Health Care Systems

I would take the Canadian Health Care system over the American system any day (faults and all) and here's why:

-Almost 50 million Americans cannot afford private health care but are not poor enough to qualify for welfare. We have a huge pool of people here, how is it possible that we don’t qualify for a “group” discount?

-There are no co-pays or deductibles to meet in Canada (I had never even heard these terms before moving here).

-Americans may have lower taxes but we pay WAY MORE in "user fees" out of pocket when we are sick and at our most vulnerable. In fact, Americans pay about double for medical care compared to citizens in all other industrialized nations.

-No Canadian has ever filed bankruptcy or lost their home due to medical bills (medical bills are the #1 reason Americans file bankruptcy).

-Canadians do not have to Read the Fine Print in order to protect themselves from surprise charges. When they are sick they simply go to the doctor and the service is provided. Canadians never see a bill.

-The reason that many Canadians do not have a family doctor is because it does not cost anything to go to a walk-in clinic or the Emergency room so people are less motivated to find one.

-American doctors are equally if not more likely to push as many patients through as possible to earn more profits by filing claims with the insurance agencies.

-The Canadian government does not deny treatment based on someone's ability to pay or offer to pay for $150,000 out of a $300,000 bill for surgery. For 95% of Americans a $150,000 expense would put them under. If you don't believe that this happens to Americans with health insurance read the fine print in your American medical contracts.

-There are millions of Americans who pay $3,000 plus to have a baby even with employer provided health care plans. In Canada the cost is $0.

-Canada's health care system is ranked higher then America's by the UN because of actual access to health care for all citizens. Canadians also enjoy a longer life expectancy and a lower rate of infant mortality. (4.8 deaths per thousand to 6.3 deaths per thousand).

There are many more points but the bottom line is that no system is perfect and we have to be careful when comforting ourselves with problems in other systems as a way to pretend that our system is working. The question is this: Do you think that everyone should have equal access to healthcare or is healthcare only the right of the upper middle class and wealthy?

Be careful how quickly you answer that question because the system that so many Americans accept clearly gives different rights to the wealthy than the poor. In my opinion, the greatness of a nation is based on how it treats its most vulnerable members-What do you think?

Marriage Rate

Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. Or do they? And why are we constantly being bombarded with the divorce rate? I decided it was high time that someone took a look at the glass half full.

The marriage rate refers to the number of people getting married but why not extend the meaning to the number of marriages that live to tell the tale? I wanted to know about couples that made it last over the years and are still smiling at each other. Isn’t that a more compelling story?

Although the number of new marriages in America has been declining steadily over the years, 52% of American marriages make it for a lifetime. How differently would we perceive marriage if everyone walked around saying that more then half of marriages survive? I’m starting to like my odds.

Generations X and Y have a whole new opportunity to put our stamp on marriage. We are getting married later, 26 for women and 28 for Men, and I hope that means we’re choosing more wisely and waiting until we’re really ready to make the commitment. What will marriage look like in 30 years from now? It’s up to us.