Ah. Thanks for the answers.
Winsor
Long Beach, California, USA
On Feb 25, 2007, at 1:42 PM, Mark Dapoz wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Feb 2007, Winsor Crosby wrote:
>>
>> That just conflicts with what I have read elsewhere. The immigration
>> pages for Canada say that immigrants must buy private insurance and
>> seek private treatment because they have not paid into the government
>> system.
>
> Anyone relocating to Canada, whether a citizen or a new immigrant,
> must
> purchase health insurance for the first 60 days. After that the
> health
> care system picks up all the costs. I believe the 60 day period is
> waived for refuges.
>
>> Elsewhere I have read several times that private health
>> insurance and private doctors are available to anyone who wants to
>> use them.
>
> Technically all doctors are "private", they're just paid by the health
> system. If you don't have a health card they charge you the standard
> health care rate. Private hospitals are forbidden under the current
> system so there's no way to bypass the queues.
>
>> I just shake my head in wonder sometimes when I hear someone on the
>> tube say how many Canadians comes to the US for medical treatment to
>> avoid the wait. How many Canadians are rich enough to do that?
>
> It's mostly the provincial governments sending patients to the US and
> picking up the bills. The waiting times have become so long that it
> is seriously affecting the health of people in some areas. Doctors
> can apply to get permission to send patients to the US if they feel
> their life is in danger. Sometimes people go on their own and later
> apply to get the bills paid.
> -mark
>
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