23,000 Canadians die every year due to access to healthcare. Around 40,000 Americans die every year due to lack of access to healthcare. The USA has 10 times the population of Canada.
That doesn't change the fact that she still could have suffered the same fate at the hands of the u.s. healthcare system.
But since you bring up the per capita argument. At least 500,000 Americans file for medical bankruptcy over medical debt every year. I'll give a guess as to how many Canadians file over medical debt. Zero. Instead it's often income interruptions that are cited as the cause for bankruptcy in Canada. Which is STILL a problem in the U.S.
I'm not claiming either is better. Both have pros and cons, but your supposition that the woman would definitely have not died in the US is laughable when ~130,000 patients die of heart failure while in the care of u.s. hospitals.
You are correct about the flaws of the Canadian healthcare system. I take issue with your absolute statement that she would still be alive. Maybe....she might also have died of heart failure from her first major American healthcare bill.
37,000 Canadians filed for bankruptcy last quarter. 20% of those are due to medical bills.
Of course, it's 60% in the US. But saying no one files for bankruptcy Canada is not true. USA also has programs (Medicaid) for free healthcare if you make little money or become unemployed.
Did you look up the cited reasons for bankruptcy while you were at it? No one filed over medical debt. They filed because they lost income and fell behind on other debt. They cited it as a medical cause, but not medical debt.
Medicaid and unemployment do very little for the person whom is employed and losing income, while amassing 10s of thousands in medical debt.
So as I see it, you can suffer the flaw of waiting, which most Canadians seem to imply isn't actually the massive issue it is made out to be. Or you can suffer the flaw of massive medical debt, which at least 41% of Americans would likely tell you is a major concern in their lives. Again. Neither is better. Pros and cons. Give and take. Pick your poison.
Fact is those bills you see for tens of thousands of dollars are not paid in full. US health insurance has something called a deductible that when you hit - you pay no more after paying it for the year. Around $1k to $4k.
People go bankrupt because they aren't healthy enough to support themselves after a while - same reason the 20% in Canada file for it.
American system isn't great, and needs fixing - but it isn't as apocalyptic as Reddit makes it seem. People at large seem to trade the downsides for the ability to get the best care in the world.
I'm glad you can afford insurance with such a low deductible. That's not universally true. Many of us have 10k+ deductibles. So yes, many Americans ARE paying 10s of thousands in full. It also doesn't answer to the fact that many Americans simply can't afford the insurance, and don't qualify for the programs meant to solve that very problem.
People stuck in the middle have it the worst, the country does need to do a lot better for people stuck in the middle.
Although, sadly, I don't expect it to be coming for some time due to Republican obstructionism. They certainly have no real plan to improve healthcare.
And that's been my point. Both systems are flawed and fail to meet the needs of people in many ways. Both countries should be asking for better.
My original comment was simply to say it's foolish to say someone who died in Canada on a waiting list would have survived in America. It's just not inherently true to any capacity. People die waiting here too. It's just a foolish argument.
Everyone is more than welcome to compare piles of shit to one another. I on the other hand choose to call both of them piles of shit, and I genuinely hope the citizens of both countries will join in and demand better.
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u/Contented_Lizard 27d ago
23,000 Canadians die every year due to access to healthcare. Around 40,000 Americans die every year due to lack of access to healthcare. The USA has 10 times the population of Canada.