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@beahind - Alas, we here in the "Colonies" are on the cusp of celebrating the 241st Anniversary of our 1776 Declaration of Independence from Britain, so forgive me if your response got my Red, White & Blue up a tad.
Not to start a cross-border “Whose Ugly Baby Is Prettier” contest between we Colonialist "Yanks," and our North American good neighbors & friends up in Canada. However, your intended or unintended implication that your socialized Canadian Healthcare has superior government bureaucrats who assure “the insurance factor doesn’t come into play as much because our government audits doctors to ensure that they are conducting business professionally” does not pass the smell or my experience test with socialized medicine, as I saw it being deliver (i.e. parsed out) in Canada, the UK, and Europe. We, in the US, have the equivalent “Bureaucrat Gate-Keeper Folks” who “audit doctors to ensure that they are conducting business professionally.” Can you spell “Medicaid/Medicare Fraud?” Here in the US, you do not have to queue up, and wait in a long waiting lines to receive specialty medical care. A friend of ours father who resides in the UK, who was in his mid-80s, died from associated complications, while being queued up in UK Healthcare Delivery line waiting for 18-months to receive the Benign Prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) Urology treatment he required, but that he never received because he died from associated urology/kidney complications while waiting, waiting, waiting....
Do not believe what you may be seeing on the news. Our “Bad” US system is a comparatively “Good” US system. I am walking and 76-years of living proof of it. It is this current attempt to socialize our US healthcare, which is causing the current political “Dust Up.” My point is it, a Pseudo-For-Profit Private or Government-Run healthcare delivery system is not the results-proven, 153-year old, patient-focused medical care delivery system that is Mayo Clinic doctoring.
Answer me this, will your Canadian Government Healthcare let you opt to travel cross-border to Mayo Clinic Rochester, Florida or Phoenix to receive cardiology evaluation, assessment, and medical care? My current US Government healthcare insurance lets me, and has let me/a family member travel from Florida up to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN to be treated by an Internationally Renown Cranial/Micro-Surgeon at Mayo. My US Government Health Insurance covered it, and that US Government Health Insurance does not need to be “Fixed.” We just need to figure out how to extend health insurance to more people without ruining the current US healthcare delivery system. It helped get me to 76-years old. I am happy with it, as well as my family member who needed the #1-In-The-Country-Cranial/Micro-Surgery Surgical Care, being happy with it.
The problem is, government & private insurance company audits be damned, there is “Professional-For-Profit” doctoring, and there is “Professional Mayo Clinic Patient-Focused” doctoring. “Caveat Emptor” applies to anything you let “Medical Professionals” do to your body.
Replies to "@beahind - Alas, we here in the "Colonies" are on the cusp of celebrating the 241st..."
I like your comment @colleenyoung. I'd like to add a couple of thoughts. I thought @catgic was primarily concerned about the quality of medical care given to patients rather than the quality of the broad health care system. And as you no doubt know about me, I have strong feelings about patient care as well. Also second opinions by competing medical professionals are very important -- not only to make sure of a diagnosis and a treatment plan and feel confident about it, but also to help identify medical professionals who are consistently right on both counts for numerous patients.
Mayo Connect and you perform marvelous services for puzzled patients, and most of the time what those patients learn from discussions here on Connect is valuable information and advice. I worry, though, when I see a suffering soul who is in great need of a clear understanding of her/his needs, but too easily settle for partial or poor advice from another discussant who succinctly says, "It worked for me! You should try it!"
Second opinions are vital responses in such circumstances, but not always possible under the troubled patient's financing arrangements for health care. Sometimes, in fact, the patient can't access even their primary physician in a timely manner, let alone track down an alternate medical professional, get an appointment for a secondary opinion, and get insurance/Medicaid/Medicare agreement to pick up the tab.
Martin
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Hi, @catgic. Your passion for Mayo Clinic is admirable. Many people travel from all corners of the world to benefit from Mayo's expertise. I also see that you have strong views about a healthcare system that has worked well for you and your family. Obviously Beahind's post struck a chord with you. However, in my opinion, it was not a challenge about the merits of anyone's healthcare system. As you said, let's "not start a cross-border “Whose Ugly Baby Is Prettier” contest ..."
Connect is open to all patients and family members around the globe being cared for in whatever healthcare system they have access to. For some, travel to the US may be possible. For others, it may not be. Wherever people are treated, as fellow patients and caregivers, we can provide our experiences, information and support.