this post was submitted on 10 May 2024
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Uninsured patient faces major hospital bills in Ontario after having legs amputated (toronto.citynews.ca)
submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] sailingbythelee 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

While I understand the sentiment, it is unrealistic and naive. Doctors and nurses get paid. Someone has to pay them, and while you may be personally happy to see the system cover the costs for one illegal undocumented immigrant, the supply of money and health care resources is not endless. Indeed, we already have a massive shortage of doctors in large parts of Canada. Obviously, our model of health care doesn't work if we allow non-taxpaying, non-citizens to have free treatment. Imagine, if you will, the millions of Americans that would flood our country if they could get free health care here.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

discussing the resource management is a strawman. we can already afford to provide healthcare for the planet (including paying all those involved), assuming we prioritize it.

would we need to spend more? yep. we would need to increase medical schooling, medical spending. so?

this is a species-level problem. think bigger than your borders.

how much healthcare would canada be able to provide if they didnt spend a stupid amount on the exact opposite... human killing devices. the same goes for every 1st world country.

[–] sailingbythelee 2 points 4 months ago

I'm not sure I understand you. Who is this "we" that can already afford to provide healthcare for the planet?

If you mean all the taxpayers in the world can afford to pay for all the health care of all the people in the world to a high standard, that just isn't true. Canada is a highly developed country with lots of resources to devote to modern health care, but much of the world is not like that. The need for health care FAR outstrips the supply. Even in Canada.

Second, we in Canada don't have any control over the health care policies of the rest of the world. If you are just musing about how the whole world should come together and prioritize medicine instead of bombs, well, sure, I guess most everyone would agree with that. But that's like wishing for world peace. It's not a realistic health care policy for Canada. As I said, and which you pointedly did not respond to, we can't freely open our health care system to the victims of America's dysfunctional health care system, not to mention the rest of the world. Sure, it would be great if Canada could heal the world, but we can't. It isn't about "fairness", it is about our ability to maintain a functioning system in a world we don't control.

Thirdly, the argument that ending military spending would significantly improve health care is a nice idea, but it is a red herring. Canada, and most Western nations, spend less than 2% of GDP on military. Ending military spending would help a little bit, but it wouldn't "solve" the problem of funding health care.