Krank

iTrader: (3)

First off I would like to say that I am sorry to spam your boards with this crap. I am American and I was having a debate with some friends about the Canadian health care system.

I have a few questions:


If you were to go into a hospital and needed a MRI or an xray, would they turn you down or give you the proper xray/MRI??

What do you think of your health care system as a whole?

Are the taxes worth it??

sorry again, my friends are stuck on the fact that Canada only has like 5 MRI/xray machines and I think that is total BS!!

bender

iTrader: (3)

Ive had xrays done at hospitals before. Other than waiting awhile for my turn to see a doctor, i've never had any complaints.

Turning you down for an xray? lol. Don't all hospitals have xray machines?

XuperXero

iTrader: (2)

No, taxes is not worth it. We don't get dental and vision. Government just cares if your alive so they can keep taxing you. They won't care if your blind or have fugly teeth.

When I lived in the states, the medical plans that I got from my dad's company was excellent. Covers everything from MRI, X-RAY, dental, vision, and blah blah, pretty much nothing uncovered. I believe it's cheaper than getting taxed like crazy here...

Krank

iTrader: (3)

Thats what I was thinking, I guess a MRI machine is different though. Their actual statement was that we have more MRI machines here in Oklahoma then Canada has in their whole country. There is simply no possible way.





Yea, I figured that you guys were taxed like crazy up there for it. Do you about the percentage that you guys are taxed?

We get 20-25% taken out of our income here.

tinlok

iTrader: (4)

i think you asking on a 350z forum already skews the answer because we're most likely a bunch that are in a higher tax bracket and will likely think we shouldn't pay as much tax. if you were to ask low income people who pay less tax and benefit more from the social services, you would get different answers.

but to answer your questions

If you were to go into a hospital and needed a MRI or an xray, would they turn you down or give you the proper xray/MRI??

no, you just wait in line. how long? depending where you go. all you need is a doctor's note

What do you think of your health care system as a whole?
i think it's pretty good! i dislocated my shoulder once, never had to pay a cent out of my pocket to get it fixed, go to rehab for 3 months.

Are the taxes worth it??
i don't think you can base the amount of tax solely on the health care system. it's not like 100% of our taxes go into the health care. so i'm sort of undecided on this one. i think 14% sales tax (used to be 15% in ontario) on top of the 30+ % income tax is something i've gotten used to.

Krank

iTrader: (3)

Yea I understand that. We were drunk last night and I like to argue. Some how me and 2 of my friends (all soon to be med students) started talking about health care. Somehow we got on the subject Canadian health care. They started talking about the nonsense of waiting 6 months-1 year to get an MRI. So basically I thought I would get to the bottom of this and ask people who live there. This is the only place that I knew where to turn.


I knew they didn't know what they were talking about because they stated that people only lived in the south eastern part of Canada! The rest of Canada was just the "bush" or basically uninhabitable. WTF?

I guess they never took geography???

Mapleleaf

iTrader: (10)

You never argue or how much money it cost when you or your family's health is a issue . Over the years the Health system has taken care of me and my family without worry. Is there waiting of course and can you pick apart the system ... yes but it when you don't have a job or have a family health concerns then some how it seems fine

2TH PWR

iTrader: (21)

I'd say overall the Canadian system is very good. My friend hurt his shoulder weight lifting and got and MRI almost immediately. Wait times for certain procedures can be long, but I've never run into it or heard of anyone close to me running into problems with it. My step mom needed cancer surgery, and was in treatment less than a week after being diagnosed. It was all free, otherwise the treatment and additional home care could have cleaned my parents out.

Canada is just a very "socialist" type country. If you are in the low to middle income tax brackets I don't think there is another life like it in the world.

Krank

iTrader: (3)

I am glad that your mom and friend recieved the treatment that they needed. Here in America it seems as if congressmen are trying to scare us from wanting this type of healthcare. The congressmen get a lot of money from these insurance companines that would be completely unneeded if if did swap to this type of system.

Smasher

iTrader: (2)

I've heard stories of US citizens paying $600+/mth for years. X how many in the family?

When something serious happens. Oh you are not coverd for that or you are only covered for a year then you are on your own type of thing. Dont know how true that is but it sounds scarry to me.


++ for Canada health care, no worries and no complaints to date.

Krank

iTrader: (3)

From my experience, my insurance through work I had to pay my premium monthly (approx $170). If I was to get married it would have went up(approx $260), and if we were to have kids it goes up. There is no difference in price if you have 1 or 20 kids ($350+).

frankyB

I pay a lot of taxes, but I'm happy to do it. In Canada we made a choice that health is a rigth, not some commodity you buy on the street.

I'm pi***ed when they don't spend my money right, yes, but the overall result is anybody can show up at the hospital and get treatement.

I don't want a system for the rich only, I travelled a lot, and we have it good in Canada.

kingrukus

iTrader: (3)

My feelings exactly. I cannot wait to move to the United States of America. Better yet, I hope we get taken over by the United States of America.

350z4metoronto

iTrader: (1)

This is a never ending debate - but as someone who has lived on both sides...and gladly chooses to stay in Canada I hope I can provide some insight.

In Canada we pay ridiculous taxes – you enter the top tax bracket once you start earning just over $50,000…so new college grads can be in the top earning level year one out of school. So we pay more in income taxes but then have little in the way of property taxes etc. - as much of the tax has already been covered in our annual tax. As anyone in California or NJ/NY etc. who is paying $20,000+ a year in property tax on a million dollar home will tell you....in Canada that same house is only about $4-6,000 in tax (and we have higher quality public schools and social services to show for it).

Then when it comes to healthcare, if you are rich you are better in the US - you get the best treatment tomorrow...where in Canada we all get the same treatment and sometimes you have to wait (in some cases months). But if you are in the lower socioeconomic levels and cannot afford $100,000 for a hip replacement...then Canada is the way to go - it is free. If you break your arm you may have to wait a few hours in the ER, but when all is said and done you walk out at the end with no bill. I cannot count how many hard working families in the US I hard heard of loosing everything that they have worked their lives for just because someone got cancer or was in an accident.

I have found that if you are lower income bracket it is much better to be in Canada - better social systems, free healthcare, and EI (employment insurance), if middle income to upper income then it really is a bit of a wash, pay higher federal taxes but save on property and healthcare costs – so it just comes down to where you want to be and raise your family. If you are very rich is it better in the US as you can afford any treatments you want and will be taxed lower.

Just my two cents – but then I choose to live in Canada (but I do all my work in the US – spend a few weeks each month there).

2TH PWR

iTrader: (21)

Dude, top tax bracket kicks in at $123 184.00
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/individ...axrates-e.html
In Ontario at that point it's a little over 40.15%! Which is good, I guess it's dropped in recent years, used to be 46%.

If you made 50K in Ontario that would put you at 31.2%

tinlok

iTrader: (4)

even then it's not all taxed at the same bracket.

it's just different amounts get taxed at different rate.
it's only the $123 184th + dollar that gets taxed at the 40.15%. anything below that gets taxed at their respective bracket.

that's what i understand from filling out the chart last year

240Zplus110

iTrader: (1)

We've had this debate with my brother-in-law living in Oregon. After listening to him about how great the healthcare system is in the US, we asked him why there is a much higher incident of infant deaths amoungst single parent families in the US compared to Canada -- according to healthcare statisitics in the US the answer was that most single moms cannot afford healthcare in the US so many births go unattended by medical professionals.
He admitted that the stats were probably correct and he had no such concern since his employer provides coverage. Like someone already mentioned, the system works better in the US... provided you are rich and/or well employed.

350z4metoronto

iTrader: (1)

I stand corrected, I have been in the top level since I left grad school so never really looked at that the other groups (was just going by what I heard a year or so ago in I think it was a Globe and Mail article). But tinlok is right it is just that last dollar that is taxed at the higher rate (as I understand what my accountant tells me).

If so, then the difference between the buy earning 76,000 and the one earning 124,000 is nothing and only those dollars over are taxed higher. But the different between $50,000 and the guy at 124,000 is only 3%for that last 50,000.

Anyway it is not the Federal tax that gets me it is the provincial one. I lived in Alberta for many years and got used to no provincial sales tax (8% in Ontario)...so on a $100,000 the guy in Ontario is paying $8,000 more than the guy in Calgary – that sucks!.