I am writing about two topics. 1) Mark Walker’s piece about our medical system. vs. the U.S.A.’s. The US of A has very likely the best medical system in the world (ok on the world) look at the Premier of Newfoundland & Labrador. Where did he go? To the U.S., for his operation. Could he have gotten it in St. John’s? Yep—by highly qualified doctors? Yep, again. But our boy Danny—he wanted the very best eh. Jimmy Pattison, he’d agree the U.S. is where he and his family would go. If I was smart enough to be a billionaire like Jimmy, I’d probably grab an Air BC ticket and head south too. 2) Or, even a mere millionaire like Mr. Black, I’d probably go to California for a combined vacation and medical problem. But, I come from a long line of dumb farmers that don’t never get sick, unless they trip over something and bang a rib on a small surface boulder—then we’re off our feet for a week or two. God has given durability to make up for my stupidity. (The sisters made it to U.B.C and S.F.U,— I quit in grade ten.)
After the millionaire club, the U.S. medical system peaks and starts downhill fast. The well-off folks, (say 200 - 900 thousand bucks per year) they will likely have to sell a toy or two, the cottage, the yacht (yer fancy floating cottage) or maybe the neat little chopper, in order to fix Ma or the kid. As the income goes down, so does the medical quality. The folks with yer upper income skilled trades or sales-folks—well they are going to have to dig deeper still... Sell the house, then move in with mom and dad, sell the 4x4 and share the wife’s fake beetle to fix up the wife or kid.
For yer ordinary working folks...What medical system? Pray for charity doctors, Salvation Army hospitals, Catholic Charities, and the Seventh Day Adventists?
One reason the U.S.A., has the best doctors is that they have the best medical schools. (When you have near to 400 million taxpayers, you can afford the best schools.) Most Americans, however, are not billionaires or even millionaires, most Americans are not even yer comfortably well-off.
Most Americans don’t have any medical system.
Monty Raine is right!
G. Allison, Princeton, BC