$48 per person a month for an individual, $80 per month for a family no matter how many children for

[avaistheone1]

health insurance in Canada.

The Europeans pay $14 every three months for health insurance. (Just heard all this on today's Thom Hartman show.)


Why the hell aren't we doing that in the USA?

[DesertFlower]

1. special interests.

[ThomCat]

3. Unfortunately, here in the US, only groups of citizens are considered

"Special Interests." Anything that would help real people is dismissed because it only benefits that "special interest." But anything that would benefit some corporate bottom line somewhere is pushed through as the normal business of our lawmakers. :(

It would be really nice if we could reverse that, and anyone with a profit motive was considered the special interest group, while citizens were the ones whose business was pushed through by lawmakers.

But that won't happen as long as the Supreme Court insists that corporations = persons and money = speech. This combination of bad decisions means that corporations get all the benefits and none of the liabilities of being people, and far more speech than any person can ever afford. While people get all the liabilities and none of the benefits of being people, and can't afford enough speech to be heard.

It's a legal formula guaranteed to produce a corporate run society. :(

[bvar22]

26. Special Interests?

No.
Corrupt politicians!
All Republicans, and mostDemocrats....certainly all "Centrist" Democrats.

[chomper]

2. Dam, that's cheap!!!!

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

4. It sure is !

I bet my employer would be thrilled if they were required to match my $48 contribution instead of paying 10 times that amount each month for my insurance.

[Oregone]

13. Employers often pay 100% for full time workers, and offer supplementals

...which are only another $100 or so a family.

[kestrel91316]

5. I had to gie up my medical insurance when it $1200 every 3 months.

It also had a $5000 deductible, and that damned 80/20 thing, too. It was bankrupting me to get any medical care AND maintain insurance to boot. I can bankrupt myself just as easily without bothering to insure myself.

[avaistheone1]

7. I had to give mine up when it was $675 per month just for me.

$3000 deductible, plus other out-of-pocket expenses.

I could not pay my other bills and pay for health insurance too.

[xchrom]

6. a person could handle a bill like that for health care. nt

[Oregone]

14. And if they couldn't, its free

There is premium assistance for the poor.

[Blasphemer]

8. The rich control the government

Profit is king and *gasp* taxing the wealthy is a sin against nature.

[leftofthedial]

9. $$$$$

the ONLY thing that matters in the US.

[Phx_Dem]

10. $48 pp per month is for wienies. Americans prefer to pay $800+ pp per month.

We are idiots because we have allowed this appalling thievery to continue year after year.

[Araxen]

11. Unlike Europe..

People(the right and the higher up's) in America would rather make money off the sick instead of actually curing them and giving them a better life.

[Oregone]

12. Different by province

$108 a family in BC. No copay, no deductible. No arbitrary denial of claims

[quiller4]

45. That is the family buy-in. The balance of cost is covered by

federal and provincial government. I once read that if a family paid $4,000 in income taxes, roughly 10% of that went to national health care. That figure is more than 10 years old. I don't know what the percentage would be today.

There are minimal co-pays on some elective procedures. My niece paid $50 when she underwent lasik surgery.

[boppers]

15. Seriously? Wow.

Me and my SigO currently pay (or insurance pays) about $4,500 a month for healthcare.

[avaistheone1]

19. A month? Yikes!

How do you manage that?

[boppers]

23. We both make very frugal lifestyle choices, and have very good jobs.

Still somewhat rough, but it's buying us more years together, which is worth the sacrifices.

Not sure it's worth that amount of money, but for now, there aren't a lot of other options.

[slipslidingaway]

16. This could use some recs, I understand that amounts my vary

by province, still...!!!

[rasputin1952]

17. The simple answer...Money...

:hi:

[andym]

18. Hmm, according to wikipedia in some provinces it's free

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(Canada)

Hmm, according to wikipedia in some provinces it's free!
"Funding for the insurance plans comes from the general revenues of the Canadian provinces/territories, assisted by transfer payments from the federal government through the Canada Health Transfer. Some provinces charge health care premiums, but these are in effect taxes (since they are not tied to service use, nor to provincial health expenditures). The system is accordingly classified by the OECD as a tax-supported system, as opposed to the social insurance approaches used in many European countries."

But apparently, the actual money to pay comes out of the general fund-- which means out of income taxes etc.

[dkf]

32. Yeah I figuredj it was so.

Canada doesn't do much militarily either. Its either health care or being leader of the free world. Would Americans care if we stepped back and had no say in international affairs and let the rest of the world figure everything out? I guess we could defer to Europe or something.

[newspeak]

46. that's so much bull

the US has overextended itself militarily. How has being an empire benefited the majority of the American people? And ya know, all that money supposedly spent on our defenses sure as hell didn't help us on 9/11. Since corporations have been given more military contracts, I'd say our money has been squandered on poor food, tainted water, and inadequate equipment. You let me know if that 2 trillion dollars unaccounted for in the Pentagon was spent wisely--that's two trillion of our money. The pigs at the trough on Capitol Hill squander and squander our money, then tell us they can't afford to help us--then who are they helping with our money? If it's not us then who?

[Colobo]

20. Is Canadian health care good?

[avaistheone1]

24. You bet it is.

Just look at this...

The U.S.'s infant mortality (defined as the number of deaths of infants one year of age or younger per 1000 live births) is a at least 35% greater than Canada. (Bad for the U.S., good for Canada)

Yet Canada life expectancy is about 4% greater than the U.S. while Canadians pay 1/2 the cost that Americans pay. (Bad for the U.S., good for Canada.)

[moondust]

21. But that's a TAX INCREASE! TAX INCREASE! TAX INCREASE!

:sarcasm:

[LooseWilly]

22. When my rates went up to $125/mo with a $2k deductible, as a 28 year old... I gave up.

At this point, I've been without insurance for so long... that I'm perfectly fine with dropping dead... as long as the fucking insurance industries as they exist now don't get any of my dimes.

[Lugnut]

25. That's cheaper than Medicare!

I pay $96.40 a month for Medicare and $106 a month for the supplement. I have a fairly sparse participating provider list that limits my choices but I do have basic vision and dental coverage. If Canada can do that why can't the US?

[scrappydo]

28. I also pay $96.40 a month for Medicare......

....but my supplemental insurance costs nothing per month and although I am on 6 different meds...I only pay $4.00/month co-pay for one of them.

[avaistheone1]

29. If we are the greatest nation on earth of course we could do this.

But where is the political will in D.C.? The Democrats are acting like a bunch cowards on single payer.

[leftstreet]

27. K&R

[Bucky]

30. SOCIALISM!! BIG BROTHER!!

NARWHALS!

[dkf]

31. Does that pay for the entire health care system

or do they also use tax revenue?

[Telly Savalas]

33. They also use tax revenue.

And the Canadian numbers cited in the original post vary province-by-province. I believe some provinces may not have any monthly premiums - they're funded exclusively by tax revenues. For instance, it was only a few years back that Ontario instituted premiums and I believe these get paid with your income taxes.

Other Western democracies have per capita health care expenses lower than the U.S., but they still run in the range of several thousand dollars annually.

[dkf]

34. So this post is quite misleading?

Everyone thinks that providing healthcare is so cheap. Sigh.

[avaistheone1]

47. No, it isn't misleading. Check out this chart.

The cost of health care in Canada varies by province. On the whole it is a small fraction of the U.S. cost, and it achieves more favorable health outcomes as well.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8466792&mesg_id=8484686

[Deja Q]

35. Too late to R but I surely will K.

[avaistheone1]

36. Today's it was revealed that Obama's doctor of 20+ years thinks single-payer

health care is the only plan that will adequately address the health care crisis in this country.
I am sure the good doctor would like to see his patients pay the kind of prices citizens of Canada pay for health care. I am sure this man would enjoy seeing his patients have a greater quality of life.

Bless that man.

[AlexanderProgressive]

37. link? n/t

[Hieronymus]

39. Try Google.

[AlexanderProgressive]

43. It would be much faster if people linked to the info they provide here

It would be a great service for other members who would not have to google stuff.

[avaistheone1]

40. The information is from Thom Hartmann's radio program if you checked my initial post that started

the thread.

However,here is a chart I found that should be helpful. Although it is about 5 years old I think it makes the same point about the relative cost savings in Canada as well as in other countries.

[Hieronymus]

38. Sounds right. I did a lot of research in the past, because I wanted to move

to France or Canada. When the dollar collapsed I had to forget about it.

[invictus]

41. We don't live in a democracy. We live in a plutocracy (rule by the wealthy). And the health insurers

have gotten VERY wealthy.

[doc03]

42. But don't they have to come to the USA for

treatment or wait for months?

[NorthCarolina]

44. Republicans and Conservative Democrats will not permit it

The Progressive faction in the Democratic Party does not have the numbers needed to pass legislation like H.R. 676. It would be great if voters would start actively seeking out Progressive candidates to replace their DLC/New Dem and Blue Dog legislators, but I won't hold my breath. The Republicans as a party may have lost big in the election, but GOP politics remains strong in the Democratic Party. If we ever hope to see real change, it will be necessary to actually vote for Liberal/Progressive candidates instead of just "poking fun" at them, or calling them "unelectable", simply because the media tells us so.

[quantass]

48. Im Canadian and have not used Health benefits my ENTIRE life .. but yet i would never give it up

It's a great system...but i didnt realize i pay $48/month...wow wonder how Europeans get it so cheap since their health insurance is significantly better than ours

[TexasObserver]

49. Canadians and Brits spend about half as much per person for health care as us.

Our entire system is faulty, because it is built to do one thing: make a huge profit. For hospitals, for Big Pharm, for doctors, and for insurers. Our system is not built to provide care to everyone, but to everyone with money.

We need a health care system that delivers quality health care to everyone.

[jazzjunkysue]

50. It's so much less than occupying foreign countries...

[KansDem]

51. Because of this...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/26/735411/-Health-insurance-industry-CEO-salary-survey,-stay-calm-for-this">DailyKos

--excerpt--
While the American people find themselves priced out of health insurance and healthcare, the CEOs of America's largest for-profit health insurers are making record salaries.

And perks . . .like private corporate aircraft, country club memberships, security services (wonder why they need this?) and a lifestyle most Americans can only dream about.

It's really long overdue that the American people hit the streets to demand guaranteed and affordable healthcare. It's also long overdue that we drive a stake through the heart of the fully parasitic Murder by Spreadsheet for-profit insurance industry.