Health Care System Differences in USA UK and Canada

[@ivy9922]

"Suck it up" is accurate here in the US. Not to mention the insane cost of meds. The underprivileged literally have to choose between rent, food and medication. It's sad, really.

[@sandraalvarado5105]

Here in mexico, we have IMSS is the health insurance every worker have. A small portion of your salary goes to health insurance, also covered your inmediate family. You also have to wait a long time for appointments the good part it covers optometris and dental problems, and you have access to a nutritionist.

[@pagodaone_5697]

Oh! It's great that it covers optometrists and dental problems :)

[@lifeofjohn3993]

Ooo nice! Yeah I'm surprised dental problems are covered. They aren't in many places!

[@ganapatikamesh]

In my state we have SoonerCare which is our Medicaid program. Medicaid is 60% funded by the federal government and 40% funded by state governments and is for people with low incomes who wouldn’t qualify for federal subsidized private health insurance programs (which is what the Affordable Care Act setup and people weirdly call Obamacare even though it’s just rules laid out for subsidizing private health insurance plans for people between those that qualify for Medicaid and those who can normally afford private health insurance. I feel like it should be just called middle class care, but you know whatever). In my state we also have Insure Oklahoma which is a program between the federal government and state government that helps subsidize health insurance for small businesses so they can offer health insurance benefits to their employees. Again that’s also part of the Affordable Care Act where the money and rules for this to happen (not that this part ever gets talked about by anyone and unless you’re a small business owner whose worked with your state small business administration and the federal SBA it’s likely not something you know about). With Medicaid service is basically free for the folks using it. Medicare is for people 65 and older and there are four parts. Part A and Part B cover going to your primary physician (the US lingo for general practitioner), medical tests, emergencies, and hospital stays and basically the bulk of one’s health care. Part D covers medicines and is generally a subsidy program whereby the federal governor subsidizes plans from private health insurance companies. Medicare recipients have to choose between those plans. Part C is Medicare Advantage Plans. These are plans provided by private health insurance companies that must provide coverage equal to or beyond Medicare and must include parts A, B, and D. Medicare recipients have to choose from amongst these and choosing one removes the person from basic Medicare to that. Persons with Medicare can have other health insurance. When billing occurs, the private health insurance plan gets billed first and then the government insurance. Medicaid and Medicare are similar to the Canadian health insurance system. Then the US has the Veterans Administration. This is for veterans only (retired military; active duty military get coverage by private health insurance companies). The VA owns the hospitals, the clinics, and the pharmacies the veterans use. The services are free to those using them. The VA is similar to the UK’s NHS. Members of the VA can get private health insurance, they qualify for Medicare after 65, they can get Medicaid under certain circumstances, and they can access private clinics and hospitals if necessary (like if they live far away from a VA clinic the VA will cover the costs to visit a private clinic or pay for prescriptions at a private pharmacy). My parents are both retired and my dad us a former small business owner. And I’ve worked as a pharmacy technician at a private pharmacy so I’m very familiar with the US’s health care system (and my biggest pet peeve is that none of the information on medical cards is standardized so a person with Blue Cross’s card will have the information in one format, a person with UHC will have it in another, Medicare has it its own way, the VA has it is way, each state’s Medicaid has it a different way, and yeah it’s frustrating to input that billing information into the computer or to be someone who has to submit or talk to the billing department of any of these places and trying to find the info; seriously don’t understand why this isn’t standardized and my friend who works at a hospital says a lot of the money hospitals spend is on administration because of this lack of standardization....you need more people because it slows the process down). People say we don’t have wait times in the US, but that’s not true. I have had very great health insurance with my employers and had appointments where I show up the extra 10-15 minutes early as asked to fill out paperwork, then the appointment is supposed to be at a set time and I wait several hours before I am called back to see the doctor.....if I even do. In some cases it’s simply been the RN that sees me and the doctor only called in if the issue isn’t too obvious. But I agree, once you get to see the doctor (or nurse) they do spend time with you going over everything and discussing what options you have. But like John, I rarely go because even my best insurance didn’t actually cover that much and besides the bill I’ll get later there’s immediate payment as well. For example, last year I had an issue with my ear. I called my doctor who was able to get me in that week as they had had some cancellations. As it wasn’t an emergency I made the appointment. When I arrived I did the usual fill out the form and gave it back. Then I had to pay the $90 it costs to be seen for a medical issue (if just going in for a yearly checkup it’s $75). I wait and then go back. The nurse first checks me and asks me questions. She thinks she knows the problem, but asks the doctor to come check. The doctor comes in, checks, and agrees with the nurse. The issue can be resolved right there in the office with some instruments and so the doctor uses the instruments and corrects the issue and gives me a prescription for ear drops to prevent infection. Easy fix. A few weeks later I get the full bill. My insurance had covered $120 of the bill and I owe $150. The bill is basically for the procedure which thankfully didn’t cost too much after all. My insurance didn’t cover the ear drops so instead of using my usual pharmacy where the cost was going to be $88 for the generic or $150 for the brand name, I went to Walmart who had the generic for $4. I live in a rural area, in a city whose primary industry is agriculture (farming, grain elevators, food processing and packaging plants, nitrogen fertilizer company, etc...big names like Koch, Tyson, etc are here). We have one ambulance service the city contracts with. A few years ago I got hurt at work and had to be taken by an ambulance to the local hospital. The bill for the ambulance ride (which worker’s compensation covered) was $2,100. Mind you I literally worked at a location that is five blocks from the hospital! I’m told the cost is based on the distance and your insurance, which is definitely true. My mom got hurt three years ago at her job which is 12 miles from the hospital. She has two insurances: Medicare (she’s over 65) and Blue Cross. The ambulance ride for that was $300 and Blue Cross paid the entire amount so worker’s compensation had to reimburse Blue Cross. We have a local community clinic that’s free for people who don’t qualify for Medicaid but can’t afford a subsidized health insurance plan. (We also have a county health clinic that’s free for everyone regardless). The free clinic is paid for via sponsorships from companies with local doctors and nurses who volunteer their time to work there when not working at a hospital or clinic. It’s basically just like going to a regular clinic, except that instead of popular magazines to read and HGTV on the television the waiting room is full of advertisements to read and the tv just plays commercials from the companies that sponsor the clinic. I have a friend who volunteered there when she lived here (she now has moved to a different state and lives/works in a big metropolitan area in that state....which I believe is John’s home state if I remember past videos correctly where he’s talked about it; she moved there because the employer not only pays well, but helps with mortgages and car loans, etc for its employees which is pretty rare for companies to do anymore). According to studies the “best” healthcare system is France’s in terms of quality of care, ratio of care, wait times, and overall satisfaction by the people using it. It’s also a lot more expensive than Canada’s or the UK’s (it’s the second most expensive, the US is first....but like the gap between the US’s costs and France’s is astronomical; France’s costs just a bit more than the UK’s). France’s healthcare system is called Social Security and it also dates back to after WW2 for the same reasons the UK developed their system. Calling it social security is confusing for Americans since we also have a federal program with that name. In the US social security is the federal retirement program. Both the US social security program and medicare program have been rated as the best government run programs in the world. Which proves that the US government is capable of having successful and great programs when it really wants to! The oldest universal healthcare system is Germany’s. Like many of its government welfare programs, it was created by the government after Germany was unified in the late 19th century because such programs were being discussed in the US by various organizations about implementing in the US. As the new German government wanted to be viewed as a modern nation and they viewed the US as one example of such a nation, they implemented these ideas for the new nation of Germany believing the US was soon to do so. Here it is the early 21st century and lots of other nations around the world have implemented those ideas or exceeded them and the US is still debating on whether their own original ideas are good enough for themselves. Kinda funny if you don’t think about it too much as an American. Great video!

[@pagodaone_5697]

Wow! Thank you for sharing all of the info! It's great to know all these details😊😊

[@FionaEm]

In Australia we have Medicare, a taxpayer-funded program that fully or partially covers medical appointments and procedures for citizens and permanent residents of any age. You can see any GP you want; you don't have to go to a particular clinic because it's in your local area. Medicare is not perfect, so ppl who want or need extra cover can buy it directly from private insurers. Employers don't generally provide insurance, so you don't have to accept or keep a job just because it has insurance. Medicare will cover you to some extent whether you're employed or not.

[@syrinacrockett8290]

My insurance sent me a strongly worded letter once after I was in a car wreck a year ago. The letter pretty much stated “The ER is for emergency situations only go if close to death. Please consider going to your PCP next time. ” For the record, the paramedics thought I had a severe concussion, they thought my left ear drum was blown, and they thought I had either a broken collarbone or a dislocated shoulder. So, they loaded me up in the ambulance and took me to the ER to get checked out, have a MRI scan, and X-Rays taken. The doctors found I did have a Grade 2 concussion, broken collarbone, blown eardrum, and severe muscle strains in my neck and back. My insurance though thought I should have just gone to my PCP instead, but the insurance stilled paid for the ER visit and ambulance even though they didn’t have to pay for it. The car insurance was going to pay for my medical bills since it was from the wreck. Never had to pay a single medical bill in my life, of course I’ve only ever gone to the doctor only when I absolutely needed too. That’s how I was raised since my mom is a nurse and never took my brother or I to the doctor unless we been sick for multiple days without getting better. She didn’t even taken my brother to the doctor when he hurt his ankle, she just told him to ice it and take ibuprofen that he will be fine. He complained for a day or two about it before she finally took him to the doctor to have it X-rayed just to get my brother to stop complaining about it. The doctor tells them that he fractured it and our mom felt horrible for not taking it serious. The joys of being a nurses kid and the reason why I don’t go to the doctor for dumb stuff that can easily be taken care with OTCs and rest. 😂😂😂

[@rufescens]

The insurance situation in the U.S. is horrible! I would have been irate if I got such a letter! I'm glad you pulled through your accident!

[@syrinacrockett8290]

@@rufescens I laughed when I got that letter and thought “Only in America do you get scolded for using your health insurance that you pay for.” 😂😂😂

[@rufescens]

@@syrinacrockett8290 😄 So true! These companies are so unethical--I'm glad you managed to take it in stride! 😊

[@Cassxowary]

@@syrinacrockett8290 no, 99% of America aren’t basically monsters... the other countries in America have free or at least affordable healthcare, and US people go there for actual and good help

[@lifeofjohn3993]

@@syrinacrockett8290 Ha ha yea its so flabbergasting laughing, crying, or raging is the only response 🤣

[@NicholasJH96]

Uk has four NHS England which George was talking about & not NHS Wales,NHS Scotland or NHS Northern Ireland

[@wesleybush8646]

In the U.S.the government programs are Medicaid for the poor, Medicare for the old/disabled, and the VA for the military veterans.

[@Cassxowary]

Is that what you’re told? And you are actually gullible enough to believe that? Like seriously?

[@debbie541]

in canada every single person gets medical care....starting with Prenatal care 9 months, before from birth to death. regular dental no / dental surgery yes, eye examinations, glasses no / eye surgeries yes, prescriptions no / prescriptions while in hospital yes ...

[@judithmacglashan1782]

Also in Scotland the prescriptions r free

[@superultradan]

John, I will need the names of the two doctors you saw in America that will spend 3 and 4 hours with you. My doctor rushes me in and out! But, like you said, because it's expensive, it's best to live as healthy of a lifestyle as you can! Love y'all's videos!!!

[@Cassxowary]

Where in the 57 countries in America? And indeed, so why aren’t more of you going vegan, for your health and your trillions of yearly victims and all others and the planet? And it’s not just expensive, it’s lifetime debt for even the smallest things or you have to die if you can’t afford it...

[@rblackbird1]

I love how they say you have to wait a "long" time (a few hrs). Like few hrs is a "long" time. I live in the USA and just made a Drs appointment early this week the soonest the Dr could see me is 5 weeks from now (made the appointment Oct 4 the earliest they could schedule me is Nov 7). 5 weeks is a long time not a few hrs.

[@pagodaone_5697]

5 weeks... That really is a long time😢😭

[@rblackbird1]

@@pagodaone_5697 its actually quite normal in the USA. The only time a Dr will see you right away is if its the ER and even then depending on how serious it is you still have to wait hrs.

[@judithmacglashan1782]

I get NHS subsidised dental care, as I’m on government benefits

[@PeiwenTanbassoon821]

Wait time in the US can be bad too and still way more expensive

[@Cassxowary]

Expensive is an understatement

[@judithmacglashan1782]

Due to my health issues, I still think I’m best off living where I am….in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@srinath6247]

If you were to go to a doctor in India with a fever, the reply would be "Paracetamol, next patient"😂.

[@deanmcmanis9398]

There is no denying that healthcare is excessively expensive in the U.S., but I'd say that most working class people that have full time jobs have decent medical coverage, and the better your job, the better your coverage. Most younger people are covered by their parent's healthcare programs, up to a certain age. I think that so far I have been very luck to not need much care, and I've gotten care quickly when I needed it. Including dental and glasses, etc.. But we still know horror stories of $4,000 ambulance rides, $8,000 medication shots, and $125K to have a baby. And it is not unheard of to be medically bankrupt and homeless, where excessive medical costs leave a person or family in massive unrecoverable debt. So the U.S. medical and pharmaceutical industries are both fatally flawed for some people, but generally OK for most people.

[@Cassxowary]

1. There is no health care system in the US because you can’t call it that if there’s no health or care unless they can profit off you. Canada too to some extent but at least it’s free for me, mostly... and I’m on disability... And to the dude right at the beginning, the US is not all of America, there’s 57 countries, stop thinking you’re the centre of everything.

[@회사원-u9h]

간병인 제도는 어떻게 되는지 궁금하네요. 한국은 의료비보다 간병비가 더 나오는 경우가 많고, 개인이 구해야하는데 구하기도 어려운 경우가 많아서 누군가 보살핌이 필요하면 가족 중 한 명이 생업을 포기해야 하는 상황이 오기도 하거든요.

[@pagodaone_5697]

강병인도 궁금해지네요~!

[@syrinacrockett8290]

For the caregiver part it depends on who is taking care of the person in question. Family members can become the caregiver or they hire someone to take care of the person, but only if they can afford it. The U.S has four different types of caregivers broken down into categories: Home Health Care, Assisted Living Facilities, Nursing Homes, and Adult DayCare Centers. Home Health is the most flexible out of all the caregiver system. The family will usually hire someone that can watch over the elderly person in their house while the family members have gone to work or going on a business trip or whatever the case may be. The family member can make their own program of what they want the caregiver to do for elderly member while they are gone, which can be nice if the elderly person has a specific schedule they like. These caregivers work independently so you have to pay them for however long they stay and care for the person. These caregivers will usually be certified as a Nursing Assistant or certified as a Home Health Aid, but some states don’t require that to become a caregiver so people have to be aware of that when looking for a home health aid. The cost for this is service really varies on how long a aid needs to be in the house, but the aid are paid by the hour so assume that the aid was needed for 8-9 hrs to cover a typical work day with a minimum wage of $17/hr and be there Mon-Friday/Saturday. That is easily around $3,000 - $4,000 a month to have someone sit and take care of this person, but you have control of what the aid does or doesn’t do while with the elderly member. Assisted Living Facilities is basically a retirement home filled with other elderly people. Though with assisted living the elderly member has to move out of their home to the facility and that can be hard for them to adjust. The nice thing is that assisted living facility has all kinds of difference programs to keep everyone healthy and active, hair salons, a pool, a garden, and worship services for the religious members while also providing nursing care by the staff at the facility. It can cater to all types of people in different health stages and many are able to bring a pet to be with them, but the elderly are expected to bring their own furniture for their living spaces. The average cost for these facility is anywhere from $3,000 to $7,000 a month or roughly $36,000 to $84,000 annually. Cost also depends on location and how fancy the facility is, so it can cost even more based on those factors as well especially if you live in a higher income state like California, Texas, or New York. Nursing Homes are for the people that needs around the clock nursing care and administer medicine. Nursing homes can be broken up into two categories one is short term care which is just for the elderly that just had surgery or an injury but can still take care of themselves and the then there is long term which is for patients that need around the clock care and can no longer take care of themselves or on hospice. The thing about nursing homes is either you get a private room or a semi-private and which ever one get is how much you pay a month for that room. Nursing homes costs vary from state to state, so in my state for a semiprivate room it will cost roughly $6,000 a month and for a private room it will cost roughly $7,000 a month. Last type of the caregivers is the Adult Daycare facilities. Adult daycare centers provide programs for adults in a group based setting. These programs are generally planned to provide a variety of health, social and related support services in a protective setting during part of the day to adults who need supervised care outside the home. They can operate on a nonprofit or public basis and can be affiliated with multi-service entities such as home care, assisted living, nursing facilities, and hospitals, religious and other non-profit organizations. The average daily rate for these centers is $80 which is significantly lower than any of the other three options and easier on families that don’t have the funds or insurance coverage for the other options. These daycares are usually stay open from 8hrs to 12hrs a day to help accommodate everyone work schedules. So in short the U.S is very expensive both in the medical field and nursing field and reason why many people can’t afford funeral cost. The money gets used up before it can go toward funeral expenses which is also very expensive here in America. Funeral costs can be anywhere between $7,000 to $12,000, now add any nursing or medical bills on top of the funeral costs as well. That bill will get pushed on to living family members to pay for while also trying make arrangements. We can get life insurance but people can barely afford health insurance. So when the person dies with no health or life insurance all the money for the bills come out of pocket that the average American doesn’t have.

[@DerpChar]

We shouldn’t sugarcoat the NHS, it is bloody awful. People are literally dying because they can’t get doctors appointments/ ambulances never arriving etc.

[@pagodaone_5697]

Oh...😢😢

[@Cassxowary]

There’s only so many available ones, that’s why.,,

[@rufescens]

In America here. So, John, I object to some of what you're saying. I feel like you're confounding healthcare and health insurance. On the healthcare side, the idea that private is better is not entirely true. For-profit hospitals in the U.S., for instance, are a huge problem, and I've read about and heard countless stories of doctors performing unnecessary--and even harmful--procedures for the money. Two other categories of facilities are not-for-profit hospitals/clinics, and public clinics (such as county-run clinics and the VA system for veterans). I get seen at a county public clinic, and I get decent care. The biggest issue there is funding. They are understaffed, and so it's hard to get through. There's also a lot of turnover in staff. I also get some care through a University-associated hospital, and the care there is terrific! But just because it's not-for-profit doesn't mean it's cheap. If you don't have insurance, the cost is prohibitive! On the health insurance side, private is also not necessarily better. Things have gotten better since Obama's Affordable Care Act ("ACA" or "Obamacare"), since insurers can no longer deny you coverage for 'pre-existing conditions.' (Yes, people used to apply for health insurance and be told, "no, you can't have it!") But despite Obamacare, the cost of insurance plans continues to rise. Decent plans cost a ton of money, and affordable plans are garbage--doctors don't accept them because they don't pay them enough, and you end up with very few choices for providers. I'm lucky currently, because my employer has negotiated some decent health insurance plans. The one I have is expensive, but my employer contributes quite a bit. But for people who have to pay out of pocket, they have to make some tough choices between good access to care, and an affordable plan that isn't that great. And that's where government-run health coverage can be better. I don't have experience with Medicare (for the elderly and the some other circumstances) or the VA system (for veterans), but I did use to be covered by the program for poor people, Medicaid (thanks again to Obamacare!) when I was unemployed, and it was wonderful to get to be able to get seen, to get my teeth fixed for the first time in years, etc. Unfortunately, thanks to our far right-wing Supreme Court in all its wisdom (I'm being sarcastic!), states were allowed to choose not to expand access to Medicaid, which Obamacare called for, and states run by right-wing politicians ended up leaving a lot of people who couldn't afford private insurance without any insurance at all. And that's the biggest problem with healthcare in America--access to care! I agree with you, John, that we have some terrific healthcare in the U.S. (not universally--there are some bad or unethical doctors, but on the whole there's lots of great care to be had), but insurance coverage isn't where it needs to be in the U.S. Millions of people just don't have access to all the great care. Or any of it.

[@Cassxowary]

Two of these three (US and Canada) are in America too, along with 55 other countries, that doesn’t say anything

[@rufescens]

@@Cassxowary That’s your take on what I wrote? Pagoda One refer to the US as “America” in their videos. Do you complain to them about it as well? So does a huge portion of the world, for that matter, including people in Latin America. Please don’t be so pedantic. My meaning was clear.

[@debbie541]

such BS . the we are the world guy boasting the USA has the best of everything has to be the USA person. ......... Canadian health care, doctors, nurses, medical services, are just as good and very much on par with the medical technology, research, services and care there is to be had today .