Apres le jour

[tealin]

So ... what was up with Bastille Day this year?

I mean, not in France; obviously there were parades and fireworks and stuff. I mean in the U.S. of A. I never remember this much attention being paid to Bastille Day outside of 'Learning about the culture is just as important as learning the language' bloody useless French class. Did I just never notice it before? Is it a California thing?* Or is it, as I cynically suspect, because we have a new administration and thus it's OK to not hate France anymore so anyone with an international perspective is celebrating this by overcompensating?

*very much doubt this

Comments

[putri-nih.livejournal.com]

I was listening to this discussion on the radio --it was a right-wing, Republican radio talk show. (No, I have no choice in the radio selection...I was mooching off a ride from someone.. sigh)
He was going on and on about how Obama is a commie because he's planning to implement health care plan in The States (and grilling the poor bastard who disagreed with him)

What I always want to know is...why is it that "health care" is automatically "commie" or "socialist"? I asked people but they can't seem to clarify it further than, "it just is."

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

I don't think Obama is a commie, but I do think he is a socialist. Health care is not intrinsically socialist, or communist, or capitalist. It is how it is delivered that defines it.

If you pay the government, either through taxes, co-pays, or directly, it is a statist system (run by the state). When you pay an insurance company, the doctor or some other way without paying the government, it is a capitalist system. In a state-run system there is rationing. Either by not making certain procedures available or limiting access to them. A look at England's or Canada's systems shows that there are rather important problems with this model.

leave canada out of this once and for all

[(Anonymous)]

If you are a citizen in canada, have no job or money you or your kids will still be able to go see a doctor if you are sick. This would not be the case for someone without insurance in the states. Please also don't get me started on the limits and exceptions insurance companies have on certain medical procedures. Health care is a right, not privilege. Someone living in the states without health insurance could be dead before they can see a doctor!

Re: leave canada out of this once and for all

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

This is false.

Anybody, even illegal aliens, gets care in American hospitals. You walk in (or call 911 and get a free ride in an ambulance), you get care, you don't pay. It's that easy. "Civil Rights" groups even publish pamphlets with instructions in Spanish on how to get the care and not pay a dime.

If health care is a right, undeniable to anybody, why is it that it is rationed? How do you ration rights? The average wait to see a specialist in Canada is 17 weeks. In the Maritimes it is 22 weeks. The average wait to get a hip replacement in BC is 18 months. A year and a half of agonizing pain, confined to a wheelchair because you can't walk. That's why hospitals in Washington are doing good business in hip and knee replacements. How is it that the wait for an MRI in Canada can be weeks, yet you can get one for your pet in 24 hours? Yes, drug prices are lower in Canada, but many groundbreaking, highly-effective drugs are unavailable to anyone, despite their ability to pay, due to their high cost.

Luckily, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that private health care is no longer illegal and private clinics can be established. Quebec is leading the way. Vive le Quebec healthcare libre.

Re: leave canada out of this once and for all

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

Ah, I believe you are touching on a different problem here - a lack of sufficient hospitals and doctors in Canada. Wait times differ from hospital to hospital, depending on the volume of patients and competence of the staff at each. My grandmother had to wait four days in the hospital to get her hip replaced a few weeks ago, but when my dad went to a different hospital just a few days ago, he was seen within the hour. He wasn't a priority patient either, since he was just having muscle pains.

Also, it's a shorter wait for a pet MRI because, well, not as many people are willing to fork out over a thousand dollars for an animal. I mean, after you do an MRI to figure out what's wrong, you still have to pay to get it fixed, which intimidates a lot of people into not getting one. Which doesn't make for a lineup going out the door, as it were. Veterinary and human doctoral practices are not, I'm afraid, very comparable, simply because of how people view them both.

Anyway, Canada's problem isn't free health care. We just need more freakin' doctors so the patients can get looked at!

Re: leave canada out of this once and for all

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

Lack of hospitals and doctors equals rationing. More hospitals and doctors would cost money. There was a town in Ontario that had a lottery to see who would get in to see the doctor.
http://www.intermedglobal.com/news_canadian_doctors_shortage.html

The wait is not from the time you are in the hospital, it is from the time you are diagnosed as needing a new hip. Individual results may vary, but 18 months is the average wait for a hip replacement in BC. Bellingham hospitals say "Thanks!"

My Mother-In-Law literally went to the hospital 3 times and waited a total of 6 months for minor shoulder surgery so she could lift her arm above her shoulder.

In England there was a cool deal where the government guaranteed that on admittance to an emergency room, you would be seen in X hours. We'll when the line got too long the ambulances would literally sit in the parking lot with their patients inside for hours rather than admitting them and having their wait inside be too long.

The shorter wait for pets comes from government-funded MRI centers (or would it be centres?) not being allowed to be paid by human patients, but being allowed to be open after hours to take cash for animals. Thus, the very same piece of equipment being available for quickly pets but not humans.

There is no such thing as free health care. The doctors, nurses, and staff get paid. Equipment needs to get purchased. Hospitals need to be maintained. You just need to pay more taxes to get more doctors and more hospitals.

Re: leave canada out of this once and for all

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

Well, it was still a four days' wait in my grandmother's case. She broke her hip, four days of waiting in the hospital later, she got it fixed. Which is beside the point, but just so you know, haha.

Yikes about the lottery thing. Nothin' really to be said about that.

As for the MRI thing, I was referring to situations such as at the clinic my mother works at, where they have an in-house MRI. It's not actually big enough for people, and they have to knock out the larger dogs so they don't bonk their heads or mess up the equipment. I have no real know-how about government-run MRI centres, and I won't pretend I do. C:

Anyway, my point was that if we had enough doctors and hospitals Canada's health care system would be much more functional. Since we don't, it is not working as well as it could be.