Which Country has the best "free" medical care for Diabetics or Others in general?
Hi, I am from India and been a Type2 for almost 6yrs now. Here, the medical insurance is from private firms and covered by your employer. Also, if you are taking insurance after getting D, then it is not covered, so on and so forth. I hear that there are 10 doctors for every 50,000 people in India(?)
By 2020, India the second largest populous country in the world (or may be 1st already) will be the Diabetes Capital Of the World. I feel like running away with my family to a place where there is free medical care, like in Britain or Canada or some other countries I don't know about? How good is the "free" medical care given in these and other countries. I am very curious to learn how other countries treat their citizens.
Sai.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on -
I think there's pros and cons? In some of the "National Health" countries, CGMs are hard to come by. There's been a few posts from Canada (if you search for a poster named "DiabeticWarrior" I think there's an account of a strange encounter with a doctor and her staffer, basically telling him he couldn't ask the doc questions when he ran into her in the lobby or something like that?
I know that in the USA there are emigrants who end up receiving aid from the state but I have no idea what all might be involved in that? That coverage also tends to be very limited.
Private insurance in the USA is sort of hit or miss, a lot of it depends on what your employer chooses for you to have?
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Permalink Reply by kiva on -
I'm very cautious to use the word "free". Even "free" medical care in other countries comes at a cost. The money does have to come from somewhere. While the US for example doesn't have a "free" medical care system (although there is assistance available) the tax rates on both income and VAT taxes are generally lower than the countries with "free" medical care.
As acidrock says, private health insurance is hit or miss on both cost and benefits . . . a lot having to with what an employeer is offering.
I have a cousin that lives in England and while I don't have any anecdotal stories I can relate, I know she does keep a conventional health insurance policy to bypass the English system which she has told me can be quite frustrating at times.
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Permalink Reply by Emmy on -
I don't consider waiting overnight, in a hallway, on am ambulance gurney with a leg broken in 2 places, with a temporary cardboard cast, and lung clots that they haven't even detected, which could kill you at any moment, good care. By the way, they charge for the casts and crutches, etc.
I don't consider having diabetes and no doctor for 10 years or more a good idea either, yet that's what my mother went through here in Canada.
I don't consider stopping all treatment and sending someone to a nursing home to die a good idea either.
Or sending someone home with a such a severe nosebleed, that they die in their sleep. You can't call that good care either.
It all happened in my family, and plenty more.
Things are not better here.
Don't come to Canada, its not necessarily better and its certainly not free.
We pay thousands of dollars every year for my health care needs alone. No private insurance, so its out of pocket.
What little we have, we've earned by paying our taxes. Our taxes are a lot higher than in the USA, so we pay plenty for what little we get.
It really irks me to hear someone wanting to come here to get "free medical care", when people who were born here aren't getting it and don't even have a doctor!
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Permalink Reply by Peetie on -
Hi Emmy: My experience has been exactly the same as your experience. Mountaincat is correct...there is no Canadian Health Care System. Here in Ontario there is a shortage of doctors. (My current GP only works a couple of days per week). The emergency rooms are filled with folk who would be better served if they had a GP. Both my brother and mother spent a night in Emergency and were sent home with all the others. My brother died immediately and my mother fought and fought for months. My mother's condition could have been treated if they had taken her concerns seriously that first night. No idea what happened to my brother. It really bugs me that we paid such high taxes all our life just to be discounted when we finally need it.
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Permalink Reply by nel on
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Truly : our " bible " on the coffee table : BC Health Guide ...Healthwise handbook !!... ONtario family has difficulty too : Doc is retiring in June and neither have found a replacement .
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Permalink Reply by Emmy on
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My new doctor only works 3 days per week, and with short hours. Actually, he has short office hours. Who knows how long he works elsewhere, perhaps at the after hours clinic or the hospital.
Its really hard to get an answer on the phone to make an appointment, you usually have to leave a message and hope they call you back. Getting in to see someone is nearly impossible.
I'm really sorry for your loss.
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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on
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A lot of the endos (and other specialists, orthopedic doctors, opthamologists, etc.) around here work out of different locations which, while keeping them busy, which is what I presume to be the reason they'd do this, it spreads them out and it seems to take a couple of days for them to get back to you.
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Permalink Reply by christy on -
That is why so many Canadians come across the border to the US, things as simple as an MRI that u might have to wait a few days for here in the US can take weeks and even months from my understanding.
Standarized health care does come at a cost, from my understanding of countries that do offer standardized health care, the taxes they pay are much higher. I don't think any one health care plan is ideal, they all have their pro's and con's and as AR said, in the US its all dependent on what your employer chooses to offer their employees. My husband and I are both fortunate to work for large employers, and fortunate enough to have coverage from both of our jobs, so my health care costs are slim to none. Unfortunatly not everyone is that fortunate and for many they are just lucky to have very basic health care.
Also government health care like Medicaid can be very difficult to qualify for as it is income based. They dont care if u have a pre existing condition and your employer doesn't offer good insurance...if u make a decent income...your on your own. So I do not think there is any one right or wrong answer to this question, I think both systems private and standardized health care has its pros and cons, what works and what doesnt.
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Yes, we pay for Medical Care by being taxed ...No-Thing is for free in this world http://www.drugcoverage.ca/p_diabetescover_table.asp?language=1
Maybe this link will help you .
Hubby( almost 82 ) and I( almost 72 )have no complaints about our system ..everyone is different ...we do have an Extended Health Benifit Plan to which we contribute monthly .
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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on
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well, I didn't dare open the "provincial health system" can of worms!
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May I add re the $ 7,400 per annum DTC is the disability amount ( for self ) ...Federal non-refundable tax credit rate is 15 percent .
Guess what went through my head ,when I read MountainCat's comment too quickly about the $ 7,400 approx .." party time :) "
To add as well : wise to take out medical/travel insurance when going abroad .
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Permalink Reply by Sai on -
I have heard some tales of people when I was on a visit to Canada (Vancouver, BC). My colleague's relative had some kind of cancer and was on a "waiting list" of some sort - which mean he/she had to wait for 2-5yrs to get operated upon. The person took a "medical tour" to an Asian country for the operation. So, I do know its not all well in Canada. Or USA for that matter - where uninsured people need to be on state's cover(?) or have harrowing tales to tell. I have friends, relatives in USA who have all kinds of stories - both good and bad.
One thing is for sure - Insurance, by definition itself is a for-profit organization, which pools money from all the stakeholders and mitigates the collective risk of the members !!!
Now, how can we change the same, in terms of :D especially? Can't we have a separate pool of our own like TuD insurance company - which pools all members money and also asks for donations, grants from organizations, governments, to cater to the need of :D's all around???
Not sure how this could be envisioned on a large scale, but - all big things start small. This is my "two cents" to the cause, what say???
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