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#441672 - 08/11/09 10:15 AM
Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 01/30/08
Posts: 7598
Loc: a site known for its tolerance...
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Kind of a spillover from the other thread so here goes. How would you rate it in your country (or just region for that matter)? What do you like/dislike? What needs to be fixed? Do you personally favour one solution over another? Fire away....
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"I'll never forget the moment during the lovely Alyssa Allure's scene in 'American Bukkake' where the fellow got out of his wheel chair to ejaculate on her face. It was grotesque but had a certain frisson." -Sock
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#441673 - 08/11/09 02:58 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 11/27/07
Posts: 4795
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Ummm Tatty, we both live in Ontario. Except the pic on my OHIP card is probably much more stoned looking than yours.
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#441674 - 08/11/09 06:50 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 01/30/08
Posts: 7598
Loc: a site known for its tolerance...
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Ha wanna bet. Well since all these fuckers would rather do the whole NO U thing in the other thread, what is your opinion of the care you received? You have lived in both countries so.....
_________________________
"I'll never forget the moment during the lovely Alyssa Allure's scene in 'American Bukkake' where the fellow got out of his wheel chair to ejaculate on her face. It was grotesque but had a certain frisson." -Sock
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#441675 - 08/11/09 08:25 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 11/27/07
Posts: 4795
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The MAIN reason I choose to live in Ontario is that I would not be able to afford my health care in Pennsylvania when I was out of school and off insurance.
My meds are 3-4 hundred bucks a month and I also need to see my GP and get lab work done regularly. The only thing I have to pay for is my scripts.
I simply couldn't afford myself if i lived in the US.
I think my treatment is great but most of that involved finding a GP who I would work with. My hospital visits have also been excellent. Those statements are true of both countries but it is much harder to find a good GP in the US due to how HMOs work 9in my experience, I am no expert)
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#441676 - 08/11/09 08:28 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 11/27/07
Posts: 4795
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Seriously though I want to stress that health care was the main reason I moved to Canada. Having dual citizenship helps quite a bit if health care is what you're after though.
I must say that my doctor here knows me much better as a person than just a medical chart which is kind of the opposite of my old HMO doctor.
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#441677 - 08/11/09 10:16 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Gay For Pay
Registered: 01/13/07
Posts: 1011
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I don't think you're going to get any kind of worthy sampling here, any one person's experience out of 30,000,000 (in Canada) or 300,000,000 (in the USA) isn't going to really say anything.
But, since Tatty's interested... 3 months ago my thumb swelled up and was infected. I waited like a week before being like fuck, I gotta go to the doctor. So, I called him about 11:30am to make an appointment. The appointment was set for that afternoon. I remember being ticked because I was stuck having to work at the office and had wanted it later in the day so that I could finish work, go to the doctor and go home. But, I ended up doing that anyway and used it as an excuse to knock off early. I was in and out of the doctor's office in 30 minutes. He cleaned the infection and gave me a scrip for anti-biotics.
That's about par for the course.
In the other thread I linked to an article that talks about some towns in Canada holding lotteries to see who gets a doctor's appointment. That sounds so frickin' weird to me. I can't imagine. It sounds like something they would have to do in a 3rd world country. But, maybe it's just something they do for like check-ups, non-necessary, but very helpful, care?
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#441678 - 08/11/09 10:18 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 01/30/08
Posts: 7598
Loc: a site known for its tolerance...
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I get the feeling that it's more a case of a lack of GPs, especially in really remote areas.
_________________________
"I'll never forget the moment during the lovely Alyssa Allure's scene in 'American Bukkake' where the fellow got out of his wheel chair to ejaculate on her face. It was grotesque but had a certain frisson." -Sock
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#441680 - 08/11/09 10:21 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Gay For Pay
Registered: 01/13/07
Posts: 1011
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Quote:
I get the feeling that it's more a case of a lack of GPs, especially in really remote areas.
When you call and make a regular appointment, how long does it take you to get in and see the doctor?
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#441681 - 08/11/09 10:37 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 01/30/08
Posts: 7598
Loc: a site known for its tolerance...
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anywhere from about 7 to 14 days for a regular appointment. My guy is real great. I will ask him to call if he gets a cancellation and he always does. You would be amazed: for people that bitch, my doc says quite a few patients flake.
When I was sick with cancer, everything was whirlwind fast. I needed my fam to stay on top of things it was so nuts....
_________________________
"I'll never forget the moment during the lovely Alyssa Allure's scene in 'American Bukkake' where the fellow got out of his wheel chair to ejaculate on her face. It was grotesque but had a certain frisson." -Sock
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#441682 - 08/11/09 10:46 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Fucking Master
Registered: 02/23/05
Posts: 3724
Loc: Paddling my canoe in the wild
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In Vancouver there are GPs with private practices as you would expect in any city.
In addition, there are a number of privately owned (by doctors) walk-in clinics. If you have a problem, any problem, you simply show up and wait until a doctor is free. I have used this service a dozen times over 10 years and have never waited more than 30 minutes.
I want to stress that these aren't hospital emergency rooms, these are primary care physicians who can do the diagnoses, write prescriptions, order tests, and refer you to specialists.
If I get sick or need a prescription, I can walk into one of these clinics, and see a doctor in an hour, without any additional charge. Non-residents (those without a "Care Card") are generally charged a $100 drop-in fee.
No charge for tests or x-rays either. I've broken a few bones in my life and never paid for an ambulance, cast, xray, or even a CT Scan I had about 8 years ago.
Obviously, nost people would benefit from a longterm relationship with a family Dr., but you don't have to choose. If I go to a clinic, I can ask for a copy of my chart to be sent to my family Dr.
C'mon up and get your Doc'On!
Free screening for most STDs too, which is a bonus,
Edit - here's a clinic with 2 locations in the middle of downtown and in a residential area near the downtown to give you an idea of the organization:
Khats
Edited by Soopergrizz (08/11/09 11:03 PM)
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#441684 - 08/11/09 10:54 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Fucking Master
Registered: 02/23/05
Posts: 3724
Loc: Paddling my canoe in the wild
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Part 2 - the negative.
I've read what Tatty said about his cancer treatment. I had a similar experience with a family member a few years back., and I was amazed at the level of service (months in ICU! - no additional charges - ever).
The cracks in the system start to show over what would be considered non-emergency surgeries, which are not really elective, but also not immediately required.
Classic case - "hip replacement" patients must wait many months for their surgery. Remember, nobody regularly had these surgeries until a few years ago. "Suddenly" hospital ORs are overun with people getting new hips, knees and shoulders. These procedures are done at no additional cost to the individual, but you have to wait for a gap in the schedule.
It's the people on line for those kind of treatments that go to the States, or Sweden, or Thailand for.
I'm not saying that there aren't stories out there were someone's cancer metastized while they were waiting for the use of the MRI machine, only that it's not been my experience, directly or indirectly.
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#441685 - 08/11/09 11:02 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Fucking Master
Registered: 02/23/05
Posts: 3724
Loc: Paddling my canoe in the wild
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Part 3 - Taxes BC's personal and corporate income taxes are lower than CA, MA, NY, OR WA Biz Dev BC
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#441686 - 08/11/09 11:08 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Gay For Pay
Registered: 01/13/07
Posts: 1011
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Wasting time reading about this more, I'm beginning to see a few obvious anti-Canada biases in the article I linked to in the other thread. Here it is here: ClickBut, one of the things I have seen people claim about the Canadian system is it's overly burdened with bureaucracy. Here's an example from that article: Quote:
Sick with ovarian cancer, Sylvia de Vires, an Ontario woman afflicted with a 13-inch, fluid-filled tumor weighing 40 pounds, was unable to get timely care in Canada. She crossed the American border to Pontiac, Mich., where a surgeon removed the tumor, estimating she could not have lived longer than a few weeks more.
The Canadian government pays for U.S. medical care in some circumstances, but it declined to do so in de Vires' case for a bureaucratically perfect, but inhumane, reason: She hadn't properly filled out a form. At death's door, de Vires should have done her paperwork better.
No idea how true that is.
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#441687 - 08/11/09 11:10 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Gay For Pay
Registered: 01/13/07
Posts: 1011
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Quote:
hip replacement" patients must wait many months for their surgery. Remember, nobody regularly had these surgeries until a few years ago.
My great-aunt got a hip replacement like 15 years ago. She was in her early 80's at the time and there was never any worry that she wouldn't recover. They just knew it was going to take years.
You're general point sounds right, and it's what people in the US are concerned about with ObamaCare. But, hip replacements aren't new. Maybe you're just saying they've gotten a lot more popular?
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#441689 - 08/11/09 11:14 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 01/30/08
Posts: 7598
Loc: a site known for its tolerance...
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Is the DeVires story anecdotal or common?
Hip replacement is the one you always hear about delay-wise. My friend just had one in Montreal. It took about 8 weeks for him to get in...
_________________________
"I'll never forget the moment during the lovely Alyssa Allure's scene in 'American Bukkake' where the fellow got out of his wheel chair to ejaculate on her face. It was grotesque but had a certain frisson." -Sock
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#441690 - 08/11/09 11:36 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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i must apply for dual citizenship
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#441691 - 08/11/09 11:42 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Gay For Pay
Registered: 01/13/07
Posts: 1011
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Quote:
Is the DeVires story anecdotal or common?
I was looking for that. There's so much redundant news coverage, I couldn't find anything but the story itself. And, actually the story was true. It's a lot of places on the web.
But, there did seem to be quite a bit of effort by her doctor to get her treatment after she had been diagnosed in Michigan, which would indicate this was a systemic failure and not just some nut-case who doesn't know how to play by the rules.
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#441692 - 08/12/09 06:21 AM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 08/03/03
Posts: 5849
Loc: TX, USA
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It's been years I've had to wait to get an appointment with my doctor, but you need to know how scheduling is done.
The receptionist does all appointments the day before or earlier, but she can't book all the slots. Several slots can only be filled by the doctor's nurse and are only filled on a same-day basis. I call the receptionist and if they happen to be booked solid that day then I can call the nurse. The nurse has commented before she often fills her slots by noon, so if I were to call after that it would need to be an emergency or such and they'd just squeeze me in (i.e., that's why the doctor is late).
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"If they can't picture me with a knife, forcing them to strip in an alley, I don't want any part of it. It's humiliating." - windsock
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#441693 - 08/12/09 06:34 AM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 08/03/03
Posts: 5849
Loc: TX, USA
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Quote:
In Vancouver there are GPs with private practices as you would expect in any city.
I didn't realize that - I must have confused Canada with another country - Britain? - that outlaws private medical care.
Quote:
In addition, there are a number of privately owned (by doctors) walk-in clinics. If you have a problem, any problem, you simply show up and wait until a doctor is free.
Alas these apparently don't exist in most of the US. The problem is that hospital are required to treat patients regardless of (non)payment. The difference from Canada is that in the US neither the hospital or clinic are paid for this.
(foreigners: much or the current US mess can be better understood by remembering that there *is* free care for the poor in the US, but the government only pays a small part of it, and never the full cost, and none for hospital visits)
Since a clinic will not be paid by anyone for providing care, and the hospital is free, there's no way to charge patients and no way for a clinic to stay open.
_________________________
"If they can't picture me with a knife, forcing them to strip in an alley, I don't want any part of it. It's humiliating." - windsock
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#441694 - 08/12/09 07:16 AM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Fucking Master
Registered: 02/23/05
Posts: 3724
Loc: Paddling my canoe in the wild
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Without getting too far into the financial organization of Dr's offices (I have some insight), the key issue is that both private practices and walk in clinics are monetized the same way.
The receptionists keep track of the patients that come through the door by scanning their Care Cards and noting the purpose of the visit. A Dr. is given certain number of units for each procedure, and a maximum number of appointments for each day.
The info is ultimately passed on to the provincial health authority that sends a cheque to office. It doesn't matter if the payee is a walk-in clinic or a private practice. (compare this to the US system where the office has to submit accounts to dozens of insurers all with different rules)
One difference from the US system is that there is no bureaucratic filter to determine if the charge is "necessary". More complex (ie expensive) courses of treatment which are experimental or require travel do need to be approved.
The clinics are typically set up by an entrepreneurial Dr. who tricks out an office with a few treatment rooms, and works 4-5 days a week. He or she then offers shifts to other Drs that don't have their own practices (they are younger, or have kids and only want to work part-time, etc). The Dr.-owner then keeps 30-40% of their receipts from the gov't insurer to pay their overhead.
This is the way that Drs here can leverage their income since there are a maximum number of patients one person can bill for each day.
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#441696 - 08/13/09 04:25 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 12/28/07
Posts: 4856
Loc: The 4th International
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I'll describe how healthcare is organized over here (NL). It is definitely not the same all over Europe!
1. Health Insurance
Everyone is obligated (by law) to have health insurance. If you're not insured, you will be fined and you have to pay for the months that you went without insurance.
Health insurance is between EUR 90 and EUR 140 per month. It depends on how much coverage you want (especially extended dental care can increase the premium).
If your income is below a certain figure, you get an extra allowance from the government to compensate.
2. Dental care
Most people have a dentist, who checks their teeth every six months. This is covered by insurance.
If you need dental work done, payment depends on what has to be done and what your coverage is. Part of the bill will always be for yourself. Preventive dental care is usually covered by insurance.
3. GP (family doctor)
Most people have the same GP for years. All consultations are free of charge.
Appointment to made by phone; appointment usually within 3 working days. Sometimes, when it's busy, they offer you a quicker appointment with another doctor.
4. Physiotherapy/Ergotherapy/....therapy
You can make an appointment directly with therapist, without any paperwork from a doctor. The first 9 treatments/sessions are free of charge. Depending on your coverage, you have to pay for it after that or not.
(I'm not sure how it works if you need physiotherapy for two different ailments in 1 year.)
Questions?
More to follow later.
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The only thing you got that I want, is your suffering.
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#441697 - 08/13/09 05:37 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 11/27/07
Posts: 4795
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Mental health?
My GP manages my Bi-Polar and checks my lithium levels.
Not many GPs I have seen here were willing to do that.
I lucked out by finding an older doctor who was comfortable with lithium but most doctors I met when I was on my search were unwilling to treat me.
I met a psychiatrist here a few times but he was not willing to prescribe me meds. Which is the opposite of how psychiatrists worked for me in the US. The US psychiatrists my HMO sent me to were all pill pushers.
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#441700 - 08/13/09 08:08 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Fucking Master
Registered: 09/19/05
Posts: 3576
Loc: Baltimore, MD
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Hasn't lithium been somewhat superceded by newer drugs?
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#441702 - 08/14/09 03:24 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Jesus
Registered: 12/28/07
Posts: 4856
Loc: The 4th International
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.....
1. Health insurance (additional)
The first EUR 155.00 that will be spent on medical bills is for your own account. The insurance company will claim this money back from its client. Some things are exempted from this: GP, part of medication, among others.
Example: I collect my medication every three months with a recipe. Afterwards, I get billed by my insurer for a part of it. Until I reach the EUR 155.00 limit. After that, no more billing.
5. Pharmaceuticals
Almost all medication is prescription-only. Some basic material is available without a recipe ('weak' painkillers, anti-cough, anti-diarrhea, etc.)
You won't get a prescription for something you don't need (in the doctor's opinion). If I was to go to my GP and ask for some serious sedative stuff, he would frown, start asking questions and, in the end, send me home with some paracetamol. In general, GPs tend to be reluctant in prescribing medication. If you need it, you'll get it, but nature will have to take its course as well. If I have the flu, I won't get anything.
Prescription medication is free of charge. Go to a pharmacy with the recipe, they prepare it and 10 mins later you're on your way.
6. Prevention
Everyone over 60 years old and people suffering from heart- or long-ailments get a free vaccination against influenza every year. This year, the government ordered 24 million vaccins against the H1N1-virus, so when the time comes everybody can get two shots to be vaccinated.
Birth control medication is partly covered; abortions as well (I think).
There are probably more free prevention programs that I don't know about.
I'm pretty comfortable with how things are arranged here. In my experience, I get the care I ask for or need. It ain't always perfect, but that can't be expected when it comes to health care.
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The only thing you got that I want, is your suffering.
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#441703 - 11/06/09 12:37 PM
Re: Health Care where you live
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Porn Fucking Master
Registered: 02/23/05
Posts: 3724
Loc: Paddling my canoe in the wild
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Bump I just gor a notice of my healthcare premiums being increased, so I thought I would share the information of what a British Columbia resident pays for gov't healthcare: Quote:
Monthly rates are $54 for one person, $96 for a family of two and $108 for a family of three or more. Effective January 1, 2010 monthly rates will change to $57 for one person, $102 for a family of two and $114 for a family of three or more.
Link
As the linked page indicates, there is premium assistance for lower income families, and it is mandatory for all residents to have coverage.
Feel free to compare these details to either of the healthcare bills currently before the House and Senate.
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