Tommy Douglas's name frequently comes up on lists of all-time best Canadians, and for good reasons: he was the largest driving force in shaping our healthcare system to what it is today, a single-payer program. He didn't make healthcare free in this country, as some people like to boast, but rather formed it so we all pay for it with our taxes and don't have to bring wads of twenties with us each time we get something medical checked out.
And that was me yesterday.
I finally went to the doctor to get my tailbone looked at, something that'd been bugging me for about a week. It hurt to sit down, I found myself unconsciously clenching my teeth, and thought that needing to ice the area to get any sort of relief necessitated a trip to her. It's not normal when all these things happen, so what was I waiting for? The fear of something horrible and a lot more pain, I guess, which I figured I was on the path to anyway if I didn't actually give her a call.
So first thing that morning I called and managed to get a same-day appointment. I wasn't looking forward to it all day — but a poutine and sundae right before helped take a tiny bit of the edge off — but the time rolled around before I knew it and my doctor was fixing me.
She sent me off with two prescriptions (no lollipop, though), and 15 minutes and $32.29 later, that was it. I was done. The whole thing took an hour and a half, and the only bill I saw were for the two meds.
What a beautiful system. At no point was I ever told to pay upfront or submit my insurance paperwork or given a five-figure bill for services and goods rendered, just a bit of an expense where the filling fee ($8.99 each) amounted to more than the meds themselves. I don't have to screen any calls from insurance collectors, asking me when I'm going to pay my doctor's bill. And I didn't have to ask my doctor not to do certain things, like not use freezing, based on how much it cost.
There was one point when she was finishing up and tossed my paper dressing gown away with everything else, and said, "Oops, threw it out. I'll get you a new one." After, I was thinking of how much that would have cost me if it had happened in the States. $40 for each paper dressing gown? $120 for each shot of freezing? $30 for one painkiller? I can't even comprehend these figures, but it happens all the time in the States.
This article from the New York Times was absolutely horrifying to read because it showed just how much healthcare providers and insurers are allowed to get away with. There are so few rules, it's capitalism at its Wild Wild West worst (imagine getting a $2,000 bill for a few stitches).
But you know what the worst part of it is here in Canada? People have no idea how damn good they have it here. If you're covered by the healthcare system and require a service (again, covered by the healthcare plan), you just don't worry about this stuff. There's never going to be a situation where getting 100 stitches for a dog bite leads to a bill so big, you're out on the streets. Getting cancer won't force your family to liquidate their assets or remortgage the house. And having a baby doesn't have to come down to choosing between nursing students or your living room because of astronomical costs.
Granted, the wait times at hospitals suck, but how many of us are waiting for inconsequential things like sutures, headaches or other shit that won't lead to a code blue in two seconds? If you're at a hospital and suddenly have an MI, you will get seen above everyone else. The people who tend to complain about the wait times — and I'm generalizing a bit here, because I know this is not always the case — are the ones marked down lower on the triage scale and don't have anything else to compare it to.
Too many people in this country don't know just how good they have it here, and it's because we're not constantly bombarded by words like co-pay and deductible, commercials for various pills, and have to choose between preventative health and a huge bill.
Count me out of that group. I know just how good it is here, and I'm happy to "gripe" about having to pay an $8.99 filling fee on $3 meds.
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