Countries with better health care systems than the USA.

i laughed outloud at the mulch joke...(heh!)

Don't forget us Canadians!!

how long do you think people in these countries wait to be seen in the doctor's office or in the emergency room? how long do you think these countries wait to have open heart surgery if needed? or for that matter, any elective surgery? just a thought (reality) to ponder! :)

Sorry heather m'dear, but you are wrong on every point. Nobody I know in the UK or Canada has ever waited more than a half hour in a doctor's office; statistics show the average wait in countries with socialized medecine is 20 minutes in doctor's offices. Statistics also show that the average wait in big US city emergency rooms is double that of any other industrialized nation. Normally, open heart surgery isn't elective (that is a scary thought, "I'm a little bored today, I believe I'll have me some of that open heart surgery.") Again studies show that the average wait for ANY surgery is longer in the US, because the HMOs will only approve surgery as a last resort, and if it's elective the HMOs won't pay for it at all; look it up.

I'm sorry dear, but all these years, your daddy and granddaddy have been wrong. I don't say that to inslut you lineage, but in polls, the number one reason cited for being in one party or the other is, :My parents are _____________, my grandparents were __________________, and I am a __________.

well ol hippie, i hate to tell you, but i NEVER discussed politics with my grandpa's while they were here, nor do i discuss politics with my daddy. but having worked in healthcare and talked with several canadians i have drawn my OWN conclusions about their healthcare in particular! it does sound great! but the reality is....people wait 6 months to a year for open heart surgery! some needs for open heart surgery are not true emergencies! so...while they may not sit around saying "I'm a little bored today, I believe I'll have me some of that open heart surgery." they do wait on a list to have their surgeries and should someone come in with a more critical situation...they get bumped further down the line! check into that! physicians in canada work much less hours than the physicians in the USA!

certainly, our healthcare system has problems (major issues)...i'll toast with you to that one! CHEERS! but i've never heard of anyone in the USA waiting 6 months to a year to have open heart surgery, cholecystectomy, hysterectomy...the list goes on! canadians wait....and wait...and wait!
so, what is the solution? i don't know at this time, but i'm not sure socialized is the way to go!

Thanks for the input Heather.

No telling how Socialized/Nationalized medicine would do here. And I agree that our system sucks and it needs to be overhauled. The really ironic thing is that all of the people who want Socialized are the people who bash the current government programs. Why do they think that a Medical program would be any better? And, having worked in medical insurance for a while, I've learned that Medicare/Medicaid is what has made the current system so convoluted.

I've heard that you were one smart Texas County cookie and it sounds like you know your stuff. Good to see you listing!
From the mom of other Texas County cookies - GO Tigers!!

Good job Heather, but I don't make this stuff up. In fact the wait time for elective hip and joint replacement surgery may indeed have been 26 weeks a couple of years ago:

http://www.va.gov/vatap/pubs/BIB-Waiting-times-for-joint-replacement-s
urgery-final.pdf

But the wait time for heart surgery was much less:

"According to CIHI analysis, half of this group waited four days or less for angioplasty and two-and-a-half weeks or less for bypass surgery. However, the 10% of patients who waited the longest had waits that were six or more times longer than those of typical patients."

So, 10% waited 24 to 102 days.

The whole article:

http://www.cihi.ca/cihiweb/dispPage.jsp?cw_page=media_07mar2006_e