In the chaotic world of health care, I have come across a story that not only shocked me, but terrified me to my very core. Plus, it is a story of a friend no less. (The local news is always more hard hitting.) The story goes as follows:
One day while cutting a log, he hurt his arm. (Such a simple story.) It sounded with a horrible ripping sound and he as well as his children knew immediately that something was terribly wrong. When he finally had it checked out, it was found that his muscle had been ripped from his socket (torn away!) and displaced down his arm. (Don't worry if it makes you squeamish, it had the same effect on me...) Anyways, he went to the hospital to get it checked out. At first glance they said there was nothing they could do. (???) So he got a second opinion...and a third...which both times he was told that surgery was the best and real only option to improve and maintain his quality of life. So obviously then, when he goes back to the hospital, does more tests, and puts this forth, he would be told to have the surgery, correct? Not even close.
Not only was he not given a chance to decide (Canadian Conservatism gone bad) he was adamantly TOLD "No", much like a child is denied chocolate before bed. Their reasoning centered on that he was too old (age. 44), he smoked (unfortunate lung cancer patients) and that he had arthritis (my poor grandmother...). Under this guise, he was was denied healthcare and was actually told that he still had a good muscle (only one was torn) and to just use that. The next time you get a flat tire and take your car into a shop, remember this story and when they tell you that they will not fix the tire and that you still have one good one, do NOT get upset. YOU ARE CANADIAN. (An added point: not only did you go into the shop for the repair, you had prepaid them on the basis that at some point you would need service.)
We have been so worried about the government interfering too much into our lives by way of taxation and too precise law making. How could we be so blind? We should be more worried about the government actually telling us what we are "allowed" to have for healthcare. Or if we are even "allowed" to improve our way of life or not.
The healthcare system in Canada has come under much fire in the past. Unfortunately, this anecdote does not help the situation. It does actually shed quite a bit of light on the current problems regarding our wonderful healthcare system.
If one were to follow the train of thought proposed by our lefty wing "nuts", you would have to believe that all doctors have entered the healthcare system because they are "good people" who just want to help. "Humanitarians" even. Umm, what happened? It appears that the opportunity to improve someone's quality of life was skipped out on. Why? Likely because there was no incentives to do anything about it aside from the "right thing" (something we on the right realize is far overstated).The doctors will not make any money doing more work on any one patient then they would if they did nothing or just more of the same. Just another proof that the government does not understand market principles. Privately speaking, there would a strong incentive to work on the arm, a monetary one. Yes the greedy capitalist speaks out, but truthfully though. Thus another explanation for the so called "brain drain" of doctors to the US is explained. Getting paid more wasn't the only catalyst. It was the incentives that existed to do more than treat colds and common infections and maybe the odd broken wrist.
Unfortunately, the Conservative Socialist Government of Canada has shown that our healthcare system has the ability to control our citizen's lives down to the choices involved with camping incidents. If you were one of the unlearned folks who believed we are in a civilized era of prosperity and advancement, don't fool yourself. A broken arm can cost you your life, Canadian.
One day while cutting a log, he hurt his arm. (Such a simple story.) It sounded with a horrible ripping sound and he as well as his children knew immediately that something was terribly wrong. When he finally had it checked out, it was found that his muscle had been ripped from his socket (torn away!) and displaced down his arm. (Don't worry if it makes you squeamish, it had the same effect on me...) Anyways, he went to the hospital to get it checked out. At first glance they said there was nothing they could do. (???) So he got a second opinion...and a third...which both times he was told that surgery was the best and real only option to improve and maintain his quality of life. So obviously then, when he goes back to the hospital, does more tests, and puts this forth, he would be told to have the surgery, correct? Not even close.
Not only was he not given a chance to decide (Canadian Conservatism gone bad) he was adamantly TOLD "No", much like a child is denied chocolate before bed. Their reasoning centered on that he was too old (age. 44), he smoked (unfortunate lung cancer patients) and that he had arthritis (my poor grandmother...). Under this guise, he was was denied healthcare and was actually told that he still had a good muscle (only one was torn) and to just use that. The next time you get a flat tire and take your car into a shop, remember this story and when they tell you that they will not fix the tire and that you still have one good one, do NOT get upset. YOU ARE CANADIAN. (An added point: not only did you go into the shop for the repair, you had prepaid them on the basis that at some point you would need service.)
We have been so worried about the government interfering too much into our lives by way of taxation and too precise law making. How could we be so blind? We should be more worried about the government actually telling us what we are "allowed" to have for healthcare. Or if we are even "allowed" to improve our way of life or not.
The healthcare system in Canada has come under much fire in the past. Unfortunately, this anecdote does not help the situation. It does actually shed quite a bit of light on the current problems regarding our wonderful healthcare system.
If one were to follow the train of thought proposed by our lefty wing "nuts", you would have to believe that all doctors have entered the healthcare system because they are "good people" who just want to help. "Humanitarians" even. Umm, what happened? It appears that the opportunity to improve someone's quality of life was skipped out on. Why? Likely because there was no incentives to do anything about it aside from the "right thing" (something we on the right realize is far overstated).The doctors will not make any money doing more work on any one patient then they would if they did nothing or just more of the same. Just another proof that the government does not understand market principles. Privately speaking, there would a strong incentive to work on the arm, a monetary one. Yes the greedy capitalist speaks out, but truthfully though. Thus another explanation for the so called "brain drain" of doctors to the US is explained. Getting paid more wasn't the only catalyst. It was the incentives that existed to do more than treat colds and common infections and maybe the odd broken wrist.
Unfortunately, the Conservative Socialist Government of Canada has shown that our healthcare system has the ability to control our citizen's lives down to the choices involved with camping incidents. If you were one of the unlearned folks who believed we are in a civilized era of prosperity and advancement, don't fool yourself. A broken arm can cost you your life, Canadian.
