Today I noted your article. First off I am always amazed that pundits in our little backwater paper in Halifax always have to write silly articles ending in predictable attacks on Trump. As you are aware Americans care less about about what Canadian pundits think! Down here Trump is not thought of as the antichrist. Republicans are very happy that Harris is now on record as being all in for our Canadian one payer government run medical coverage, Republicans will tear her and Bernie apart in 2020. You are right the Democrats need to produce a viable candidate but they will not. They will nominate another McGovern and get wiped out!
It is not wise for Democrats to act like Canadian politicians where government is always good and when it fails like it always does in NS the solution (supported by the CH) is always more government. At no time is it thought that the problem is government!
Mr Black I would recommend you stay out of American politics and spend more time on why SNC Lavalin gets protected by Justin!
That would be more useful to your readers.
Response from Bill Black:
Thanks for your note.
The article was not written for Americans but rather for Nova Scotians who I find to be quite interested in what is happening Stateside.
There are sharp divisions about Trump in the US and I do get to listen to those who are supporters. You are right that there is a material risk that the Democrats will nominate a candidate like McGovern and if so will probably lose.
Mr. Black. Having been under Medicare since 1997, when I became eligible, I can tell you that Medicare is the best health system I have experienced. By the way Medicare once started at age 65 for everybody, but an increase to age 67 is planned.
I never had to wait for appointments, by that I mean no longer than a month, and mostly within a week, maybe two. Care was excellent.
I have dual citizenship and moved back here last year, so am now under the Canadian system.
I was fortunate enough to get a GP almost immediately, and have never to date had a problem getting an appointment, although it’s now a month or two, instead of a week. I do recognize that if you don’t live in this local area, it is much more difficult beyond metro boundaries.
Care here is excellent, and in my experience both countries medical staff do what the patient needs.
Now having said all that, there is no way that Americans will ever accept a one state, country or whatever medical system.
The private health system has the ears of Americans, and the private sector is much too large to accept a universal system. Any why is that? Because they have a very large advertising budget, and that is why the annual costs per person are so high compared to Canada, or England for that matter. The problems in other countries universal systems that are brought to the ears of Americans is too heavily ingrained in the American psyche.
And the red tape for Medicare. Unbelievable. I received each month a statement of everything medical I had had, and once every three months a consolidated statement covering all that had happened the three months previous. If that stopped, our forests would be safe!
Oh, and by the way, one of the private health insurers favorite points, is pointing out the problems with Canada’s system. If you think NS’s issues are not noticed, well think again.
To be honest I’d take the US’s system over Canada’s as it is at present, but only because here in Nova Scotia, one cannot be sure what the NS administration is going to do next. In Florida, the right to know of the patient is paramount. I’m not convinced that our bureaucracy is on that wave length.
And so far, from my vantage point, do not appear to be concerned about the affect on the population of some of their decisions.
Response From Bill Black:–
John thank you for this.
The Canadian system is good for acute care but for everything else the limits on supply often mean long waits.
The American system is very expensive. There are lots of people for whom it is good but many others for whom it is not. That is why population mortality is so high compared to other advanced economies.
Response from John Bassett:–
Thanks for the response. I should have added that while there is a universal US government plan implemented by Barrack Obama available to all pre-age Medicare citizens, it is, as far as I can discern, quite costly. On the other hand it does fit the bill for a lot more Americans, who had no reasonable choice before. And a lot has to do with individual states, whether they want to opt in or not. If not, then there is really no choice for most middle class income citizens. It’s a work in progress interrupted by too many Republicans and Donald Trumps being elected at the last election. The coming mid-term elections may resolve some of these problems. But there is still the medical insurance companies to deal with, no matter who wins.
Response from Bill Black:–
Thanks again.
We have a place in Florida for part of our winter. I and many others had something like this conversation when “Obamacare” came into being:
American : “Well, now we have Canadian-style Medicare.”
Canadian: “ We don’t understand what you have but it is not Canadian-style Medicare.”
Hi Bill: Have been very supportive of our health care system, but:
single payer removes any real opportunity for competition,
current popular physician payment methods stifle incentive, leading to “physician-centred care” as opposed to patient centred care and to generic medicine.Time for a major re-think.The Dems had better be careful!
Today I noted your article. First off I am always amazed that pundits in our little backwater paper in Halifax always have to write silly articles ending in predictable attacks on Trump. As you are aware Americans care less about about what Canadian pundits think! Down here Trump is not thought of as the antichrist. Republicans are very happy that Harris is now on record as being all in for our Canadian one payer government run medical coverage, Republicans will tear her and Bernie apart in 2020. You are right the Democrats need to produce a viable candidate but they will not. They will nominate another McGovern and get wiped out!
It is not wise for Democrats to act like Canadian politicians where government is always good and when it fails like it always does in NS the solution (supported by the CH) is always more government. At no time is it thought that the problem is government!
Mr Black I would recommend you stay out of American politics and spend more time on why SNC Lavalin gets protected by Justin!
That would be more useful to your readers.
Response from Bill Black:
Thanks for your note.
The article was not written for Americans but rather for Nova Scotians who I find to be quite interested in what is happening Stateside.
There are sharp divisions about Trump in the US and I do get to listen to those who are supporters. You are right that there is a material risk that the Democrats will nominate a candidate like McGovern and if so will probably lose.
Graeme Tweedie | February 10, 2019 |
Mr. Black. Having been under Medicare since 1997, when I became eligible, I can tell you that Medicare is the best health system I have experienced. By the way Medicare once started at age 65 for everybody, but an increase to age 67 is planned.
I never had to wait for appointments, by that I mean no longer than a month, and mostly within a week, maybe two. Care was excellent.
I have dual citizenship and moved back here last year, so am now under the Canadian system.
I was fortunate enough to get a GP almost immediately, and have never to date had a problem getting an appointment, although it’s now a month or two, instead of a week. I do recognize that if you don’t live in this local area, it is much more difficult beyond metro boundaries.
Care here is excellent, and in my experience both countries medical staff do what the patient needs.
Now having said all that, there is no way that Americans will ever accept a one state, country or whatever medical system.
The private health system has the ears of Americans, and the private sector is much too large to accept a universal system. Any why is that? Because they have a very large advertising budget, and that is why the annual costs per person are so high compared to Canada, or England for that matter. The problems in other countries universal systems that are brought to the ears of Americans is too heavily ingrained in the American psyche.
And the red tape for Medicare. Unbelievable. I received each month a statement of everything medical I had had, and once every three months a consolidated statement covering all that had happened the three months previous. If that stopped, our forests would be safe!
Oh, and by the way, one of the private health insurers favorite points, is pointing out the problems with Canada’s system. If you think NS’s issues are not noticed, well think again.
To be honest I’d take the US’s system over Canada’s as it is at present, but only because here in Nova Scotia, one cannot be sure what the NS administration is going to do next. In Florida, the right to know of the patient is paramount. I’m not convinced that our bureaucracy is on that wave length.
And so far, from my vantage point, do not appear to be concerned about the affect on the population of some of their decisions.
Response From Bill Black:–
John thank you for this.
The Canadian system is good for acute care but for everything else the limits on supply often mean long waits.
The American system is very expensive. There are lots of people for whom it is good but many others for whom it is not. That is why population mortality is so high compared to other advanced economies.
Response from John Bassett:–
Thanks for the response. I should have added that while there is a universal US government plan implemented by Barrack Obama available to all pre-age Medicare citizens, it is, as far as I can discern, quite costly. On the other hand it does fit the bill for a lot more Americans, who had no reasonable choice before. And a lot has to do with individual states, whether they want to opt in or not. If not, then there is really no choice for most middle class income citizens. It’s a work in progress interrupted by too many Republicans and Donald Trumps being elected at the last election. The coming mid-term elections may resolve some of these problems. But there is still the medical insurance companies to deal with, no matter who wins.
Response from Bill Black:–
Thanks again.
We have a place in Florida for part of our winter. I and many others had something like this conversation when “Obamacare” came into being:
American : “Well, now we have Canadian-style Medicare.”
Canadian: “ We don’t understand what you have but it is not Canadian-style Medicare.”
John Bassett | February 10, 2019 |
Hi Bill: Have been very supportive of our health care system, but:
single payer removes any real opportunity for competition,
current popular physician payment methods stifle incentive, leading to “physician-centred care” as opposed to patient centred care and to generic medicine.Time for a major re-think.The Dems had better be careful!
Ron Gregor | February 9, 2019 |
Let them nominate Hillary or Bernie, or a similar fool!
Harold | February 8, 2019 |