. . . on this article that was just emailed to me:

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I don't know much about the Canadian health care system, other than it's government-run and the wait time for care can be very long, but I'd love to hear from the people who are "living it" -- and also, did the system cover your lap band?

Hi Gadgetlady -I live in Whtiby which is a suburb of Toronto, and the lap band surgery is not covered at all in the province of Ontario but I know that it is covered by provincial health insurance in Alberta and some eastern provinces but these people are opting to pay out of pocket and come to Toronto to get it done because the wait list for the surgery there is two to three years. Jodylou

Hi Gadgetlady -I live in Whtiby which is a suburb of Toronto, and the lap band surgery is not covered at all in the province of Ontario but I know that it is covered by provincial health insurance in Alberta and some eastern provinces but these people are opting to pay out of pocket and come to Toronto to get it done because the wait list for the surgery there is two to three years. Jodylou

I didn't realize the different provinces had different coverage. Very interesting. I've been finishing up a unit study on Canada with my daughter (we homeschool) and it's been just fascinating for me. This is one piece of the puzzle that wasn't addressed in the curriculum so I'm interested to hear more!

The lapband was not covered for me. I paid $16,000 Can bucks for the band and lifetime after care.

As many people know, right now I am very ill with cancer, a tumor on my right vocal chord. Here in Ontario, Canada we have universal health care and this has paid for all my visits to the doctors, all my stays in hospital, all my scans, 35 sessions of radiation treatment, home nursing visits 3 times a week, my tracheostomy, my medical supplies involved with the care of the trach including peroxide, cleaning kits, drainage sponges, extra trachs and inner cannulae, dietician care including home visits, all liquid food, the loan of a food pump for the duration, my radiation mask, my shrink - everything except, oddly, my oncology dental work and my drugs. Fortunately I retired with a generous drug plan and I can take advantage of my husband's dental plan. The only cash that my husband has been putting out is for parking and for missed work. The province has covered all the medical stuff. I just show them my card.

I have always had excellent care but I live in the core of Canada's largest city and my family doc is well connected. Some folks have no complaints, others do. There are cracks in the system. There are no longer enough family docs to go around; this is the result of retiring docs, ones who have moved out of Canada, and our growing population.

You might be interested to learn that they did do research into who uses our medical system. It is primarily middle-class families, women with or without children, and seniors. The poor do not tend to use the system much except on an emergency basis even though it is available. The findings certainly make sense to me for it is the middle-class and women in particular who are most interested in physical maintenance of any kind. Men tend to use the medical system on a crisis basis or after being nagged by their women. With respect to senior use, it was commented that senior health issues do drift towards that of crisis by virtue of ageing alone and thus the increased reliance on the medical system.

My own doctor is part of a clinic with a common wait area and my informal observations certainly bear out what the results of the research indicate. Although she is in the core of the city I don't see any broken down smelly street folk in the wait area...just folks with kids or like myself or older (even).

Re the differences between provinces: the provinces are much like your individual states. They have specific powers and do deal with these in different ways. Vague answer, I know, but I can't give you any examples. Too much morphine perhaps.

The poor do not tend to use the system much except on an emergency basis even though it is available.

FASCINATING! I would think that if the care were "free", the poor would be taking advantage of it! I would never have guessed the above situation to be the case.

The findings certainly make sense to me for it is the middle-class and women in particular who are most interested in physical maintenance of any kind.

You crack me up.

Re the differences between provinces: the provinces are much like your individual states. They have specific powers and do deal with these in different ways. Vague answer, I know, but I can't give you any examples. Too much morphine perhaps.

It's not vague at all. It explains it perfectly. I just, again, wouldn't have suspected it because I thought the health care was country-run, not province-run. How are charges of "discrimination" handled? "In Province A I can be treated for x, but in Province B I can't"?

On the subject of your particular situation, have the doctors been able to assess any degree of success with your treatment? It sounds like you're really "going through it" right now :-( Our family is still praying for you.

Sorry I didn't get a chance to read the article but speaking from someone on the west coast (British Columbia) I had to pay for my surgery as it is not covered by government medical and for extended medical companies (through employers, etc.) most of them have the clause that won't cover WLS. For our medical coverage we do pay to the government (BC Medical Services Plan) a monthly premium but it is based on your income - to give you an example my yearly gross is $45,000 and my monthly payments would be approximately less than $20 for a single person but my employer actually pays that premium for me. Whenever we go to the doctor, the hospital, walk in clinic - there is no charge to us. If you got hit by a bus tomorrow the only thing you would be charged for is an ambulance fee which I believe is around $50-75 (not sure never been in one lol).

The one thing with our medical system is that waits for surgeries, procedures etc can be PAINFULLY long. Obviously if it's a life saving procedure that is different but say you have had back pain or something and they want to send you for a CatScan or MRI you can be waitlisted sometimes upwards of 6months to even get that done.

Lapband is not covered here as I mentioned but Gastric Bypass is - however, due to limited dr's performing it as well as how much they allot per year for it I believe the wait list if you qualify to have it paid for by BC MSP is approx 6 years right now.

With respect to the big items, the cancers, strokes, heart attacks and the like all Canucks will have their treatment paid for. Ontario is nibbling away at some of the small things, though, in order to save a bit of cash. It used to be that physio therapy and eye check-ups were paid for but now we must pony up for this. My work plan pays for 26 sessions of physio/year and we are simply paying for the eye check-ups because this is chump change. Eye surgery does get paid for. Just the prescription glasses biz no longer.

As for me, I am now recovering from the radiation sessions. I became very sick at the end of that with radiation poisoning and ended up being hospitalized for a week. I was dehydrated and dropping weight. They are up in the air about whether or when I get a fourth session of chemo due to my weakness post radiation but I probably will once I recover a bit. And there is that trach which is causing me a lot of pain. I see the oncology dentist this Monday and I see both the chemo and the radiation docs next Tuesday. I guess I will hear more about their plans for me. I know they expect me to live but sometimes I find that difficult to imagine. This has not been a walk in the park.

With respect to the big items, the cancers, strokes, heart attacks and the like all Canucks will have their treatment paid for. Ontario is nibbling away at some of the small things, though, in order to save a bit of cash. It used to be that physio therapy and eye check-ups were paid for but now we must pony up for this. My work plan pays for 26 sessions of physio/year and we are simply paying for the eye check-ups because this is chump change. Eye surgery does get paid for. Just the prescription glasses biz no longer.

As for me, I am now recovering from the radiation sessions. I became very sick at the end of that with radiation poisoning and ended up being hospitalized for a week. I was dehydrated and dropping weight. They are up in the air about whether or when I get a fourth session of chemo due to my weakness post radiation but I probably will once I recover a bit. And there is that trach which is causing me a lot of pain. I see the oncology dentist this Monday and I see both the chemo and the radiation docs next Tuesday. I guess I will hear more about their plans for me. I know they expect me to live but sometimes I find that difficult to imagine. This has not been a walk in the park.

Green, I just wanted to say that I always look for your posts and keep myself updated, darn it Green, it sure sounds like you are going through a lot, and I'm so sorry, just the fact that you keep coming to the forum and posting and keeping your sense of humor and keep being you is just great and an inspiration to everyone, I bet it's very hard, but don't ever give up, you have done so much already, it's got to get better from here on! you are strong baby! Love ya!:tt1:

Green, I just wanted to say that I always look for your posts and keep myself updated, darn it Green, it sure sounds like you are going through a lot, and I'm so sorry, just the fact that you keep coming to the forum and posting and keeping your sense of humor and keep being you is just great and an inspiration to everyone, I bet it's very hard, but don't ever give up, you have done so much already, it's got to get better from here on! you are strong baby! Love ya!:biggrin:

Green sez "Thanks."