Medicare

[cowman]

The costs of some drugs are a scandal! And apparently it is even worse in the USA, as they seem to be buying drugs on a large scale in Canada over the internet?
I had to take some fairly expensive drugs the last couple of years. $4/pill! Three times a day!
Now this pill was just a little bitty thing about the size of those baby aspirins and I often wondered how much a pound they would have been worth? Anyway they made me sick as a dog so I quit taking them!
I suspect the Pharmaceutical companies know how to take care of business!!! In the US they are real cozy with the power elite and I suspect it is probably the same here in Canada? Part of the Medical Mafia?

[boone]

Post: The sad part this patent protection was helped in by an out of work ex-Liberal Federal MP from B.C. during the Mulroney government. She will remain nameless here, but I had the chance to watch her in an interview since. She obviously was sick about her involvement and was quite beside herself with the outcome. I believe she is a senator now, so she may make amends?

[Horse]

Everyone has avalid point in thier view but what no one answered and I still dont know is if on one went to the DR or ER or hospital what do you do with the people in the madical business . And sure if mom didnt take little johny to the DR do you think the DR wouldnt get paid dram on he would adjust the pay scale or something .
We need some kind of reform but does it matter if we pay through the govmt or pay in cash , but pay we will . I think there is room for efficancy in the program take the U of A in edmonton they say they can save 150,000 per yr if the employes return thier scrubs I dont know what they do with them now unless they polish thier cars on thier 4 days off a week.

[carebear300]

Like usual I don't have the answer but do have some observations on the operation of this system. Over the last six or seven years my mother has had really bad, in fact criminally bad knees, they were wore right out. It started first when here family doctor wouldn't refer her to a specialist, thank goodness her chiropractor did finally, two years later you see specialist. Then a year and a half or so later scheduled for first knee but it takes another nine months to get it done. Then another year later the last knee gets done. But by this time her back his bad from famoring her bad knees, two weeks ago after numerous trips to doctor and hundreds of dollars worth of pills she is back going to the chiropractor and is getting relief. As far as I can see we have to make major improvements in the system really quick or scrap it entirely, there seems to be no accountability. You can't raise hell about it or you will never get nothing done or worse yet just get a real hatchet job. At least if the whole episode was privatized if you weren't satisfied with your treatment you could complain and if it didn't improve you could change doctors and hospitals.

[countryguy]

This may be off topic and unapropriate for this room but I and I am sure many others have to know what percentage of the healthcare budgets get spent on the natives?

The majority of these people don't eat right and are obese,drink like fish,don't exercise and beat the heck out of each other.And to top it off they are breeding like rabbits further escalating the problem.Just how long are we going to be able to keep paying for this?

I don't know what it is like in other parts but around here they get free cab rides to the doctor,and it doesn't matter from how far away.A free ride there and back.Most of the time they make the appointment just to get the free ride to town with the whole point of the trip being to pickup a bottle of whisky or a case of beer.My feelings are if your not going to contribute anything to society at least don't incur any additional expense for the ones that are fighting to pay for it.

If this sounded racist it wasn't meant to be.It's just the way I see things around here.

My recommendations for the health care system would be:
1)A ten dollar fee to see the doctor(as stated before)with free follow ups on initial visits-this will prevent old people who are only suffering from loneliness from visiting with the doctor and possibly prevent people who really don't need medical attention from coming to the doctor.

2)Control native abuse of the health care system and promote healthier living with less alcoholism and physical abuse in their culture.

[cowman]

Well I think the natives are guaranteed medical service under the treatys"as long as the rivers flow and the mountains stand" sort of thing? Not to say there isn't a lot of abuse of the system over at Indian Affairs. I don't think we can really blame the Indians but the government that allows that abuse?
Carebear laid out the main problem of medicare. When the system doesn't take care of your problem, then does it really matter if it is free? Not much good if your dead while waiting for the cure?
I have to get a test every three months from a specialist(or at least I'm supposed to). So he tells me to see my family doctor and he will set up an appointment. I said why don't I just phone your office and set up an appointment? Oh no Alberta Health requires I first go and see the GP and he sets up the appointment! Now this is totally stupid as the GP has absolutely no clue about my disease! But it puts $40 in his pocket and wastes both my time and his. It is stupid garbage like this that clogs up the system? Although I can see it might be necessary to keep the GP in BMWs! Because they sure are pretty useless at doing anything else these days!
I kind of get a laugh out this specialist. When he said who is your family doctor I told him I don't have a family and I don't have a family doctor. He said well who do you see when you are sick? I said well I've never been sick before and the only time I go see one is when I need to be sewed up or need a bone set, and from my way of thinking the vet could do either job better than some of these doctors and a hell of a lot cheaper! He just shook his head and muttered about damned old cowboys!

[Horse]

When you talk about the general public wasting $ I think the bigger culprets are the DR and the emergency services when you ph the health line all they tell you is to come in to ER ambulance staff called to acidents automaticaly police officers taken to hospital if any scratch and on it goes.
Now here Ralph is going to fix it but he sure is short on details except to point at the feds ant mouth off, o yes wine at your bed side you pay of course but you wouldnt be bored wating for the DR.

[frustrated1]

Here's one for you. My cousin's in the parking lot of a major hospital in our capital city, on his way to an appointment. Not 50 feet from the door the fellow in front of him falls on the ice and manages a compound fracture to his leg(ankle?). Can the hospital just scoop him up and get him inside? NO NO NO!!! You have to call the ambulance and get the paramedics to do it. Now I realize this is due to legal ramafications(?), but talk about waste! The guy was already at the hospital! He just had the misfortune of not falling onto the ER gurney! How much did we get billed for that one? How impressed do you think the guy laying there was that he had to wait the extra half hour? Plus the nurse that stood guard over him anyways?

[cowman]

Speaking of Ralph...has he gone insane?
First he says Alberta might have to opt out of medicare. Then Martin phones him and he's like "Oh no I'm definitely committed to medicare!" Then two days later he reverses himself in Vancouver and once again Alberta is going to opt out! Then he comes up with this bizarre crap about building hotels on the side of the hospitals so patients can get room service and booze delivered! What's next...an amusement park or casino or maybe an escort service???
I don't know what to make of this! Is Ralph back on the bottle or something?

[boone]

cowman: We will know when the carousel rides have pink elephants. And every room has a ice machine.