# Canadian / European / Australian Healthcare Horror Stories **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-european-australian-healthcare-horror-stories/525105 "2010-01-15T18:51:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Torpor\_Beast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@Torpor\_Beast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torpor_Beast)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-european-australian-healthcare-horror-stories/525105/121 "2010-01-23T09:53:48Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Do other countries have dental and psychiatric care too? In the US you generally have no coverage and have to pay a lot for treatment. In Finland, national health insurance covers psychiatric care, and basic dental care. If you decide to use a private dentist, 60-75% of the cost is still covered, depending on what kind of treatment you need. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-european-australian-healthcare-horror-stories/525105/122 "2010-01-23T16:15:23Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Ontario is weird for health care and we are probably the best province in Canada if you are in need of something. Toronto is the epicenter of health care in the province and has the majority of the balanced health treatment centers, but the farther out into the frontiers of the province, that drastically changes. > > The fact of the matter is that if we wanted more doctors , we could grow them. Easy, anyone who is currently paying for med school, has already graduated but has a boat load of school debt, and anyone who wants to come from overseas, that can pass our requirements. The catch, your in the army for five years and you get deployed in country where ever we need you, same with nurses and med techs. All tuition and bills paid for. > > But that means tax money and we seem to be satisified with the current way of doing business. > > Declan Obligatory public health service is a fine idea, but via the military. Joining the military as a medic is already one way of getting your fees paid, but lots of people don’t want to or can’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-european-australian-healthcare-horror-stories/525105/123 "2010-01-23T16:46:08Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Ontario is weird for health care and we are probably the best province in Canada if you are in need of something. Toronto is the epicenter of health care in the province and has the majority of the balanced health treatment centers, but the farther out into the frontiers of the province, that drastically changes. > > The fact of the matter is that if we wanted more doctors , we could grow them. Easy, anyone who is currently paying for med school, has already graduated but has a boat load of school debt, and anyone who wants to come from overseas, that can pass our requirements. The catch, your in the army for five years and you get deployed in country where ever we need you, same with nurses and med techs. All tuition and bills paid for. > > But that means tax money and we seem to be satisified with the current way of doing business. > > Declan The problem, as I see it, is that Canada spends less per person ($5,000 something) than US insurance programs ($8,000 something) and the difference is made up in rationing of some sort. I can post news articles all day long on delays in treatment based on need that anyone in the US with insurance or medicaid would find intolerable. Let’s put that discussion aside for a moment and just agree that Americans prefer private insurance. I would suggest a universal health care system where you are taxed for it and then you get to spend it on whatever policy suites you. Hear me out. The current proposal from the President focuses on the idea of forcing people to buy insurance by fiat of law. If you don’t buy it then you are subject to legal penalties. If you take the idea that it is cheaper to have more people in the pool then change the methodology behind it. Take the money in the form of taxes, and allow people to choose the policy they want. There are a number of reasons to do this. A young person cannot afford the care needed for someone in their 50’s. A lower tax allows them to bank their good health in the form of lower premiums, higher deductibles and HSA’s. Over time the HSA’s grow which will naturally cover the deductible. This allows people to buy policies that aren’t governed by a monetary ceiling. There will be a greatly reduced amount of government rationing of services. Those on medicaid would be held responsible by their labor hours if they cannot pay in cash (this has been done in my area for welfare recipients in a slightly different form). The basket cases that cannot meet the higher premiums because of their condition get a subsidy/tax break. The majority of this could all be done through the IRS without creating another huge government bureaucracy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadian-european-australian-healthcare-horror-stories/525105.md?page=6)