Canadian Premier Heads To US For Heart Surgey

[Roy Pitchford]

And Roy, How is it that it is only certain thing you complain about not being able to afford. Where are we getting the money for these two wars? There are poorly designed counters for that too.

http://www.costofwar.com/

1. The national defense is a power spelled out pretty clearly in the Constitution as one granted to the federal government. Providing health care and/or health insurance are not.

2. Maybe I'm not pleased about the amount of money being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the job needs to be done.
Maybe I'd also like the politicians to get off the military's back and let them do their job. Things would go faster if they weren't playing games with funding or putting the troops on trial every time a captured terrorist complains about a bloody lip or a black eye.

[Stephen Eisel]

You all keep saying that this way and that way (the WHO thing) is not a good measure of america's health care system. So how is the PM's choice some come here a better measure?

If the free market healthcare systems in the US ranks so low compared to the Canadian HCS then why do so many Canadians come to the US for healthcare? also the Canadian Gov. contracts with several US Hospitals for services for Canadian citizens.. Jim, you are correct. The Premier heading to the US for heart surgery is not a fair baramoter when comapring the two HCS. It is more of a question, why? On the WHO thingy, I think that this article gives us a good perspective.

http://smartgirlnation.com/2009/06/popu ... re-system/

[ryan costa]

most of us will never be very rich.
you are not making a strong case to most american voters.

[Roy Pitchford]

most of us will never be very rich.
you are not making a strong case to most american voters.

With a negative attitude like that, I'm not surprised.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Are all of you so sure that the Prmie Minister's health care will not cover him in the USA
for these procedures?

The rest of this is arguing about one hospital, and procedures not a "total health care program."

The woman next to my office is from Germany, she often flies home for some items where it
is only covered when done in Germany, on other things she can stay here and submit the
billing to the German system. She also gets her meds covered and sent here.

just some questions and observations.

.

[Grace O'Malley]

True, true.

I posted earlier that I thought his surgery might be paid by the Canadian system and it looks like that may be the case.

The Cleveland Clinic does a lot of business with Canadians wanting bariatric surgery. Its available there but the wait list is long due to the paucity if physicians who will perform this surgery (because the pay scale is low for this).

Canada has provisions for this. They will pay for any treatment that is medically necessary, done in a certified facility, and pre=approved by the ministry:

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/programs/ohip/outofcountry/prior_approval.aspx

A long wait is a one condition that will allow you to get approval to go to the US, as well as for a procedure not available in your province.

THEY WILL PAY FOR THE PROCEDURE when performed in the US.

[ryan costa]

most of us will never be very rich.
you are not making a strong case to most american voters.

With a negative attitude like that, I'm not surprised.

where do the lower 80 percent of americans go?

the big private insurance companies and AMA and certification boards are our government: they are just the government we don't vote for.

Will everyone be Rich or World Leaders once they have the positive attitude?

Is the Canadian healthcare system paying for the Canadian Premier to get his heart surgery done in the U.S.?

where will you go for your heart surgery, and how will you pay for it?

The rich go to southeast asia, brazil, or hungary for sex tourism.

They go to Africa to shoot zebras, giraffes, etc.

They go to Dubai to piss off the highest sky scraper in the world.

[Will Brown]

The Globe and Mail reported that he will pay for the procedurre himself.

[Roy Pitchford]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5h0QC7bditrEb3wYz_6_b-gsGGDxA

'My heart, my choice,' Williams says, defending decision for U.S. heart surgery

By Tara Brautigam (CP) – 16 hours ago

An unapologetic Danny Williams says he was aware his trip to the United States for heart surgery earlier this month would spark outcry, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the controversial decision.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Williams said he went to Miami to have a "minimally invasive" surgery for an ailment first detected nearly a year ago, based on the advice of his doctors.

"This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla.

"I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."

The 60-year-old Williams said doctors detected a heart murmur last spring and told him that one of his heart valves wasn't closing properly, creating a leakage.

He said he was told at the time that the problem was "moderate" and that he should come back for a checkup in six months.

Eight months later, in December, his doctors told him the problem had become severe and urged him to get his valve repaired immediately or risk heart failure, he said.

His doctors in Canada presented him with two options - a full or partial sternotomy, both of which would've required breaking bones, he said.

He said he spoke with and provided his medical information to a leading cardiac surgeon in New Jersey who is also from Newfoundland and Labrador. He advised him to seek treatment at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.

That's where he was treated by Dr. Joseph Lamelas, a cardiac surgeon who has performed more than 8,000 open-heart surgeries.

Williams said Lamelas made an incision under his arm that didn't require any bone breakage.

"I wanted to get in, get out fast, get back to work in a short period of time," the premier said.

Williams said he didn't announce his departure south of the border because he didn't want to create "a media gong show," but added that criticism would've followed him had he chose to have surgery in Canada.

"I would've been criticized if I had stayed in Canada and had been perceived as jumping a line or a wait list. ... I accept that. That's public life," he said.

"(But) this is not a unique phenomenon to me. This is something that happens with lots of families throughout this country, so I make no apologies for that."

Williams said his decision to go to the U.S. did not reflect any lack of faith in his own province's health care system.

"I have the utmost confidence in our own health care system in Newfoundland and Labrador, but we are just over half a million people," he said.

"We do whatever we can to provide the best possible health care that we can in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Canadian health care system has a great reputation, but this is a very specialized piece of surgery that had to be done and I went to somebody who's doing this three or four times a day, five, six days a week."

He quipped that he had "a heart of a 40-year-old, so that gives me 20 years new life," and said he intends to run in the next provincial election in 2011.

"I'm probably going to be around for a long time, hopefully, if God willing," he said.

"God forbid for the Canadian public I won't be around longer than ever."

Williams also said he paid for the treatment, but added he would seek any refunds he would be eligible for in Canada.

"If I'm entitled to any reimbursement from any Canadian health care system or any provincial health care system, then obviously I will apply for that as anybody else would," he said.

"But I wrote out the cheque myself and paid for it myself and to this point, I haven't even looked into the possibility of any reimbursement. I don't know what I'm entitled to, if anything, and if it's nothing, then so be it."

He is expected back at work in early March.

Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

[ryan costa]

The rich go to Walt Disney World to Worship.

The rest of us have to be content to rent the videos and buy the licensed merchandise at Wal-Mart or a second hand store.

The Rich go where they want for whatever they want.

If there is anything the Canadian system proves it is that people of greater means still have access to more expensive healthcare. Therefore they still have all of primary advantage of whatever the hell you wanna call U.S. healthcare.

sometimes I wish there were paying members-only restrooms at the cleveland public library and tower city. on the off-chance the restrooms would not get so slummed up so early in the day. but the lawyers have never been able to make a law against being disgusting. Although I don't drool and spit and cuss and litter all over downtown, the people who do tend to be dressed more expensively than me and have better cell phones and more expensive jewelry. So, they could probably afford better restrooms.

[Roy Pitchford]

The rich go to Walt Disney World to Worship.

The rest of us have to be content to rent the videos and buy the licensed merchandise at Wal-Mart or a second hand store.

The Rich go where they want for whatever they want.

If there is anything the Canadian system proves it is that people of greater means still have access to more expensive healthcare. Therefore they still have all of primary advantage of whatever the hell you wanna call U.S. healthcare.

sometimes I wish there were paying members-only restrooms at the cleveland public library and tower city. on the off-chance the restrooms would not get so slummed up so early in the day. but the lawyers have never been able to make a law against being disgusting. Although I don't drool and spit and cuss and litter all over downtown, the people who do tend to be dressed more expensively than me and have better cell phones and more expensive jewelry. So, they could probably afford better restrooms.

We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it's honorably obtained and well used. It's not even enough to say that it should have been gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only as long as the gaining represents a benefit to the community.

[ryan costa]

the big debate isn't on healthcare.
it is on health insurance.

people want health insurance insurance because the insurance companies negotiate lower rates with doctors and hospitals. look at your insurance. the provider lists their price. then the insurance companies price is much lower. so low, most of the time you wouldn't even need insurance. in worse case scenarios, cancer insurance or catastrophic injury insurance. maybe individuals get government administered credit card with a low interest rate, your own payment responsibility.

supply and demand says sellers lower prices to attract more customers. I've never heard of a doctor with a shortage of patients. but they lower prices for the insurance companies, who make the lines shorter. they aggregately jump through the hoops because the insurance barrier wittles down the line. fewer people coming into the office.

Then there is the issue of a real or perceived lack of general practioners or family practitioners. Dr.Quentin Young writes well about it. the hyperspecialization of medicine will have spectacular successes, but its greatest effect is on hyper-bureaucratic gridlock on the private sector and the public sector. the costs will keep going up. similar to education, infrastructure, accounting, law.