So What if an MRI Takes Longer in Canada?

Stop lying.

Now there's a retarded "standard" that's gaurantees that no progress can ever be made in any healthcare system.

"So what if life expectation is extended by ten years? Bill Gates had to wait ten minutes to see a GP."

Still with the shitty, dishonest "life expectancy" bullshit. Pretending lifestyle choices aren't the main factor in that isn't gaining you anything.

And a standard that in any way compromises or downgrades the healthcare experience for some people so that access can be guaranteed for all is no more acceptible to me than mine is to you, and it sure as fuck is not "progress." It's just another variation of that "equal distribution of misery so that nobody has to live with envy" crap you're always peddling.

If anyone tries to assert, as Mitch McConnell did, that the American pay-or-go-away system is the best in the world, ask him this; why do Americans live shorter lives than those of any other developed country, as well as facing higher incidence of infant and child mortality? Further, why do over 75,000 preventable deaths occur each year in America when people can't access the health care system because they couldn't afford prompt treatment for curable illness? And adding to it all--why do Canadians, who according to UN statistics are the one people on earth who eat more calories and fattier and unhealthier diets than Americans, drink more beer, wine and booze than Americans, and smoke more than Americans do, while getting less exercise, nevertheless live on average SIX YEARS longer than Americans and rank just behind the world-leading Japanese in overall life expectancy? They're otherwise demographically almost identical to us, don't have any more money on average than we do, but Canadians live longer and better lives nevertheless even though by comparison to Americans they're beating the hell out of their bodies. Reliable unversal access to health care is the one way they're different from us. Do the math.

Oh, look, another smug bullshitter pulling a copy-and-paste from some douchebaggy chain email that "opened his eyes".

You need to take lifestyle choices like diet and exercise into account before this can be taken seriously.

Different standards of reporting between nations.

A question that answers itself.

The only way? BULLSHIT.

Do your mom, you condescending fuckstain.

He did. Right here:

And your only response was a flame.

Why does the side never have any facts?

No, what he did is assert a fact not in evidence, which you wouldn't accept if you weren't in agreement with the theme he was trying to advance.

Don't give me bullshit about facts when I'm not seeing the details of these "lifestyle" studies, how they were conducted and whether any of the methods or sampling were different between the two countries.

You're right, turns out he was lying:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

It's only a 2 year difference and Canada are no. 10 on the list.

We are number 38 though... that's kinda stupid. Apparently people in Cuba live a tiny bit longer than we do.

Word to Uncle Albert; sorry I had to bust your balloons of illusion with a few inconvenient truths.

In terms of lifestyle, as I mentioned above, we lead healthier lifestyles than many countries, notably including Canada, but nevertheless the Canadians, who lead arguably the most indulgent and unhealthy lifestyle on earth, beat us soundly in life expectancy. A measure of the quality of their universal health insurance system is that only the Japanese fare consistently better on that measure. We're down with some Third World Countries like Costa Rica by comparison.

And if you try to say "different reporting standards," there are none--these are all numbers based on the same globally recognized standards of statistical reporting which are accepted throughout the developed world. The Wikipedia numbers quoted above, by the way, don't jibe with the latest info from the World Health Organization, which I'm using as a reference.

Evidently Uncle Albert think it's OK for people to die because they can't afford treatment that would easily make them well. He evidently joins Mitch McConnell in saying the legions of uninsured in America--which no other developed country matches--are "not a problem" and that preventable death among the working poor is just fine.

We obviously are suffering from a deep moral and ethical deficit among America's privileged.

Yeah, and let's see anyone claim with a straight face that we get the whole story from Cuba.

I think it's rather impressive that, despite our sedentary lifestyles and horrible diet choices, there is virtually no difference in our lifespan from other nations with better lifestyles and inferior healthcare.

Smug anecdotes do not prove "truth".

"Arguably" because you're a UHC nut-licker and will accept anything that supports the idea.

Infant mortality reporting standards in particular. You think those are identical throughout the developed world?

You are not going to guilt me into accepting a shitty sales pitch, buckwheat. Fixing a problem for one guy is not a reason to create new problems for some other guy. Painting it as monacled, mustache-twirling rich people laughing dismissively at the starving orphans down the street is leftist propaganda 101.

The reality is that it's working people you're looking to stick it to. The poor pay nothing and the rich can insulate themselves from it. A target of opportunity, and you fucking putzes try to pawn it off as high enlightenment.

1) What good is a test if you can't afford to pay for it?
2) My stepdad has been waiting for two weeks to get in to see his doctor to get an MRI scheduled regarding pain in his lower back.

That wasn't cpurick's issue. According to cpurick, he never said it.

That's always his response. I'd like to see him present a reasoned argument without that sort of bad attitude for once.

That abrupt change of topic was totally stealthy. I hardly noticed it at all, and anyway I have no idea why you would suddenly want to talk about something else.

Then either take it up with cpurick, or stop feeling compelled to answer something that was addressed to him.

Yeah, nobody has ever used my demeanor as an excuse to ignore a point I raise. Good job blazing that new and revolutionary trail!

I blame the blacks.

Would've been enough to beat Cuba.

Not that I'm suggesting an option to correct this situation...

It's good for those who can pay for it.

If someone else can't, you need to find a way to fix it without fucking it up for anyone else in the process.

And if someone were to ask you how, would your answer be "Not my fucking problem!" or something a little more concrete?

You know damned well we've been through that before. Had an entire thread devoted to it. I am not going to rehash that whole thing every single time I shit on someone's "MOAR UHC NOW!" tard-fest.

If it were as important to you as mischaracterizing the debate and calling people names, you'd have saved it so you could cut and paste it here.

My mistake for assuming anyone might have a functioning memory.

Yeah, I'm not feeling this Same Day Service for MRIs. The Warden has to get them once a year, and they're never like, "Does this afternoon work for you?"

Because everyone remembers every single post every other poster makes.

Fact is, I do remember what you said, because it was such a departure from your usual Tasmanian devil dervish dance.

Just wanted to see how important it was to you.


Meanwhile, yet another source challenging apostle's "One anecdote is all you need to prove your case":

But there's no way that could become more of a problem if suddenly everyone were on a government program.

Well then, NO FUCKING SALE.

Supply and demand. If there are more people with access to lower cost insurance, there are fewer people willing to pay outrageous premiums and co-pays for the service. In order to entice more customers, MRI providers will have to rethink their business model.

And the following sentence says: "A new approach is targeting waiting times, which are reported on public websites."

IOW, wait times was one of the bugs in the early set-up phase which is now being monitored on public websites in an effort to fix it.

But, no, let's junk the entire vehicle because the plugs are skipping.

Yes, let's run with an automobile analogy.

What we have now: Some people can afford Cadillacs, but many others can't afford a car at all. The rest of us are in the middle somewhere, buying mid-range cars and hanging onto them as long as we can keep them running.

Universal Auto Ownership: We all get to wait in line and fill out a slightly larger mountain of paperwork for the same gray Honda, but everyone gets one. Those of us who already had cars are still free to keep and/or buy the ones we wanted in addition to paying our share of the Honda program. Which is fine if you were so wealthy the cost is negligible, but for the rest of us it's "Enjoy your new Honda. You won't even miss the freedom of choice after awhile."