn't know what was going on, charging thousands for each appointment. By the time it had recovered, they finally sent me to a specialist who got out an x-ray chart, pointed, and said "that's the problem." Those idiots could have just sent me to this guy the first time, but they didn't because my money mattered more to them.
The way they all laughed so casually every time...
I'm not saying that all doctors in the US are like this, most are really decent people- I just got unlucky. This problem can't continue now that national healthcare's on the way though, so I'm glad about it.

__________________
This is a tasty burger.