Don’t believe everything you hear. In fact, if it is coming from the status quo in the States and has anything to do with Universal medicare as practiced in Canada, you might be well advised not to listen to it at all.

This is a common misconception about Canadian healthcare. If YOU NEED IT then you will get it immediately.

Any elective surgeries or non-life threatening surgeries will take a long time. Which is completely fair IMO.

http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2007/10/closer-look-at-cancer-survival-rates.html

The facts are the facts and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, no matter what anecdotal evidence they try to bring up.

So much for the filthy lies people keep telling about the Canadian healthcare system. In reality, it works like this: you get a minor illness, you call-up your doctor and make an appointment. Your doctor examines you and provides a diagnosis and treatment options. You thank him/her, smile at the receptionist as you leave, and go home.

If it’s an emergency, you can go straight to a hospital emergency room, or call an ambulance to take you there. If it is a true emergency, you’ll be seen right away. If it’s not an emergency, then you might have to wait until all the real emergency patients have been dealt with…just like you will at any emergency room anywhere in the world.

Still, you’re seen by a doctor and/or specialist(s), you receive a diagnosis, a prognosis, and treatment options. Once discharged, you smile at those who took such good care of you, and go home.

I’m as healthy as a horse and barely have a need for doctors’ services. But I’ve never had a single problem with receiving any kind of medical treatment whatsoever, over the years. If there is any “problem”, it’s the lack of doctors willing to work in rural areas (just like in the U.S.) and, in some areas, doctors not taking new patients. If that’s a “problem” then that’s the only one I’ve personally run into. I live in a region where not many private practice GP’s are taking new clients. So, until I find one, I have to go to a “family” medical clinic (sometimes called a “walk-in clinic” but you can make an appointment at these places). It’s just that I might not see the same doctor each time. I completely agree that having a primary care physician is the ideal (and is what I had for my entire life, up until now) but, realistically, Canadian doctors are well-trained, and you’re generallly in good hands no matter who you get. However, this is primarily a problem of smaller cities/towns and rural areas. Having lived in large cities my whole life, it was a surprise to run into this situation when I moved to this area a couple of years ago. (80% of Canadians live in cities.)

Sure, healthcare in Canada isn’t “free” in the sense we all pay into it via taxes. But you have no financial worries if you become ill, want to have a baby, etc. The “cost” of your medical treatments will remain a mystery to you, as you’ll never see a bill for the vast majority of medical services.

So, please, take this information back to the extremely ignorant (or dishonest) person who told you such a thing. It’s so far from the truth, it’s almost laughable.

Oops! Forgot to add another relative’s brain cancer treatment. He was diagnosed on a Friday, and started treatment on Monday. Yeah…really long wait.

Funny that I just watched a segment on last weekend’s “60 Minutes” about an American woman who says she’s been given a ‘death sentence’ because her local (American) hospital will no longer provide cancer treatment to patients who can’t pay. …Can’t imagine anything like that happening in Canada.