GOP backing Canadian lying to Americans about UHC

[2Xtreme21]

I'm sure anyone watching any of the news channels recently has seen Shona Holmes and her dreary tale about being put on a long wait list for her brain tumor. So she went to the Mayo Clinic in the states and got treated for it. That's pretty much the center of the conservative viewpoint on UHC-- long wait times for critical health concerns.

Well, turns out this "brain tumor" was actually a harmless, benign cyst. Shona was given an appointment with a specialist in Ontario a few months after her diagnosis, but she chose not to wait. The GOP paid her to blow the story way out of proportion to the news outlets. The RepubLIEcans are desperately grabbing for anything they can to halt progress in this country. How people still suck on the collective dick of the GOP when every "argument" that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, et al. brings up is exposed for what it truly is just amazes me.

Story with 2 articles and video.


Edit: "GOP paying" removed from title as it was an unsupported statement issued in a blog.

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Senior Anandtech Moderator
Common Courtesy

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
I'm sure anyone watching any of the news channels recently has seen Shona Holmes and her dreary tale about being put on a long wait list for her brain tumor. So she went to the Mayo Clinic in the states and got treated for it. That's pretty much the center of the conservative viewpoint on UHC-- long wait times for critical health concerns.

Well, turns out this "brain tumor" was actually a harmless, benign cyst. Shona was given an appointment with a specialist in Ontario a few months after her diagnosis, but she chose not to wait. The GOP paid her to blow the story way out of proportion to the news outlets. The RepubLIEcans are desperately grabbing for anything they can to halt progress in this country. How people still suck on the collective dick of the GOP when every "argument" that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, et al. brings up is exposed for what it truly is just amazes me.

Story with 2 articles and video.

Ridiculous (assuming someone did actually pay her).

But I do have to ask, why did she have an appointment 3 months later? Regardless of whether it was benign I'm sure I could get an appointment with a doc here in 2-3 weeks. I would want that thing removed ASAP regardless of what some doc told me. They can be wrong too.

 

[2Xtreme21]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
I'm sure anyone watching any of the news channels recently has seen Shona Holmes and her dreary tale about being put on a long wait list for her brain tumor. So she went to the Mayo Clinic in the states and got treated for it. That's pretty much the center of the conservative viewpoint on UHC-- long wait times for critical health concerns.

Well, turns out this "brain tumor" was actually a harmless, benign cyst. Shona was given an appointment with a specialist in Ontario a few months after her diagnosis, but she chose not to wait. The GOP paid her to blow the story way out of proportion to the news outlets. The RepubLIEcans are desperately grabbing for anything they can to halt progress in this country. How people still suck on the collective dick of the GOP when every "argument" that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, et al. brings up is exposed for what it truly is just amazes me.

Story with 2 articles and video.

Ridiculous (assuming someone did actually pay her).

But I do have to ask, why did she have an appointment 3 months later? Regardless of whether it was benign I'm sure I could get an appointment with a doc here in 2-3 weeks. I would want that thing removed ASAP regardless of what some doc told me. They can be wrong too.

Took me roughly 3 months to get an appointment to have my wisdom teeth extracted after the initial diagnosis. I'd say getting my wisdom teeth out it a lot more critical than having some harmless cyst removed.

 

[tw1164]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
I'm sure anyone watching any of the news channels recently has seen Shona Holmes and her dreary tale about being put on a long wait list for her brain tumor. So she went to the Mayo Clinic in the states and got treated for it. That's pretty much the center of the conservative viewpoint on UHC-- long wait times for critical health concerns.

Well, turns out this "brain tumor" was actually a harmless, benign cyst. Shona was given an appointment with a specialist in Ontario a few months after her diagnosis, but she chose not to wait. The GOP paid her to blow the story way out of proportion to the news outlets. The RepubLIEcans are desperately grabbing for anything they can to halt progress in this country. How people still suck on the collective dick of the GOP when every "argument" that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, et al. brings up is exposed for what it truly is just amazes me.

Story with 2 articles and video.

Ridiculous (assuming someone did actually pay her).

But I do have to ask, why did she have an appointment 3 months later? Regardless of whether it was benign I'm sure I could get an appointment with a doc here in 2-3 weeks. I would want that thing removed ASAP regardless of what some doc told me. They can be wrong too.

mayo

Agreed

Just to follow up, the mayo clinic doctor seemed to be more concerned about possible vision loss. No one should have to wait a few months to see a specialist while risking vision loss.

Their further tests revealed an increase in the size of her cyst over a short period of time as well as progressively worsening vision. "I was concerned that the pressure on Shona's nervers was causing her to become blind," says Dr. Patel. "We needed to remove the cyst to save her vision."

 

[Genx87]

So while initially misdiagnosed in Canada as cancer this benign cyst still caused other neurological problems including loss of vision?

Lets remember that in Canada this was a tumor and it still took months to have it removed. That is the story here. It took her going to the United States to find out it was a cyst. Either way it still had terrible side effects. Certinaly more critical than having wisdom teeth removed.

 

[dphantom]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
I'm sure anyone watching any of the news channels recently has seen Shona Holmes and her dreary tale about being put on a long wait list for her brain tumor. So she went to the Mayo Clinic in the states and got treated for it. That's pretty much the center of the conservative viewpoint on UHC-- long wait times for critical health concerns.

Well, turns out this "brain tumor" was actually a harmless, benign cyst. Shona was given an appointment with a specialist in Ontario a few months after her diagnosis, but she chose not to wait. The GOP paid her to blow the story way out of proportion to the news outlets. The RepubLIEcans are desperately grabbing for anything they can to halt progress in this country. How people still suck on the collective dick of the GOP when every "argument" that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, et al. brings up is exposed for what it truly is just amazes me.

Story with 2 articles and video.

So I am not clear here. Did she know the tumor was benign before or after she went to Mayo for treatment?

 

[PokerGuy]

I don't know the specifics about this particular person or her case, but the long wait times for non-emergency care are a fact. Canadians coming to the US to get medical care because they'd otherwise have to wait too long is a fact, I personally know people who have done it.

Also, lefties like to say that "every other western society has ....." . The fact is there's a wide range of health care systems out there. Canada's system is very similar to the UK, but vastly different than Germany's or France's system. They all share some sort of universal health care component, but they are still very different from each other. The US needs to have a health care system that works for the US, not adopt one from some other country.

Edit: after reading the follow ups, including the info from the mayo clinic itself, it just proves that this is a legitimate example of how sucky the Canadian system can be, and the lefties (like the OP) whining about it are grasping for excuses ("hey, they thought it might be benign!")

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: dphantom

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
I'm sure anyone watching any of the news channels recently has seen Shona Holmes and her dreary tale about being put on a long wait list for her brain tumor. So she went to the Mayo Clinic in the states and got treated for it. That's pretty much the center of the conservative viewpoint on UHC-- long wait times for critical health concerns.

Well, turns out this "brain tumor" was actually a harmless, benign cyst. Shona was given an appointment with a specialist in Ontario a few months after her diagnosis, but she chose not to wait. The GOP paid her to blow the story way out of proportion to the news outlets. The RepubLIEcans are desperately grabbing for anything they can to halt progress in this country. How people still suck on the collective dick of the GOP when every "argument" that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, et al. brings up is exposed for what it truly is just amazes me.

Story with 2 articles and video.

So I am not clear here. Did she know the tumor was benign before or after she went to Mayo for treatment?

According to the Mayo's story she didnt know it was benign until she showed up at their Arizona clinic. Where a Dr. Paresh Natel diagnosed her with this cyst.

 

[StageLeft]

If she didn't know it was benign before and had a good reason to think it wasn't and required immediate attention, the overall argument is still valid.

In the end, there is NO ARGUMENT that for those in the US with insurance, as a whole seeing a physician and receiving medical care is MUCH faster than in Canada.

 

[PokerGuy]

The reality is that if you are uninsured (you get dropped from coverage etc also included) in the US, it's much worse than in Canada. If you have decent insurance, the US is much better than in Canada.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
The reality is that if you are uninsured (you get dropped from coverage etc also included) in the US, it's much worse than in Canada. If you have decent insurance, the US is much better than in Canada.

Yep, this is 100% correct.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
The reality is that if you are uninsured (you get dropped from coverage etc also included) in the US, it's much worse than in Canada. If you have decent insurance, the US is much better than in Canada.

Oh really. My wife had good insurance while working at IBM. Long story short she was pushed around from one to another till someone did a simple scan over a year later and in the end she had a tumor, a real one not a republican tumor, and lost her ovary cause the tumor had grown in that time.

Having insurance does no good when insurance companies keep cutting things to make sure they keep their profits.

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
Took me roughly 3 months to get an appointment to have my wisdom teeth extracted after the initial diagnosis. I'd say getting my wisdom teeth out it a lot more critical than having some harmless cyst removed.

Mine were removed in under a month.

 

[WHAMPOM]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
If she didn't know it was benign before and had a good reason to think it wasn't and required immediate attention, the overall argument is still valid.

In the end, there is NO ARGUMENT that for those in the US with insurance, as a whole seeing a physician and receiving medical care is MUCH faster than in Canada.

When you have the money to pay cash for the care or a high end health care program. At least she was not denied treatment as happens in the lower 48, just had to wait her turn. Did she inform her Canadian Doctors of worsening vision?

 

[WHAMPOM]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
If she didn't know it was benign before and had a good reason to think it wasn't and required immediate attention, the overall argument is still valid.

In the end, there is NO ARGUMENT that for those in the US with insurance, as a whole seeing a physician and receiving medical care is MUCH faster than in Canada.

In the US you can have insurance and be denied Medical Care unlike Canada, isn't that right Skoorb??

 

[cyclohexane]

not surprised at all.

 

[WHAMPOM]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
The reality is that if you are uninsured (you get dropped from coverage etc also included) in the US, it's much worse than in Canada. If you have decent insurance, the US is much better than in Canada.

Yep, this is 100% correct.

100% correct that 10% have this insurance?

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
If she didn't know it was benign before and had a good reason to think it wasn't and required immediate attention, the overall argument is still valid.

In the end, there is NO ARGUMENT that for those in the US with insurance, as a whole seeing a physician and receiving medical care is MUCH faster than in Canada.

Seeing a physician is just as fast in Canada.

Seeing a specialist and/or getting an MRI are much slower.

 

[PokerGuy]

Originally posted by: WHAMPOM

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
The reality is that if you are uninsured (you get dropped from coverage etc also included) in the US, it's much worse than in Canada. If you have decent insurance, the US is much better than in Canada.

Yep, this is 100% correct.

100% correct that 10% have this insurance?

10% have insurance in the US? What are you smoking?

I'm not saying the US system is fine and doesn't need fixing, but clearly other systems have their own issues. The dems would have us believe that Canada style socialist health care is the wonderful utopia model we need to get to. It's clearly not.

 

[Phokus]

The issue has never been about 'good' health insurance systems vs. 'bad' health insurance systems, it's always been about 'best' tradeoffs that you can get away with vs. 'worst' tradeoffs. Healthcare is a very limited resource so any system you go with, you will have some negative tradeoffs. Currently, the US has the worst tradeoffs, while countries like Taiwan (which had the luxury of studying other developed countries to form their healthcare) have the 'best' tradeoffs (not surprisingly, Taiwan's system is very similar to Medicare).

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: WHAMPOM

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
The reality is that if you are uninsured (you get dropped from coverage etc also included) in the US, it's much worse than in Canada. If you have decent insurance, the US is much better than in Canada.

Yep, this is 100% correct.

100% correct that 10% have this insurance?

No, 100% wrong.

In the US you can have insurance and be denied Medical Care unlike Canada, isn't that right Skoorb??

Canada denies medical care all the time. It's just not called "denial". It's called waiting all fvcking year to see a physician.

Seeing a physician is just as fast in Canada.

Absolutely not. Specialist consults are magnitudes slower to get in Canada.

Currently, the US has the worst tradeoffs

Maybe for you; not for me.

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Currently, the US has the worst tradeoffs

Maybe for you; not for me.

Get back to me when you have an expensive illness and you get kicked off your insurance plan because the CEO of your insurance company needs to beat last quarter's earnings.

My healthcare plan is 'great' too since i've never had a major illness.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Currently, the US has the worst tradeoffs

Maybe for you; not for me.

Get back to me when you have an expensive illness and you get kicked off your insurance plan because the CEO of your insurance company needs to beat last quarter's earnings.

My healthcare plan is 'great' too since i've never had a major illness.

You are again a victim of the availability heuristic, seemingly oblivious to the legalities of insurance. Insurance cannot kick you off their plan on a whim. The vast majority of people with insurance maintain and use this insurance through a major illness.

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Currently, the US has the worst tradeoffs

Maybe for you; not for me.

Get back to me when you have an expensive illness and you get kicked off your insurance plan because the CEO of your insurance company needs to beat last quarter's earnings.

My healthcare plan is 'great' too since i've never had a major illness.

You are again a victim of the availability heuristic, seemingly oblivious to the legalities of insurance. Insurance cannot kick you off their plan on a whim. The vast majority of people with insurance maintain and use this insurance through a major illness.

No shit they don't 'kick you out' on a whim. They have investigators who go through your entire history/paperwork to see what b.s. they can nail you for. Ever heard of rescission? Also, ever heard of medical bankruptcies? There should be no such thing in a developed country. Also, 6000 canceled policies due to rescission in ONE state from ONE insurance provider. you don't think that's a lot (see the blue cross lawsuit)?

 

[Exterous]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
Well, turns out this "brain tumor" was actually a harmless, benign cyst. Shona was given an appointment with a specialist in Ontario a few months after her diagnosis, but she chose not to wait. The GOP paid her to blow the story way out of proportion to the news outlets. The RepubLIEcans are desperately grabbing for anything they can to halt progress in this country. How people still suck on the collective dick of the GOP when every "argument" that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, et al. brings up is exposed for what it truly is just amazes me.

Story with 2 articles and video.


Edit: "GOP paying" removed from title as it was an unsupported statement issued in a blog.

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You have PM regarding the title

Senior Anandtech Moderator
Common Courtesy

Good lord! If anything they should change their ad to include "I was mis-diagnosed in Canada and wasn't properly diagnosed till I saw a US doctor"