Is Private Healthcare coming to Ontario?

[GreyGhost]

A little off topic but I throw it out.

If you're on a prescription and are retired or have no benefits plan ask for a few repeats of your scrip. I was paying a 12$ dispensing fee every 3 months. Then I asked if I could get more at once and (after checking the expiry date) he gave me almost a years worth for the same 12$ dispensing fee.

Might as well save where you can.

If you're old and paying for drugs, ask the pharmacist for a break on dispensing fee. If there is some margin on the drugs they can often wave the fee (or reduce it substantially). Some drugs government has screwed up the system so there is no margin and pharmacy loses money stocking and filling so you may have less luck with those.

 

[timtune]

define old.....

 

[GreyGhost]

define old.....

I dont know if there is an official age or whether it is based on the attitude of the person you are talking to. 65+ should be a safe bet, maybe down to 55 if you're lucky.

 

[FullMotoJacket]

If you're old and paying for drugs, ask the pharmacist for a break on dispensing fee. If there is some margin on the drugs they can often wave the fee (or reduce it substantially). Some drugs government has screwed up the system so there is no margin and pharmacy loses money stocking and filling so you may have less luck with those.

My old doctor use to give me a one year prescription. Crazy Aunt Kathy put the kibosh on that.

 

[jc100]

Best place I ever had medical care was when working in France. That system was expensive taxwise, took considerable investment from the government but it worked. The workforce was in general quite healthy as the emphasis was on prevention rather than treatment after the fact. They had mobile breast cancer screening vans that would park in grocery store parking lots so some could pick up some groceries and get screened for breast cancer without an appointment. That was a totally social healthcare based system and it worked really well. That’s what I’d like to see here as a change to what we have rather than what the NHS and Canadian systems are which is more patchwork and poor experience due to underfunding.

As an aside…it’s been quite rare that I’ve encountered a good doctor here. They have mostly been disinterested and with very poor communication and social skills. Something that should really be part of the skill set for someone who faces people with difficult situations everyday.

 

[油井緋色]

The workforce was in general quite healthy as the emphasis was on prevention rather than treatment after the fact.

Wouldn't it be nice if most things worked like this instead of ppl pretending to be heroes after? =)

As an aside…it’s been quite rare that I’ve encountered a good doctor here. They have mostly been disinterested and with very poor communication and social skills. Something that should really be part of the skill set for someone who faces people with difficult situations everyday.

Nicest doc I've met literally joked w/ me via "go break it again, and 'I'll fix it."

I'm usually the one to hold and engage the conversation via saying stupid **** and making ppl laugh; there are some docs I've met where they give off a "**** my life, I hate this job" vibe and...well...yeah, I get it so don't really care. Just fix me up!

I honestly don't think doctors should need customer service skills; they have a skillset nobody else has: fixing us whether due to our own stupidity or making our incoming death less painful (aka. aging.)

 

[jc100]

Wouldn't it be nice if most things worked like this instead of ppl pretending to be heroes after? =)

It’s actually cheaper in the long run too! Like maintaining a car instead of letting it go to crap then fixing what broke. Unfortunately governments don’t see it the same way.

 

[GreyGhost]

It’s actually cheaper in the long run too! Like maintaining a car instead of letting it go to crap then fixing what broke. Unfortunately governments don’t see it the same way.

Why spend $1 today to save $10 of a future governments money? I am shocked that any government actually has funds to be honest. The amount they punt and lock future governments in to probably uses up most of the available future money.

 

[油井緋色]

It’s actually cheaper in the long run too! Like maintaining a car instead of letting it go to crap then fixing what broke. Unfortunately governments don’t see it the same way.

They never do...

I think this is why ppl get jaded, and at some point (with age), some hit a "**** it, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mindset because it's just easier lol

Textbook IT scenario (happened to a provincial health care system, I forgot which one):

1. "lets upgrade security!"
2. Too expensive! Keep using Windows XP and 7!
3. …awkward silence and nothing happens...
4. *ransomware injected via XP and 7 exploit because Microsoft doesn't patch those OS anymore*
5. Um....okay, lets pay the ransomware
6. Unknown # of ppl die due to system failure
7. Taxpayers get the bill

 

[mimico_polak]

So glad I didn't go into medicine...not only the grueling hours, courses, and level of bullcrap but then you have to deal with an incompetent government to make sure you get paid regularly....I can see why younger generations are becoming discouraged from going into it.

Can't remember where I read it, but the medical field is losing people (and less entering) because the amount of work, debt, and bullcrap in it is just not worth it any more.

And hell if my work consisted of 'let me google the symptoms' I'd be in all over that one.

 

[GreyGhost]

So glad I didn't go into medicine...not only the grueling hours, courses, and level of bullcrap but then you have to deal with an incompetent government to make sure you get paid regularly....I can see why younger generations are becoming discouraged from going into it.

Can't remember where I read it, but the medical field is losing people (and less entering) because the amount of work, debt, and bullcrap in it is just not worth it any more.

And hell if my work consisted of 'let me google the symptoms' I'd be in all over that one.

A friend finally finished and became a doc. Billing is piecework. He needs to document and code everything, send it to his assistant to prepare and then submit to get paid. Tons of busy work that does nothing for patient care.

 

[油井緋色]

So glad I didn't go into medicine...not only the grueling hours, courses, and level of bullcrap but then you have to deal with an incompetent government to make sure you get paid regularly....I can see why younger generations are becoming discouraged from going into it.

Can't remember where I read it, but the medical field is losing people (and less entering) because the amount of work, debt, and bullcrap in it is just not worth it any more.

And hell if my work consisted of 'let me google the symptoms' I'd be in all over that one.

My doc frds I met at premed before I got booted out of university...

...not one of them thinks they're paid enough for what they deal with. I'm really empathetic because during my riding phase, they were legit suffering through med school. Their training is designed to mentally break them; it's insane (I have never done a 48 hour shift; I will never do a 48 hour shift.)

I'm pretty happy to do 2-5 hours of work a day, and get paid more $/h than they do lol (imo, they should be paid more, and do less.)

A friend finally finished and became a doc. Billing is piecework. He needs to document and code everything, send it to his assistant to prepare and then submit to get paid. Tons of busy work that does nothing for patient care.

If he's open to advice: delegate this asap. He'll make more in the long run. I've helped optimize cashflow for some of doc buddies <_< lol

 

[GreyGhost]

My doc frds I met at premed before I got booted out of university...

...not one of them thinks they're paid enough for what they deal with. I'm really empathetic because during my riding phase, they were legit suffering through med school. Their training is designed to mentally break them; it's insane (I have never done a 48 hour shift; I will never do a 48 hour shift.)

I'm pretty happy to do 2-5 hours of work a day, and get paid more $/h than they do lol (imo, they should be paid more, and do less.)


If he's open to advice: delegate this asap. He'll make more in the long run. I've helped optimize cashflow for some of my doc buddies <_< lol

Delegate to whom? I'm not intimately familiar with the details but I assume the person doing the coding needs to be very familiar with what was done. He works in a hospital if that matters.

 

[TwistedKestrel]

I have met a couple unsatisfactory docs but I would say I've met more good ones than bad ones. Conversely it took me a long time to realize the well-mannered GP that had been looking after my family for decades was incompetent

...not one of them thinks they're paid enough for what they deal with. I'm really empathetic because during my riding phase, they were legit suffering through med school. Their training is designed to mentally break them; it's insane (I have never done a 48 hour shift; I will never do a 48 hour shift.)

The way docs get scheduled in emerg/ICU is absolutely insane. Like no I wouldn't want that, but it's madness to run it that way in the first place

 

[油井緋色]

Delegate to whom? I'm not intimately familiar with the details but I assume the person doing the coding needs to be very familiar with what was done. He works in a hospital if that matters.

I'm not sure the exact situation he's in, but if he can find someone he trusts, train, then pay them, it leads to more $/h. This eventually leads to a whole business btw, which has tax evasion mechanisms (aka. legal ways to save ton of monies.)

Problem is finding someone that's trustworthy and competent, and I'm not entirely sure if this is legal in all scenarios lol

 

[Mad Mike]

That would be a great setup, I've spent countless time visiting my GP, get x-ray appointment, go back to GP.
Why can't it be structured that way now?

I think that's what happens when you expect a gov't run system to manage itself. In the areas of the USA where I have lived, there are large multipurpose clinics -- kinda like a shopping mall for healthcare. For day-to-day health care, it's one-stop under one roof.

In Ontario this would be more related to regulation than private vs public delivery.

Rather than thousands of general practitioners each operating and covering costs of a small office and staff, we might be better off having multiple doctors and a variety of services operating in purpose built medical service centers. Less admin overhead, easier for users, possibly better hours and time to access services.

 

[mimico_polak]

I have met a couple unsatisfactory docs but I would say I've met more good ones than bad ones. Conversely it took me a long time to realize the well-mannered GP that had been looking after my family for decades was incompetent


The way docs get scheduled in emerg/ICU is absolutely insane. Like no I wouldn't want that, but it's madness to run it that way in the first place

I was literally lying in the operating room waiting for them to pump me full of drugs and the doctor was rushed away due to a baby in distress during birth...so they rolled me back out, and I waited an hour for the doctor to come back.

Mind you, when they injected the anti-biotics into me prior to that I felt like I had the best high ever. And that's just a syringe full of antibiotics (and whatever else).

Doc came back, said baby was fine, then rolled me in, and I woke up minus gallbladder.

 

[GreyGhost]

They never do...

I think this is why ppl get jaded, and at some point (with age), some hit a "**** it, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mindset because it's just easier lol

Textbook IT scenario (happened to a provincial health care system, I forgot which one):

1. "lets upgrade security!"
2. Too expensive! Keep using Windows XP and 7!
3. …awkward silence and nothing happens...
4. *ransomware injected via XP and 7 exploit because Microsoft doesn't patch those OS anymore*
5. Um....okay, lets pay the ransomware
6. Unknown # of ppl die due to system failure
7. Taxpayers get the bill

You skipped the step where they pay a solution provider unlimited money to try to improve things. Probably somewhere after step 4 and again around step 7.

 

[nobbie48]

It’s actually cheaper in the long run too! Like maintaining a car instead of letting it go to crap then fixing what broke. Unfortunately governments don’t see it the same way.

Politicians maintain their jobs like they were cars on a four year lease. After four years it's someone else's problem.

My MPP was on a toot about helping TODAYS seniors. Sorry. It's too late. They're screwed.

Unless the province wants to spend TRILLIONS on buying land for new care facilities, paying more TRILLIONS to fast track construction at triple time and spending more TRILLIONS in bribes to get health care workers from other jurisdictions. Then pay universities TRILLIONS to build more teaching facilities. Then pay more TRILLIONS to fix the errors in the previous TRILLION dollar ventures.

The only alternate would be to invent a time machine to send us all back 50 years and then do planning for longer than four years.

It takes 65 years to make a senior. At 65 too many of us are like a 1985 Hyundai Pony after a four year lease. Rusted and busted.

 

[GreyGhost]

Politicians maintain their jobs like they were cars on a four year lease. After four years it's someone else's problem.

My MPP was on a toot about helping TODAYS seniors. Sorry. It's too late. They're screwed.

Unless the province wants to spend TRILLIONS on buying land for new care facilities, paying more TRILLIONS to fast track construction at triple time and spending more TRILLIONS in bribes to get health care workers from other jurisdictions. Then pay universities TRILLIONS to build more teaching facilities. Then pay more TRILLIONS to fix the errors in the previous TRILLION dollar ventures.

The only alternate would be to invent a time machine to send us all back 50 years and then do planning for longer than four years.

It takes 65 years to make a senior. At 65 too many of us are like a 1985 Hyundai Pony after a four year lease. Rusted and busted.

There is a path that can help some of today's seniors. Pick a point where public funds are no longer allocated to extend life. Most nursing homes are full of zombies. Many have no quality of life. Many beg for death daily. This goes on for many years. If you stopped allocating money to keep zombies that want to die alive, there are more resources (space, staff and money) to be used for those that still have quality of life but need assistance.

An easy first step would be pre-emptive maid declaration. While you are of sound mind, outline the conditions that must be met for you to no longer want to live. Current rules require you to be of sound mind at the time so if your mind goes, you can be a zombie for decades.