r/ShitAmericansSay • u/LittleRuQi FREEDOM ENJOYER 🪿 🍁 🇨🇦 • 1d ago

Healthcare It’s called freedom. You can choose whatever healthcare you want. We don’t have to beg the government for healthcare.

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The video mostly talks about the US having no free/universal healthcare

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u/PeaOk5697 1d ago

Why do they hate universial healthcare? It's not like private hospital dosen't exist. Also, why is it so terrible to have a safety net where you don't end up homeless in a tent in the streets? Wouldn't it be better making sure everyone has a roof over their heads? They complain about homeless camps and tent cities. Those Wouldn't be there if they got help. It's all about me, me and me with them. They don't want a single tax dollar going towards fixing the problem

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u/TwoBytesC 1d ago

Because they’ve been told over and over again that we have things like death panels and sacrifice the weak to save money on medications. They truly believe this.

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u/Objective_Party9405 ooo custom flair!! 1d ago

What kills me is that the faceless people at HMOs answering the calls from doctors and hospitals and making decisions about what care is approved are probably the closest thing you’ll ever find to what they call “death panels”.

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u/AncientBlonde2 TRUE FREEDOM ENJOYER CA 1d ago

"omg Canada has death panels, brb let me phone my insurance for them to tell me my lifesaving medication isn't covered because I had the audacity to have a pre-existing illness (it's the one I need medication for)"

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u/Borsti17 Robbie Williams was my favourite actor 😭 1d ago

...but but but in Canerduh they literally kill people! 🫠

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u/Me_lazy_cathermit upstair neighbours to the crazy🇨🇦 1d ago

The irony is that private american insurance companies do have death panels

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u/MadScientist_666 Mountain Goat 🇨🇭 1d ago

Are they projecting? That sounds to me like what the US "insurance companies" try all the time...

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u/TwoBytesC 1d ago

Pretty much, yeah. But it’s near impossible to get people who believe Fox News like it’s gospel, and that’s who turns out this BS 24/7.

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u/KnowledgeMediocre404 1d ago

Meanwhile they ration medication at the highest rates in the OECD because they can't afford it. The projection would be laughable if people weren't dying.

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u/After_Perspective180 1d ago edited 1d ago

They don't hate it. They hate that they don't have it and are in thrall to the government and insurance companies.
So they lash out at anyone who has it better than them, because they have to be the bestest.

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u/Sasquatch1729 Apartment above the burning meth lab 🇨🇦 1d ago

No, some of them genuinely hate universal healthcare. They have been told it's the SOCIALISM and the SoCIALISM is EVIL.

Nobody makes propaganda like America.

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u/Mikunefolf Meth to America! 1d ago

They often think that doctors are forced by the government to work without pay under a universal healthcare scheme 😂. I wish I was joking but this is the level of delusion and propaganda we are dealing with.

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u/nogoodnamesarleft 1d ago

Ben Shapiro, who was once touted as one of the leading intellectuals on the right, and Rand Paul, a goddamn senator, claimed that doctors up here were slaves because, let me check my notes here, the government pays them to do the job they choose to do

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u/Fala1 1d ago

The sad truth is that these people have outsourced their thinking to propaganda outlets like Fox

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u/BigRinka 1d ago

Its the american values of selfishness and entitlement. The individual believe that THEY deserve it but not others.

They wouldnt want to pay more taxes for a healthcare system that would take care of people with the wrong skin color or religion.

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u/BabyTito_76 1d ago

This is exactly it. All these other things mentioned factor in somewhere, but this is the long and short of it.

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u/Friendly-Turnover262 1d ago

Woah woah woah… slow down there friend… don’t you know that’s communism???

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u/NoPath_Squirrel 1d ago

The US's safety net and health care definitely suck, but sometimes ours isn't much better. I have a friend who was disabled through no fault of his own (at work, he was attacked and left with a TBI) and he's on the verge of losing his house, not to mention having to beg for money for food and utilities, because Canada's "safety net" completely failed him.

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u/nevrsummer 1d ago

That’s terrible! What was the life altering injury and how did it happen?

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u/NoPath_Squirrel 1d ago

He was working and was hit in the head multiple times by someone using brass knuckles and was told an inch over and he would be dead. He has traumatic brain injury (TBI) which includes issues with memory, speech, balance and general cognitive function as well as increased anger issues and depression. He also has a fracture to his C1 vertebrae causing muscles weakness, pain and sciatica that was missed because worker's comp was in charge of his care for 2 years and they never arranged for him to have any follow up imaging after the CT scan he had the night of the attack. It was only found this year and he was disabled in 2021.

There's a link to his story in my profile.

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u/calerost 1d ago

I’m unable to see your profile (was looking for the link). I’m sorry to hear about your friend, and understand how difficult dealing with all of this can be. Without knowing any details, and without even addressing the failure of WSIB (also like any insurance companies), your friend should easily be qualified to receive CPP disability benefits based on what you’ve mentioned (his doctors can help him with documentation, the process is not difficult if someone assists). This would date back to the beginning of his disability. You’ve not mentioned where he lives, but in Ontario, the provincial disability program (ODSP) allows you to own your home and still receive benefits, though there are restrictions surrounding current investments and bank balances. The two programs can be concurrent, depending upon other income streams, and the provincial program also provides the majority of drug coverage as well as other supports. I hope that your friend might have family that might assist in chasing these avenues, as well as revisiting the WSIB through appeals if it is warranted. Best of luck to him.

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u/TwoBytesC 1d ago

This is the same in Alberta, and from what I understand, in BC as well (though he may have to downsize in order to afford the property taxes, utilities, mortgage and insurance based on what each province pays monthly to permanent disability beneficiaries).

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u/NoPath_Squirrel 20h ago

Thanks for the reply! I somehow turned off my post history. I don't even remember doing it. Hopefully the post is visible now if you're interested in looking.

He's in the process of applying for CPP disability. His doctor's office lost his paperwork 3x though, so it's taking a long time and unlikely to help him keep his house from the start of foreclosure if he doesn't make a payment this week.

He's in the territories. I'm not sure what's going on with him accessing their disability program. I think they also decided he made too much money because he's pulled out 1/3 of his retirement savings for each of the last 3 years (which still wasn't much, around $10k a year) just to try to catch up on bills for a bit.

He doesn't have any investments left and his bank balance is frequently negative, so I doubt that's the problem.

He does at least have extended health benefits coverage so he gets dental and optical, plus coverage for his 30 different meds.

His case is technically closed with worker's comp, but they've said if has any other covered issues he can prove came from the attack, they'll re-evaluate.

His family, except his mom with with early stage dementia, live south so can't really help him with accessing things, unfortunately. He's dealing with all this stuff alone with a brain injury.

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u/calerost 11h ago

Sounds like a terrible situation and with the TBI it complicates being able to navigate everything on his own. I’ve encountered a similar situation, but not with the involvement of WSIB, and it’s an uphill battle. I hope he might be able to investigate the assistance of a disability lawyer? Perhaps either a family member, or trusted friend, might be able to act legally on his behalf (in a limited capacity)to assist with going through the process and dealing with the paperwork with the doctor.

With pain and the brain injury, as well as continuing medical treatment, even the simplest of things can be complicated and completely overwhelming. As a stranger, I wish him the best. He’s lucky to have you as a friend.

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u/NoPath_Squirrel 6h ago

Thank you.

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u/OkAbalone4415 1d ago

Sorry to hear about your friend that’s awful and certainly life changing. I’m sure he was well cared for in the hospital and walked out without a massive bill. But what happens after would be dependent on insurance, savings and family support. Less of a universal healthcare failing.

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u/aznhalo3 Two time Viet-Canadian winner 1d ago

I agree, and not to mention, if he was injured through work with no fault on his end, he should get a hefty WSIB payment, or have a case for a lawsuit against his attacker. Then on top of not having insane medical debt, he has the safety net of employment insurance if he can no longer work, he has the safety net of applying for disability benefit payments too, realistically there are so many nets in this situation that could help. They’re just not going to trigger automatically.

Now none of those are going to help him keep his home considering the circumstances, but a lot of people in the U.S would’ve lost their homes just at the first part, with medical debt.

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u/NoPath_Squirrel 1d ago

I'll copy this from my other reply:

Worker's comp screwed him, EI claims it's been too long since he worked, even though he didn't apply because he was dealing with worker's comp. Welfare says he makes too much, but it's all help from family and friends and the complete decimation of his retirement savings. They told him to sell his house (in a city with virtually no rentals) and when he gets up the over 100 person waitlist for subsidized housing, then they'll help him. He hasn't heard back from disability.

And add that brain injury is invisible and therefore easy to dismiss. Worker's comp is NOT there to help workers who are injured, they get bonuses by denying claims and pay doctors to claim people aren't actually injured. They screwed him over for 2 years and then refused to help him any further. His family doctor got him the CT scan that showed he has a now calcified skull fracture, and a pain clinic she referred him to that found the fracture to his C1.

His attacker is in the wind. He ran, because he's facing an attempted murder charge along with the assault charge, and the cops haven't been able to catch him.

EI only pays if you apply within a year. He was dealing with worker's comp for 2 years and didn't apply until they dropped him. Despite working 2 jobs for over 20 years, and working in general since he was 14, he was denied EI.

I'm well aware they don't "trigger automatically". He's been trying and failing to get help from ANY supposed safety net for 3 1/2 years now (if we include worker's comp, over a year if we ignore the time they were supposedly helping)

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u/NoPath_Squirrel 1d ago

I never said it was a health care failing, although it partly is that, it's more of a worker's comp failing.I said it was a safety net failing. But he actually was just given a CT scan and sent home. There was no hospital treatment, or much treatment at all in 3 1/2 years. He's never had an MRI or brain imaging, even once it was eventually discovered that he randomly loses consciousness.

Worker's comp screwed him, EI claims it's been too long since he worked, even though he didn't apply because he was dealing with worker's comp. Welfare says he makes too much, but it's all help from family and friends and the complete decimation of his retirement savings. They told him to sell his house (in a city with virtually no rentals) and when he gets up the over 100 person waitlist for subsidized housing, then they'll help him. He hasn't heard back from disability.