Canadians: Is healthcare itemized on your paycheck?

[Triumph]

I guess the real question I'm trying to ask is how much does each person pay for health insurance? (It isn't "free" since it comes out of your taxes. Why do people always say Canada has "free" health insurance?) Since my health insurance comes from my employer, my paycheck tells me exactly how much I am paying each month, roughly $90 American. Is there something equivalent for Canadians?

 

[Scouzer]

No.

 

[BigToquex]

Canadians dont have free health insurance. That is extra and people need to get that extra coverage on their own.

I believe the way it works is that people dont have to pay for things like x-rays and just going to see the doctor.

I'm not totally sure though.

 

[RedRooster]

We don't pay for anything that doesn't involve surgery. Or maybe we don't even pay for that, I've never needed.
Johnny Fakesick, who uses the doctors 20 times more than me, has quite the deal going.

 

[Scouzer]

Originally posted by: BigToque
Canadians dont have free health insurance. That is extra and people need to get that extra coverage on their own.

I believe the way it works is that people dont have to pay for things like x-rays and just going to see the doctor.

I'm not totally sure though.

Short version: Anything that you need to save your life or to potentially save your life is free. That's all there is to it.

Except an ambulance ride, you have to pay for that.

 

[Mavrick]

Originally posted by: BigToque
Canadians dont have free health insurance. That is extra and people need to get that extra coverage on their own.

I believe the way it works is that people dont have to pay for things like x-rays and just going to see the doctor.

I'm not totally sure though.

Totally wrong. In Canada, the government has to pay for ALL the health related costs (except ambulance). It is illegal for a person to pay for treatments in Canada. But we do not get a separate entry on our paycheck. It's included in the income taxes

 

[Triumph]

Have there been any studies that work out how much of your income tax goes towards paying for the health care system.

 

[Talon]

I think at the end of the nineties total annual per capita spending was about $2600 CDN. Approx 70% of that figure is social health care spending. You might be able to extract some data from the following pdf but it's a long read. Mavricks claim that all services are socialized and that it's illegal to pay for treatments is grossly incorrect.

Text

Edit: added the word "annual".

 

[Kaiser__Sose]

Basically all medical treatments that are required to get you into good health ie. doctors visits, surgery, tests are free.

Drugs and elective surgery (cosmetic, laser eye etc.) are not.

 

[DieHardware]

Originally posted by: Scouzer

Originally posted by: BigToque
Canadians dont have free health insurance. That is extra and people need to get that extra coverage on their own.

I believe the way it works is that people dont have to pay for things like x-rays and just going to see the doctor.

I'm not totally sure though.

Short version: Anything that you need to save your life or to potentially save your life is free. That's all there is to it.

Except an ambulance ride, you have to pay for that.

Only for the refugees and deadbeats on welfare. Those of us that pay taxes pay for the health care system.

 

[Spencer278]

can I take a quick trip to canada if I need health care or something and get it for free or do they make us americans pay for thier own health care up north?

 

[DieHardware]

Originally posted by: Spencer278
can I take a quick trip to canada if I need health care or something and get it for free or do they make us americans pay for thier own health care up north?

Just claim refugee status at the border.

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

Originally posted by: Spencer278
can I take a quick trip to canada if I need health care or something and get it for free or do they make us americans pay for thier own health care up north?

no, that question deserves a

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: DieHardware

Originally posted by: Spencer278
can I take a quick trip to canada if I need health care or something and get it for free or do they make us americans pay for thier own health care up north?

Just claim refugee status at the border.

I read someplace Canada has had a balanced budget for 6 years running... must not hurt them too much all these refugees and "liberal" policies... whats our excuse? I mean USA is probably the most darwinian culture of the G8 countries and runs higher per capita debt than any of them. Hell in germany or sweden you can flot though life w/o ever working.. I know my aunt has done this.. she's 60 and worked a total of 4 years and somehow is'nt homeless.. in fact she's still taking classes.

 

[DieHardware]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: DieHardware

Originally posted by: Spencer278
can I take a quick trip to canada if I need health care or something and get it for free or do they make us americans pay for thier own health care up north?

Just claim refugee status at the border.

I read someplace Canada has had a balanced budget for 6 years running... must not hurt them too much all these refugees and "liberal" policies... whats our excuse? I mean USA is probably the most darwinian culture of the G8 countries and runs higher per capita debt than any of them. Hell in germany or sweden you can flot though life w/o ever working.. I know my aunt has done this.. she's 60 and worked a total of 4 years and somehow is'nt homeless.. in fact she's still taking classes.

Easy, our liberal government doesn't waste money on defence spending (when you guys will protect us) and reduced it's 50% health care share to 15% by downloading it to the provinces.

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: BigToque
Canadians dont have free health insurance. That is extra and people need to get that extra coverage on their own.

I believe the way it works is that people dont have to pay for things like x-rays and just going to see the doctor.

Originall posted by: Mavrick
Totally wrong. In Canada, the government has to pay for ALL the health related costs (except ambulance). It is illegal for a person to pay for treatments in Canada. But we do not get a separate entry on our paycheck. It's included in the income taxes[/quote]

Well, I'm sure glad we got that question answered so quickly!

 

[Kaiser__Sose]

Easy, our liberal government doesn't waste money on defence spending (when you guys will protect us) and reduced it's 50% health care share to 15% by downloading it to the provinces.

have to agree there.. i think the US gov't "policing the world" policy is costing beaucoup bucks... In canada we can't even send our troops overseas.. we have to ask the US to give us a ride on their planes... lol.. sad but true..

ALso the Canadian economy did not take the hit that the US economy did over the past few years, and was the only G8 nation to experience growth in the recent harsh years.

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: DieHardware

Originally posted by: Spencer278
can I take a quick trip to canada if I need health care or something and get it for free or do they make us americans pay for thier own health care up north?

Just claim refugee status at the border.

I read someplace Canada has had a balanced budget for 6 years running... must not hurt them too much all these refugees and "liberal" policies... whats our excuse? I mean USA is probably the most darwinian culture of the G8 countries and runs higher per capita debt than any of them. Hell in germany or sweden you can flot though life w/o ever working.. I know my aunt has done this.. she's 60 and worked a total of 4 years and somehow is'nt homeless.. in fact she's still taking classes.

What's our excuse? Our excuse is that we don't need universal healthcare. The majority of working people already have adequate healthcare coverage. Why would you take that away from them to provide healthcare for the minority of people who don't have it? Why mess up a system that works for the majority of people to provide healthcare to a minority of people?

 

[Kaiser__Sose]

What's our excuse? Our excuse is that we don't need universal healthcare. The majority of working people already have adequate healthcare coverage. Why would you take that away from them to provide healthcare for the minority of people who don't have it? Why mess up a system that works for the majority of people to provide healthcare to a minority of people?

well.. we believe that ALL citizens should have healthcare.. not just those who can afford it .. or are on social assitance

 

[HappyPuppy]

Give me a break. If you are sick or injured you can walk into any hospital emergency room in the U.S. and get the care you need. Nobody in the U.S. is without healthcare.

It doesn't matter if you are a citizen, a legal resident or an ILLEGAL ALIEN, you can get healthcare.

 

[pnho]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Give me a break. If you are sick or injured you can walk into any hospital emergency room in the U.S. and get the care you need. Nobody in the U.S. is without healthcare.

It doesn't matter if you are a citizen, a legal resident or an ILLEGAL ALIEN, you can get healthcare.

True, you can get healthcare, but not the same. People with private insurance tend to get the better care. Otherwise you become a guinea pig for Residents, and if its surgery, doctors need someone to train on. The level of care will be different, thus addressing patient need will differ. Furthermore, medical errors in the US kill as many ppl as illnesses and diseases. Text 1

According to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine, medical errors are responsible for at least 44,000 deaths each year in the United States and possibly as many as 98,000 each year.
This means that more people die from medical mistakes each year than from breast cancer, highway accidents, or AIDS, the report noted

Here's a different source stating different numbers, but it indicates that medical errors are still a leading cause of death here.

Text 2

Even more significantly, the medical system has played a large role in undermining the health of Americans. According to several research studies in the last decade, a total of 225,000 Americans per year have died as a result of their medical treatments:


? 12,000 deaths per year due to unnecessary surgery
? 7000 deaths per year due to medication errors in hospitals

? 20,000 deaths per year due to other errors in hospitals

? 80,000 deaths per year due to infections in hospitals

? 106,000 deaths per year due to negative effects of drugs

Thus, America's healthcare-system-induced deaths are the third leading cause of the death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer.


One of the key problems of the U.S. health system is that as many as 40 million people in the U.S. do not have access to healthcare. The social and economic inequalities that are an integral part of American society are mirrored in the inequality of access to the health care system. Essentially, families of low socioeconomic status are cut off from receiving a decent level of health care.

just something to think about.

 

[Colt45]

its a smaller percent of the GDP than the US spends on healthcare.

something like 9% vs. 14% i think.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Kaiser__Sose
Basically all medical treatments that are required to get you into good health ie. doctors visits, surgery, tests are free.

Drugs and elective surgery (cosmetic, laser eye etc.) are not.

This is accurate.

The thing that pisses me off about it though is I've been to the hospital like 4 times in my life up to this point, have seen the doctor aside from regular checkups an additional 3 or 4 times, and when I've gone in with my fractured hip I see people bringing their kids in with skinned knees, charging the government $50+ to get a doctor to put some hydrogen peroxide and a band-aid on. You can tell the doctors are frustrated too; they didn't spend 10 years in post secondary school to put on band-aids.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Spencer278
can I take a quick trip to canada if I need health care or something and get it for free or do they make us americans pay for thier own health care up north?

Um, no. We all basically get a goverment credit card which is good at all hospitals/etc. On your way in they ask for your card, you give it to them, and they let you through.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Triumph
I guess the real question I'm trying to ask is how much does each person pay for health insurance? (It isn't "free" since it comes out of your taxes. Why do people always say Canada has "free" health insurance?) Since my health insurance comes from my employer, my paycheck tells me exactly how much I am paying each month, roughly $90 American. Is there something equivalent for Canadians?

The only things that are itemized on all cheques are income tax, CPP (canada pension plan contribution), and EI (employment insurance, the newly PC version of UI, or unemployment insurance).