David Cohen quoted in CNN article on Canadian immigration

[tuyen]

Don't think there are not wait times like that in the US emergency room I went to the hospital I couldn't see my head was pounding I sat there from noon till just after 7 at night

I would blame that on general incompetence of the emergency room nurse who signed you in, as opposed to the whole U.S. health care system in general.

they took me back took my blood pressure and it was 271/131 the nurse ran and got the doctor and the doctor told me it was a miracle I was sitting there talking and not having a stroke.

The very first thing they should've done when you arrived (after you described your symptoms and gave them whatever ID they asked for) was to take your blood pressure and measure your temperature. This is standard practice in all emergency rooms everywhere, even if the person coming in is complaining of just a sore foot. The fact that they didn't do this until 7 hours later definitely makes it sound like it was all one big bungled mess from the moment you walked in the door.

Also, I would strongly encourage you (and everyone else) to take some preventative measures that can go a long way towards improving - and even saving - your life. Everybody today should have a blood pressure monitor at home which they should be using at least two or three times per week. They're small, portable, and have become affordable to the point where there's no excuse for not having one. This is especially true for people who never go for regular check-ups. You could be living with dangerously high (or dangerously low) blood pressure for years and years without even knowing it, and it could take a very serious toll on your life. Your particular case may have been an isolated incident with that dangerous level on that one day, but if you would've been able to measure your own blood pressure at home, you could've walked into the emergency room and immediately told them, "my blood pressure is 271/131 - I need a doctor NOW", and you wouldn't have been waiting 7 hours. I'm not saying this to blame you or make it out like it was your fault that you waited so long in the ER - I'm simply saying that we have the ability today to do a lot of preventative things that people couldn't do 20-30 years ago.

Canadians have it better because they can go to a doctor when ever they want no matter how long it takes to get seen, alot of Americans die because they can't see a doctor. how would you feel not being able to see a doctor at all?

What would prevent them from going to an emergency room and waiting to see a doctor, just as you did?

 

[tuyen]

Well it could have been the nurse but, why was I told to "wait my turn" every time I went up and asked when I was going to be seen?

Because the nurse was a moron and didn't properly assess your condition. They told you to wait your turn because they thought you had a headache.
Emergency rooms process patients based on severity of their conditions. So if you go in with a gash in your leg desperately needing stitches, you'll be at the front of the line. But if someone comes in with a bullet hole in their head, well, your gash will have to bleed a while longer.

But I guarantee that if the nurse would've done her job and taken your blood pressure as soon as you checked in, you would've immediately jumped to the front of the line.

I remember several years back when I was having an allergic reaction to something I ate. It was completely manageable, but I decided to go to the emergency room anyway on my way home from work to get a shot of benadryl, hoping to prevent all-out swelling. There were at least a dozen people ahead of me in the emergency room waiting area, and I was thinking "oh crap...I'll be here till midnight", but as soon as the nurse asked me why I was there and I told her I'm having an allergic reaction, I immediately went in and was with a doctor in under two minutes.

here I go see our family doctor I pay 39.40 per visit hell my co-pay in the states was 20 bucks per visit and the co-pay was supposed to be 20% so just to go to a regular doctors appointment its 100 bucks? and thats not including the monthly insurance premium of 123.84, believe me it's screwed up.

Why are you paying to see a doctor here? They didn't give you your provincial health coverage yet?

and prescription meds LMAO I pay 25 bucks for a 3 month supply (well 100 pills) in the states I paid 36.27 a month 30 pills... another big difference...

The price you were paying in the states was the true price. Up here, certain medications cost less, but it's all just smoke and mirrors. You might pay less for the medication, but you pay a lot more in taxes. The government wants you to think you're getting "free health care", but very few things in life are free. And doctors/nurses/hospitals/operating rooms with modern equipment - those definitely cost money. And when the government has to pay for those things, they take it right out of your paychecks.

 

[Creampop]

I never said you got "free" health care I have been with my husband 13 years I know taxes come out that pay for the families health care and I would have preferred it that way in the states atleast I wouldn't have to worry about seeing a doctor or where the money is coming from for the insurance, I don't see, it never touches my hand, I don't miss it. In Ontario you don't get coverage until you have landed and been here 3 months, I have not landed yet, I am on a VR awaiting my passport return LA has had it 3 weeks and 3 days so any day now! then a quick flagpole well, maybe not to quick I want some cherry coke then I'm done...