What type of insurance? You mean health insurance? Health insurance for what? Basic health care is free (paid by government, partly through our taxes). By basic, that means hospital stays are free.....to have a baby is free....any drugs/needles/medicines needed while in the hospital are free.....lab tests are free (blood work, x-rays, MRI, CT scan, mammogram etc.)......visits to doctors offices are free.

Other things you have to pay for and that will vary depending on what province you are in, yes. Here in Newfoundland we have to pay for an ambulance ride. We have to pay for drugs/medicines that are taken if you are not ina hospital (insulin, any prescription drugs, etc). The dentist is not free, eye doctors are not free, glasses are not free, hearing aids are not free, wheelchairs and other medical aids are not free. But in some provinces they may be covered.

There is also private insurance that a lot of people get through their employer. If your employer does not offer insurance (working minimum wage or part time you'll probably not get insurance) you can buy it yourself through a company like Blue Cross or Great West Life for example. These insurance plans vary but will let you get prescriptions for a discount, like maybe you will only have to pay 20% of the cost. If you have insurance through work you might have to pay in some each month (taken from your paycheck) or you might not have to. My partner, Joe, for example, doesn't have to pay anything in each month and his insurance covers 100% of the costs for prescription drugs and other things, and up to a certain amount for eyeglasses, chiropractor and other things you wouldn't go to a normal doctor for (massage therapy, acupuncture, etc). But not all insurance policies cover all of these things.

Hi again Marie, living near God's country,

Oh, sorry - it's another that writes on their currency, "In God we trust".

Healthcare is largely a provincial jurisdiction ... but the federal gov't. gets involved in it some, as well.

Some provinces charge a (usually modest) premium, some don't.

Saskatchewan, your neighbour, was where Rev. Tommy Douglas, Baptist minister in Weyburn, not too far over the border from you, who became Premier in the early '40s, brought in the first universal healthcare system in North America in the early 50s, over bitter opposition, much of it engendered from the U.S.

A couple of years ago, when our national radio/TV system carried out a survey to choose the greatest Canadian - he was the choice.

Saskatchewan has not had a premium for most of the intervening years. Ontario had a premium for years, then stopped it, but recently our Premier, who'd campaigned on not raising taxes or imposing new ones ...

... reinstituted a "levy" on our income tax (providing that folks earning under $20,000. were exempt) to help meet the government's obligations. Not a "tax", though, you understand!?

Our doctors are independent operators, and can choose to practise either compensated from the single payer system, or entirely out of it ... but they can't do both. Some, e.g. the cosmetic surgeons, choose to practise outside, as much of their services, being elective, are not compensated: nobody says that a "faceleft" is an essential medical necessity.

Doctors practising within the system bill for the patients that they see, and unless the medical payment system can prove fraud, they are required to pay ... and many docs run a lot of people through in a day. I'm fortunate that my doc, a small-town guy, doesn't rush me through - I get what time I need (but most of us are cognizant of the fact that there are a number of others sitting out there in the waiting room).

Hospitals also are usually run by independent boards.

That said, both doctors practising within the single-payer system and hospitals can scarcely be said to be "independent", when they depend upon the single medical payer system for their income.

Hospitals are not allowed to run deficits, and some have had to close beds, lay off staff, etc. when they could not provide their anticipated needs within the budget.

Hope this answers your question adequately.

If not, ask for more precise info, please.

ole joyful

what about chemo therapy?

Chemo is covered as is radiation. Seniors only have to pay a small co-pay for their prescription drugs. We have a really good cancer centre in Windsor.

Anne

The rule that Casey referred to about costs that we need to pay ourselves are much the same in Ontario as in Newfoundland.

Seniors have to pay for their first $100. worth of precriptions in a year, and after that a small sum only per prescription.

I'm to have prescription-provided pressure knee-high stockings in a couple of weeks, and I think that I will need to pay the full amount myself.

My sister says that there is no premium to cover healthcare in Saskatchewan, and we think none in Alberta. I think that there was none in British Columbia several years ago when Sis lived there.

ole joyful

Kat, chemotherapy would be covered because you get it while at the hospital.

really? Only the worst of chemo or really sick patients get it in hospitals here. I go to my doctors office.
.

Kat, some hospitals have designated Cancer Clinics attached to them. If you have cancer in Windsor you go to the Windsor Cancer Clinic at Windsor Regional Hospital which has all the equipment needed to treat cancer. All the oncologists work out of there too. You also go back there for your testing to see after your treatments have finished.

The cancer centres also provide a lot of help and support for people who have gone through cancer treatments. People donate lots of money to the Cancer Centre so peole can receive prothesies, wigs. My sister called me up a few weeks ago to say she had a new "boob" and she was so thrilled. They even fitted her with a few new bras that they gave to her free too. Also there are a few hospital rooms for cancer patients who have long stays in the hopsital that have been decorated so they don't look like hospital rooms. Lots of nice furniture, lighting, wallpaper and pictures.

My friend's elderly Mom fell and broke her leg 2 weeks ago at a mall in Michigan. My friend was shocked how every little thing that was used on her mom at the hospital for the few hours she was there was itemized. We don't have that here. You won't get charged for how many bandages you used, etc. Although some things that were given free before like support stockings you will be charged for but you have the option to decline them.

I also forgot to mention that in the 2 hospitals we have in Windsor they are designated for certain things. One has the Kidney Dialysis Centre. One hospital has the cancer centre, pediatrics and neo natal and all births are done there. I can't remember which one has the trama centre. We had 3 hospitals not too long ago but Hotel Dieu and Salvation Army Grace Hospital joined together and Grace was closed down and everything moved over to Hotel Dieu which at one time was a Catholic Hospital run by the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Anne

Kat, around here I've never heard of anyone getting chemotherapy from their doctor's office, they go to the cancer center at the hospital. Similar to how Anne described it.

Chemo in intravenous form is covered but if you take chemo pills at home it is not covered.

Does anyone know if prosthetic limbs are provided in Canada at no cost to the patient - including computerized arms and legs? This is a type of coverage that varies widely with U.S. insurance companies even though they may all say that durable medical equipment is covered at 80%. There are often constraints and limitations that aren't made readily apparent to the consumer and sometimes very difficult to find out even if you try to get the info. In the US if you are covered by a government plan (Medicare, military, etc.) then you have comprehensive prosthetic coverage. If you and your employer pay for your own plan it's anyone's guess what you actually get. Just curious if anyone knows the situation on this in Canada.

I am not too sure how our insurance works with the loss of limbs but the War Amps of Canada is a great organization that helps amputees especially children.

Anne