Lockout Casualty Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 If health care is free in Canada, why can't this woman afford surgery? Alheli Picazo is a writer and former elite gymnast based in Calgary, Alberta, who has struggled with a serious disease called ulcerative colitis. Though she was able to get the condition under control by having her large intestine removed, she's still suffering from one major aftereffect: the bones in her mouth have eroded painfully. Because she lives in Canada, you might think her medical treatment would be paid for by the state's generous health-care plan. But there's one glaring gap in Canadian medical coverage: government-subsidized dental care. Picazo's gastrointestinal condition — which went undiagnosed and untreated for years — left her emaciated, malnourished, and suffering from severe acid reflux. This wore down the enamel of her teeth and caused the equivalent of osteoporosis in her oral cavity. The 30-year-old needs urgent oral surgeries, including bone and tissue grafts, to remove and replace what she described painfully as "the increasingly diseased bone." The surgeries would reverse much of the damage in her mouth and should have happened months ago. But Picazo has to wait until she can amass the $100,000 needed to pay for the procedures. For now, Picazo finds herself in a position that has become familiar to many Americans:crowdfunding her medical bills. As of this writing (March 16) she has raised just over $40,000 through Project Smile, which brings her less than halfway to her goal. Why is this Canadian crowdfunding her health care? Picazo in 2012. (Via Tmi.apicazo.com) Canadian health care is extremely generous, except when it comes to dentistry. (Canada is also the only country with universal health care but no pharmacare for drugs.) Dental care north of the border is almost exclusively paid for by private insurance companies. Aboriginal Canadians have access to government-funded dental insurance, some provinces have government plans available for preteens, and charities do a patchwork job of filling in some of the gaps. But most Canadians rely on private insurance through their work to pay for their oral health needs, and sometimes those plans don't go far enough. All told, the government only covers 6 percent of total dental spending — one of the lowest rates in the world. This is similar to a gap in Obamacare: health plans on the exchange aren't required to offer dental coverage. But as health policy reporter Andre Picard recently pointed out, even the US does slightly better than Canada on this matter. "Even the US has a higher public share, 7.9 per cent," he wrote. "Many European countries include dental care in their universal health programs. In Finland, for example, 79 per cent of dental care is publicly funded." Project Smile will hopefully cover Picazo's dental bills Picazo's crowdfunding campaign, Project Smile, came about when she found out her insurance provider would only cover a fraction of the cost of the dental care. Even though her gastrointestinal — and subsequent endocrine — disorders led to her dental problems, they're still considered oral health problems and therefore don't fall under the medicare umbrella. Picazo in May 2014 after three intestinal surgeries. She weighed 85 pounds. (Via Tmi.apicazo.com) This revelation arrived after her family refinanced their home because they couldn't afford her $800-a-month medication tab. Then things got even worse. "When the costs of simply maintaining — trying to prevent further breakdown — of the dental structure and preserve underlying bone mass (as my intestines were non-functional and the body was starving to death), we remortgaged," Picazo wrote on her blog. Her family then had to take out a medical loan — but Picazo's insurance coverage maxed out, and the bills kept piling up. After some initial dental care failed to address the systemic decay in her mouth, she found out she needed more care. Then she also had to go into the hospital for extra surgeries on her bowels: part of her healthy small intestine twisted off and died. "Because the bowel was dead, it perforated, and my organ shut down, so I went into an emergency second surgery and was on watch for a number of weeks," she told Vox. "Doctors weren't sure I was going to pull through.""I CAN'T IMAGINE HAVING TO FIGHT COSTS WITH BASIC HEALTH CARE LIKE THAT" When Picazo arrived at the hospital, she weighed 130 pounds. She left the hospital weighing only 90 pounds. "I'm now missing so much of the small healthy gut that I have short gut syndrome," she said. "I'm constantly fighting to avoid malnutrition, and regaining the weight is tough because I've got so much less absorption area." She's also in constant pain, but because of her gut issues she can't take anything more than Tylenol. "It feels like when you have a toothache, but the pain is all over and it never abates," she said. "At night, it gets worse. When you lie down, it turns into a pounding headache." In recent weeks, Picazo has been feeling weaker. She dealt with a bout of sepsis and pneumonia — but in these health woes, she saw a silver lining. "It reminded me of how good our health-care system is. I didn't think twice about going to the hospital, back and forth, to get fluids. I can't imagine having to fight costs with basic health care like that." http://www.vox.com/2015/3/16/8225793/alheli-picazo-medical-bills I know a little something about this first hand, with an eerily similar situation to hers, although not even remotely as bad. I think it's ridiculous that in Canada our healthcare does not cover dental and prescription. So many people suffer on a daily basis, and so much money gets wasted on inefficient ways of providing private pills and oral care, that this should not be possible in a rational society. I really think the NDP should come out in support of some radical, forward-looking policies, or at the very least acknowledge the realities. Universal dental and prescription should be a pillar of their platform. It would drastically separate them from the current political field. Stand up for a long term vision for Canada. Someone needs to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianLoonie Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 How many people would like to pay more taxes to fund this sort of thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbone909 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I would ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockout Casualty Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 How many people would like to pay more taxes to fund this sort of thing? Any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otherwise Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 If health care is free in Canada, why can't this woman afford surgery? I know a little something about this first hand, with an eerily similar situation to hers, although not even remotely as bad. I think it's ridiculous that in Canada our healthcare does not cover dental and prescription. So many people suffer on a daily basis, and so much money gets wasted on inefficient ways of providing private pills and oral care, that this should not be possible in a rational society. I really think the NDP should come out in support of some radical, forward-looking policies, or at the very least acknowledge the realities. Universal dental and prescription should be a pillar of their platform. It would drastically separate them from the current political field. Stand up for a long term vision for Canada. Someone needs to. while I think this would be a good idea, aswell as expanding vision, pharmacare and longterm care: it's up to the provinces. I wouldn't mind paying a bit more in tax for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianLoonie Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. How about a tax on Internet usage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockout Casualty Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 How about a tax on Internet usage? Yep. I would love to treat internet as a utility, have public infrastructure, and private delivery companies who buy bulk bandwidth from the government and resell it. Any other great ideas? I'm all ears! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lillooet_Hillbilly Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I would gladly pay extra taxes for dental Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewismyname Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 If dental care isn't considered medical care we are just as backwards as a third world country. Never did get this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianLoonie Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Yep. I would love to treat internet as a utility, have public infrastructure, and private delivery companies who buy bulk bandwidth from the government and resell it. Any other great ideas? I'm all ears! The government can't even get roads, education, and health care done right yet you want them to get involved with the one industry that thrives because of minimal regulation? Do you want a Federal Data Administration where all apps have to be submitted for FDA-approval before launch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockout Casualty Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 The government can't even get roads, education, and health care done right yet you want them to get involved with the one industry that thrives because of minimal regulation? Do you want a Federal Data Administration where all apps have to be submitted for FDA-approval before launch? No you're right, private industry will do a much better job, it's their mandate to provide the best quality service and products possible at reasonable prices. /s What I want would take too long for me to explain and I doubt you'd understand half of it. After all, it's more complicated than the libertarian mantra "government bad". You just stick to that, let the rest of us worry about what could actually work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 More tax on health care: yes. God she was so beautiful a few years ago. This story goes to show how important it is to take care of your digestive system. The government can't even get roads, education, and health care done right yet you want them to get involved with the one industry that thrives because of minimal regulation? Do you want a Federal Data Administration where all apps have to be submitted for FDA-approval before launch? Roads, education and health care are alright in this country. They can always get better but I think they are alright. Go to the US to see how it is not supposed to be done. The internet? The issue is more complicated. The existing infrastructure is both public and private. I would like to see more free marketing competition for the ISP market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianLoonie Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 No you're right, private industry will do a much better job, it's their mandate to provide the best quality service and products possible at reasonable prices. /s What I want would take too long for me to explain and I doubt you'd understand half of it. After all, it's more complicated than the libertarian mantra "government bad". You just stick to that, let the rest of us worry about what could actually work. I've traveled around the world enough to have seen what works and what doesn't...I suggest you should too. Roads, education and health care are alright in this country. They can always get better but I think they are alright. Go to the US to see how it is not supposed to be done. The internet? The issue is more complicated. The existing infrastructure is both public and private. I would like to see more free marketing competition for the ISP market. Roads are not alright in this country, because there is traffic congestion. Government has a monopoly on the delivery of this service. Education is not alright in this country, because there are graduates who are unemployed. Government has a monopoly on the delivery of this service. Health care is not alright in this country, because there are wait lists. Government has a monopoly on the delivery of this service. ISPs...regulated by the CRTC...aka government. But we can agree on the US being a diaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Roads are not alright in this country, because there is traffic congestion. Government has a monopoly on the delivery of this service. Education is not alright in this country, because there are graduates who are unemployed. Government has a monopoly on the delivery of this service. Health care is not alright in this country, because there are wait lists. Government has a monopoly on the delivery of this service. ISPs...regulated by the CRTC...aka government. But we can agree on the US being a diaster. Governments do not have monopolies on (higher) education and health care. Every country's roads have congestion problems. If they don't, their economy is dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronalds.Kenins41 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 How many people would like to pay more taxes to fund this sort of thing? Think about it this way. If you have a stroke and require brain surgery, the costs can exceed an entire lifetime of paying tax. Not only is this the case for brain surgery but countless other serious procedures. This system can only work in countries with small populations so that the people paying can cover the costs of healthcare. In a place, like America where the population is 300 million the amount of money required to fund the sick is extremely high that healthcare there is bound to bring the country to economic failure. Of course healthcare here isn't perfect, but with that knowledge in mind, I sure am glad to be born in Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I've traveled around the world enough to have seen what works and what doesn't...I suggest you should too. Oh, also, where in the world have you found this perfect private healthcare system where everyone gets first class service from the private sector at low cost that everyone can afford? Tell us about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianLoonie Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Every country's roads have congestion problems. If they don't, their economy is dead. Road pricing. Works in Singapore, Chile, and central London. Governments do not have monopolies on (higher) education and health care. The fact that after 12 years of forced government schooling is not enough to make one employable and that "higher" education is a necessity is damning enough evidence of the incompetence of the system. By monopoly, I'm including rules and regulations, licensing and orders, since they are controlling those sectors de jure. Oh, also, where in the world have you found this perfect private healthcare system where everyone gets first class service from the private sector at low cost that everyone can afford? Tell us about it. Nowhere is perfect...if it's first class, it's not low-cost for everyone. But here, it's crappy enough for everyone at high cost so it boggles the mind how much everyone supports it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armada Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 How about a tax on Internet usage? No. Certain things should not be taxed, such as the internet. Yep. I would love to treat internet as a utility, have public infrastructure, and private delivery companies who buy bulk bandwidth from the government and resell it. Any other great ideas? I'm all ears! I'm all for taxes but boo your opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliesStache14 Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 More tax on health care: yes. God she was so beautiful a few years ago. This story goes to show how important it is to take care of your digestive system. Roads, education and health care are alright in this country. They can always get better but I think they are alright. Go to the US to see how it is not supposed to be done. Our highways are a joke compared to the US, but yes education and health I agree on there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stexx Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Our highways are a joke compared to the US, but yes education and health I agree on there we have a 10th of the population of course they are going to have more lanes and interchanges, the funny part is their road infrastructure is falling apart at a rapid pace. America's GPA: D+ The American Society of Civil Engineers is committed to protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public, and as such, is equally committed to improving the nation’s public infrastructure. To achieve that goal, the Report Card depicts the condition and performance of the nation’s infrastructure in the familiar form of a school report card—assigning letter grades that are based on physical condition and needed investments for improvement. Estimated Investment Needed by 2020:$3.6Trillion so no the americans arent doing a good job in that department either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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