As a Canadian citizen, I enjoy the full benefits of Single Payer Universal Health care. No system is perfect and this certainly applies to our system, however, I would not be alive today if it were not for our slightly faulty system of health care.
Several years ago, I had a feeling of ‘something is seriously wrong’ while returning home from a brief outing to run some errands. It wasn’t a specific pain or sensation, I just couldn’t seem to get comfortable with breathing and had an odd sensation that I couldn’t shake. Being the sensible person that I am (sometimes) I called 911. They arrived within 5-10 minutes (Ambulance and Fire Truck) and performed some preliminary tests. Blood pressure and Electrocardiogram. Neither of which were abnormally out of whack. The attendants asked me what I would like to do and I said ‘take me to the hospital’.
For the sake of brevity, after being transported to two different hospitals because each time my condition was diagnosed as more severe than either could treat, I landed at the Cardiology Institute. Further testing there indicated that I had a severe arterial blockage and was scheduled for surgery on Monday morning. (It was Friday night-Saturday morning). Not too long after that, the surgeon (who had just concluded several hours of surgery) came by to look at my chart. His reaction was simple; ‘We’re not waiting for Monday, we’re operating immediately’.
I was prepared for surgery and after several hours, I awoke in recovery. They had performed a quadruple bypass.
Had this surgeon hesitated and simply put off the surgery until the following Monday, I may not have been alive when the surgery was scheduled. According to the surgeon, even though I was in one of the best hospitals in Canada for cardiac care, had I suffered a Myocardial infarction (heart attack) while waiting for the surgery, I could have suffered irreparable heart damage and possible even died because of the severity of the blockages.
All of this has not incurred one penny of expense to me or my family. Not the ambulance ride. Not the visits to the first two hospitals. Not the surgery or the following two weeks of recovery. I could spend all of my time recovering. Not worrying about how I was going to pay for all this.
So whenever someone (Republican or otherwise) tells you that Universal Health Care doesn’t work, tell them to go have a heart attack. Only those with money can afford to tell you that it’s not viable or affordable.
It’s long past time for the USA to have health care that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.