Comments on: Our Neighbors To The North Are Cutting Back

By: Ha!

Ha! — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:09:11 +0000

Amy your analysis is rather thin and confusing. Not sure what exactly your points are?

First, the Canadian system actually budgets healthcare, which is a good thing, because it at least gives the govt the levers to control healthcare costs. In the U.S. it is mostly private and uncompetitive so there are no levers to control cost whatsoever. All countries around the planet have to deal with demographics and budgeting healthcare. The reality is the U.S. spends more twice as much per capita as any other western nation. The Canadian system works far better than the U.S. healthcare system. I would also add, that the healthcare bill continues with an entirely private system and no one in the Obama adminstration ever proposed a single-payer system like in Canada.

Second, I agree that big pharma should be better controlled regarding costs and prices.

You seem to be making an argument on one hand against a govt system like Canada and then in the very next paragraph arguing that govt should fight big pharma. What is it? Are you for a socialized system or not? Your analysis is very confusing!

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By: tzada

tzada — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:30:29 +0000

Good article.

This is kinda on, and kinda off topic. It is about Canada. Anyhow, Amy did you see where the president of Mexico, contacted Canada and wants them to let Mexicans in without visa? wonder where they are going with that? Myself I think they want open borders like the EU. Which is working so well what with the Euro and all……

By: andyp

andyp — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 05:28:02 +0000

The American problem is that Obama sold you out to everyone he could.

By: andyp

andyp — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 05:26:57 +0000

We don’t pay anywhere near what you pay insurance companies from our taxes. Let us get real here.

By: EllenD

EllenD — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 05:25:08 +0000

any non-compete is likely enforceable enough against a low-level type like me

NorthWestGirl, if you are low level why the heck are they concerned about whether you go with the competition? They must be delusional.

And you are saying that the offer from this other English-speaking country is WORSE in non-compete than the U.S?
That’s really weird. I’ve worked in Canada and English-speaking Europe (but not Australia) and I’ve always thought the U.S. was worst in employee protection.

I wish you the best. You must be really SPECIAL in some area to get this treatment. Are you special enough to go to Europe and get away from their clutches? One thing to consider – if you are far enough away they have to spend a lot on lawyers to go after you.

By: andyp

andyp — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:47:07 +0000

Sorry, Tommy Douglas is the grandfather of Keifer Sutherland.

By: NorthwestGirl_ThatRenterAgain

NorthwestGirl_ThatRenterAgain — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:22:06 +0000

Re-reading the last sentence I wrote, I can’t help adding: Although as recent years’ events have shown, even that might not matter if we’re seen in public “cackling” and wearing modest pant suits.

By: NorthwestGirl_ThatRenterAgain

NorthwestGirl_ThatRenterAgain — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:16:14 +0000

Oh, and yes, I and all of my friends are praying (we’re allowed to say that here, and not immediately get written off as delusional hyper-fundamentalists, right?) that the phone interview leads to an in-person interview and leads to an offer. The change of scenery would definitely be good, and some international business experience wouldn’t be bad, either. Us over-40 women, especially those of us who would not be considered conventionally attractive, need all the extra resume points we can get.

By: NorthwestGirl_ThatRenterAgain

NorthwestGirl_ThatRenterAgain — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 00:08:31 +0000

Thanks, Ellen, I agree that non-competes are being used excessively to limit future competition without providing those who sign them with suitable consideration for what they’re giving up. I currently am in final stages of negotiating with a potential employer that does not run afoul of THAT non-compete… but the problem is that it has one that is even worse and would restrict me even more for 2 years after leaving that potential employer. And of course, it is an employment-at-will contract that the company can terminate at any time, and the company will not release me from the non-compete if I am separated by their choice rather than mine. My attorney has advised me on a preliminary review of it not to take it unless our request to modify the non-compete is accepted, especially given that the last person in the role only lasted 6 months before it “didn’t work out” (no idea whose decision that was… they won’t say). If I only lasted 6 months, I’d still have part of employer #1′s contract PLUS the new one, making my employment options almost nil and putting me in a worse job-hunting place than I am now. This pending one is a very broad agreement and between the both of them, I estimate I’d be restricted from pursuing opportunities in likely 90% of the local industry, including businesses I might start myself (I presented several as “existing intellectual property” during interviews), whereas right now I’m only cut off from about 30% of them. And unfortunately, regardless of its legal standing in a purely academic sense, any non-compete is likely enforceable enough against a low-level type like me, because the entity bringing legal action is going to have far deeper pockets.

By: opit

opit — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:08:43 +0000

Long time no quip.
Ezra Klein – before he went on to paid blogging and thought by some to whore for the system – had a horde of commenters and contributors that would wonk the hell out of even Kevin Drum’s Political Animal at Washington Post. Those were the days when they had stars in their eyes and could change the world. They landed at Antemedius BTW
Ezra had a comparative graph about costs and outcomes he called ‘Health of Nations’.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/health_of_nations/
There you go. I even posted the most recent iteration.
And drinking liberally in new milford had lovely posts on healthcare and the fight for affordable health funding.
Now understand : Ezra had a doctor who gave the gang the blow by blow on what billing umpteen outfits all trying to cherrypick their clientel and provide the fewest actual payments via exemption clauses all while dealing in situations that were often rushed and offered few options meant. The accounting department sounded like it should have been run by paralegals or collection agency veterans. And this was before anything got done.
And if we north of the 49th sound mouthy and act as if we couldn’t run your system down enough it’s because the pricks are constantly out to fleece us as well.
My son wouldn’t be alive without our single payer system : which exempts drugs because it was a deal maker to get medicare in. Just so you know I am damn well partial. But there are other options.
I just don’t think you’re going to get them from the Big O or Clinton, who had more ‘insurance’ company payola running their campaigns than enough.
The pharmaceutical industry toasts to your ill health
Your good health translates into zero profit for the pharmaceutical industry. General well-being of the public and cures for disease would mean the collapse of the pharmaceutical industry since they must have illness to have demand for their drugs, in order to exist. This is the truth that drives political corruption, mandating of vaccines, control over the healthcare industry, and efforts to destroy natural health companies and practititioners.

By: EllenD

EllenD — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:55:57 +0000

So if you pay taxes for good care and I pay an insurance company via premiums for great care, then what’s the problem? It’s two different ways of paying for care and both systems have their pluses and minues. The question for America is how to pay for those not insured and how to keep health care costs reasonable.

I think the difference, Tango, is that the WHOLE amount in Canada goes for Healthcare but in the U.S. the Insurance Companies have to make a PROFIT.
The profit diminishes the amount that actually goes into the healthcare delivery. Add the fact that there are multiple Insurance Companies with multiple paperwork that doctors have to deal with and that just pushes the doctors’ costs up.

Thanks, Andy for your comments. It’s been a long time since I had my operations in Canada so my experiences aren’t as fresh as yours.

What you find is that in the US, while Americans don’t trust the American Media or the Politicians, they trust Canadian Media and Politicians.
They obviously never read about Mulroney.

By: EllenD

EllenD — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:13:34 +0000

NorthWest Girl, good luck. Sounds like you may be in my business, where there are uncaring by-the-book HR people.

I hope you get that job, even if you do have to leave the country. A change of scenery would be good for you.

Non-competes should only be used when companies are bought and the buyers don’t want the original founders in competition with them for a while.

There is absolutely NO REASON to have a non-compete clause in an employee at-will agreement when you can lay off a person at any time for any reason. Not only is that unreasonably cruel, but – hey any labor lawyers here – isn’t it illegal to force employees into employment agreements where you can keep them from earning a livelihood if you dismiss them? (Obviously not talking about the rich founder situation).

By: MrX

MrX — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:54:48 +0000

Rabble Rouser Rev. Amy, To answer your question, when your government says there is a problem, are you sure they’re not pulling your chain? It’s healthcare. They’re always going to look to reduce costs. But Harper wants private care because of the influence of drug companies. I’m afraid you have zero clue what you’re talking about in this matter.

By: NorthwestGirl_ThatRenterAgain

NorthwestGirl_ThatRenterAgain — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:51:27 +0000

A friend of mine in New Zealand swears by Thailand’s dental care for major work. He was checked into a real live hospital, where he actually got to dare I say it recover after the procedure. The two leads of his dental team graduated from US schools, and he thought that the care and facilities were the equivalent of the best he’d experienced in the US. And as others noted, because you’re being supervised, they’re not stingy with painkillers either. Another friend in SoCal swears by Mexico’s. Dental insurance anywhere tends to not be as generous as medical insurance as far as major corrective procedures go, so it doesn’t surprise me that this is taking off. Even “the rich” like value — in many cases, looking for value is how they got to the financial position they’re in.