Having heard about the difficulties of my American friends have with obtaining suitable health care “insurance”, I read with interest the article in the Ojo by Tim Eyerman: “How Accurate is History? I like history and write historical novels.
Mr. Eyerman began his article by noticing that history is often rewritten and revised, but then he followed up by writing about the proposals of Bill Clinton for universal health care. History or healthcare, either way, an important facet of our lives as senior citizens is healthcare. As a Canadian, I live with universal health care, and experience none of the problems of my American friends have on obtaining health insurance, so the subject caught my attention, and I felt compelled to reply.
Of course, as Mr. Eyerman stated, the insurance industry in the USA was and is still against universal health care insurance. These companies would cease to exist without the principle of making profits, and their lobbying effects basically prevented acceptance of the proposal for universal healthcare in the USA. He rightly noticed the unfair and inaccurate reporting in the media about the investigations into the proposals for universal health care, so the public stayed unaware of its benefit.
However, the writer seemed to not know how universal health care insurance works in practical application. Understandable, as the current situation in the USA is a haphazard world of a multitude of private companies and state organizations, with a scattering of coverages, which would need to disappear. Never mind all of that. This is the problem for the Americans to deal with.
Let me report on how universal health care is working in Canada, as an illustration of how it could be.
Health care is not free in Canada, as many illogically think. All employees pay into it on a monthly basis, and it is never optional, nor is it an outrageously high deduction from one’s salary. The companies of these employees also pay a share into the plan for every employee.
For the “freedom-first” Americans, this arrangement may be akin to socialism. Yes, some companies try to evade this by hiring only part timers (e.g., Walmart), so some of the benefits can be avoided. This is a no-no, but alas, it happens.
Healthcare facilities are open to everyone at no costs out of pocket, whether employed or not. It is part of being a Canadian, a legal resident, or a refugee. The only thing a person is asked on admittance at any health care facility or doctor’s office, is to show your plan ID, needed to administer the services.
Because everyone, who earns a living, pays into the program, and the companies pay their share for each employee as well, the administration is a massive undertaking. The result is also that the national Medical Services Plan, as we call our healthcare program, is a powerful negotiator with pharmaceutical companies for the price of medications. Hence the lower price of drugs in Canada. It needs to be pointed out that the provinces are responsible for the service delivery under the national healthcare act: the MSP act, and therefore slight differences from province to province are possible in its offerings.
Prescribed medications and dental care were not included in our MSP, and the patient will have to pay for their pills (not an ideal situation), and dental treatments, although recently, children and a certain cohort of seniors are now included for dental services under the MSP. However, people on income assistance get covered for medications and basic dental care. Some employers offer dental care insurance. As well, negotiations are underway in parliament between parties to include basic dental care and medications in the universal healthcare plan.
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The nice thing about Canadian health care is, that you do not need money when getting services. You report to your doctor, or lab, or the hospital, and money is not on your mind. You will never lose your life’s savings because of expensive healthcare services, like in the USA. When you are admitted to the hospital, the medication you would need is provided, and you are not charged.
Another great thing of Canadian universal healthcare is that you will get services, although the wait time for services is now often an issue for non-emergency issues, the so-called elective surgery. I highly recommend all people to avoid having those elective issues, to take charge of your own health care, avoid knee replacements or hip replacements by staying at an ideal weight, eat healthily, get educated about what healthy living is and how to avoid wearing out or damaging your body and body parts, and use what preventive care is available, such as inoculations. Of course, disease might strike one anyway.
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When I was struck with throat cancer, I first learned about a problem during my routine check-up visit at the dentist. The dentist saw the growth and recommended I’d see a physician immediately. It was during the pandemic and my family physician was overloaded, and an appointment was only available for three weeks later.
I drove to the hospital’s emergency, which was also swamped with people. Due to a lack of family doctors in the whole country (a problem yet to be addressed), many people do not have one and go to the emergency to see a doctor. I waited.
Eventually, I saw an emergency physician, who diagnosed a problem and got the ENT specialist-on-duty, who did some scoping to confirm, and who got me to the scanning department. I had a CT scan right there and then, and a referral for a biopsy for the next week at the hospital. Ten hours later I was home from my emergency visit. This was in early June 2021.
Yes, there was the diagnosis of cancer a couple of days later, and I was put on the waitlist for radiation treatment and chemo. Within two months, my treatment had started. Another two months after treatments, I was free of malignant cells. I was taken care of with a minimum of stress. There was no money involved. All the services I needed, such as lab tests, etc. was provided to me in the cancer clinic, located ten minutes from my home. I still have check-ups now, but ever fewer, as I stay healthy. How amazing is that?
I see how my American friends on Medicare in their retirement struggle, to maintain regular and comprehensive healthcare while living abroad, and seek out the right insurance company, which may not even provide services in their own state, so they have to pretend living in another state or district. I shake my head. How stressful.
In comparison, the universal MSP of Canada will cover medical services obtained abroad, on the condition that the costs do not exceed those for the same services provided in Canada. I would have to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed later. So, I would not seek treatment in the USA, medical services according to Mr. Eyerman twice of those in Canada, but of course, treatment costs being half or less in Mexico, that wouldn’t be a problem.
You can see the Canadian snowbirds leaving Mexico after the winter is over. That is because we will be cut off from our MSP coverage, if we stay abroad over the total of seven allowable months in a year. I have deliberated whether it is worth my while to become a permanent resident in Mexico. After my throat issue, I have decided it is not.
Mr. Eyerman mentioned some Canadians coming to Mexico for cheaper procedures and pay out of pocket. That would be in those cases, when they are not prepared to put up with wait times for elective surgery. The Canadian MSP would reimburse their cost. In the USA, your private insurance company may or may not reimburse you for the costs incurred in Mexico.
If you have money, you can always avoid the queue, anywhere. As a writer, I need my eyesight and I skipped the queue when losing my eyesight due to cataracts, and the waitlist of a year at that time. I took the other available option: to have my eye surgery in Canada and pay privately for it. That way I could also have an upgrade in choice of lenses.
Canadians do not always know enough about their own healthcare system, and many seniors pay exorbitant travel insurance fees on top of their plane ticket, just for the event they get sick abroad or want to be transported home by special plane: dead or alive. That is completely unnecessary. If you get sick, you see a doctor, or go to the hospital where you are. In Mexico, that is not even expensive. Keep your receipts and submit those to the MSP in your province. I have heard it happen, that sometimes the travel insurance company will not even pay for it, and you end up paying anyway. I always skip the extra health insurance when traveling.
In conclusion, the two main things about universal health care are, first, that everybody legally in the country will have healthcare without hassles. Two, when the profit principle is taken out of the equation, all costs will be significantly lower.
Canada’s universal healthcare defeats the idea that more competition would lead to lower prices, so prevalent in nations that admire the principle of competition, entrepreneurship, and profit-making. In my view, a government’s task is to provide the basic services for living to its citizens. Universal healthcare is part of that.
Some of her stories made the shortlist in contests (Glimmer Train, CBC/UBC Short Story Contest with Fort Good Hope) and more recently, she was the winner of the Wine Country Writers’ Festival story contest – nonfiction 2021 with Prejudice and Necrotizing Enterocolitis.
Several stories were published locally and online (Maple Tree Literary Supplement; Sage-ing—magazine for aging with grace, with Birth of a Book.
Johanna self-published two novels and completed three more novels, two of which were accepted by Histria Books – Addison & Highsmith of Las Vegas, member of IPG Independent Publishers Guild.
On Thin Ice, (2012). e-Book. Bookbaby
Guardians’ Betrayal (2018). E-book and paperback. Bookbaby
Between A Rock And A Hard Place (Dec 1, 2021 hardcover, August 1, 2023, paperback & e-book). Histria Books.
Murder In The Strata (2017), long-listed for the Three-Day-Novel Writing contest in BC, unpublished.
The Imposter (scheduled for January 16, 2024). Hardcover. Histria Books.
Johanna’s blog:
https://babyboomerwrites.wordpress.com
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