I had this conversation this morning with a friend of mine in the States...
I have been on the phone with my old boss negotiating on how he can pay an $11,500 bill for my old hospital stay... and since he is broke he cannot pay the bill. He is responsible because he didnt pay the insurance bill and the ins. company dropped the entire company. I had to have emergency surgery in that time frame and it turned into quite the fucked situation... I should have filed suit then, but now I am forced to do it now, just to get the bill paid, hopefully from his business insurance! ...its a mess. I called an attorney and will get that ball rolling next week! I should have done this months ago! I have been nice for a year now and have put my credit in jeapordy at this point. It has cut into our livlyhood which is almost in the shitter already. I did my job and wasnt so trigger happy as I could have been a year ago when I was angry. I would be wealthy and they would be out of business. Now it looks like they will just be out of business.
You know, as similar as we are to the US, as nearly identical as we seem on the surface, I sometimes really have to wonder. I don't understand the US sometimes. As a society, it's like some faded Hollywood starlet who's more concerned with making sure the drapes and carpets look lovely and building gates so no one steals her precious stuff, and ignoring the fact that the support beams are rotting and the place is beginning to collapse. As long as it looks great and no one can approach, who cares?
Canada's not the world's richest country, or the biggest, or most populous, or pretty much the world's "-est" in any category you care to name. But somehow, in spite of that, I can't help thinking we largely have it right. One thing I can say is, as a society, we tend to look after the fundamentals, and spend on the frills afterwards. You only get three-score and ten, as they say, and you gotta spend 'em somewhere. Frankly, when you add up all the pluses and minuses, I really don't think you can do much better anywhere, anywhen, than here, now.
You always hear about Canada becoming more like the US. Just imagine for a moment if the US become more like us.
1 comment:
I have always been scared of the US social system (or lack of).
Sure it's the land of opportunity. But it's also a place where a rich man can end up on the street in a hurry because of one medical emergency!
We might not have as many rich people in canada as in the us. But at least in Canada, we take care of our poor and no one is left dying in the streets (well no one that doesnt want to, since there are some people who for some reasons of their own chose not to avail themselves of our social programs)
A MD I know always says that the best treated people in Canadian hospitals are people on welfare, The MD told me that where for regular folks, a MD will have to chose a treatment that the patient can afford (drug cost) in the case of welfare patient, they go straight to the golden standard (best drugs regardless of cost) since welfare pays for everything!
In any event, I much prefer the safety of Canada to the risks of the US!
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