OT FOR a report in college about healthcare.

Hi my name is dee I am doing a english paper and it has to be on micheal moores movie sicko. In the movie he say the healthcare is awesome in canada. You don't have long waits and you get your healthcare for free. I was wondering how true it was. I have a few questions about that. 1. how long does it take to see a dr. 2. are there any fees. 3. how long for a surgery simple or serious? 4. Do you think it is a good working system? any imput would be so great! thanks again dee

Hi Dee, in Alberta we have to pay Health Care Premiums. My husband's company pays ours for us but I believe it is about $83/month for a family of 2 or more. If you are of low income you can get subsidized premiums where you can get a lower premium or you may not have to pay at all. When we go to the dr or hospital we don't have to pay unless it is for something that is NOT covered by Alberta Health. Like Physiotherapy, chiropractors, eye dr's, and dentist's are not covered. Some plastic surgery is not covered either, like breast implants. Also ambulances are not covered by Alberta Health. You can get coverage for these things through private insurance though, such as Blue Cross. Also if you are from another province and you need to see a dr you have to pay out of pocket. Your provincial plan will reimburse you for this. We DO have long waits here to see a dr. For example, I had to have an ultrasound done (not for pregnancy reasons) and it was 5 weeks before I could get in. It depends on where you live too. I live in a very very small town and to see my family physician, I can usually get in to see her the same day I call for an appointment. Depending on how busy she is. When I lived in Calgary, it was about week or 2 sometimes before I could get in. If you can't wait that long, you can either go to a walk-in clinic or to emergency. Walk-ins are first come, first served and if they are busy you can wait a couple hours to be seen. It is not unheard of to wait 5 or 6 hours in Emergency depending on what you're there for. I heard a story on the news a few years ago where a young guy waited several hours in emergency and chose to go to another hospital to be seen and ended up dying of a burst appendix because he was not seen in time. I can't speak on waits for surgery times as I have not had any experience dealing with that. I think our healthcare system still needs improvement. These are just my opinions and personal experiences. Hope it helps.