22 replies to this topic

[bordercolliefan]

This woman really is too much. Guess the long waits, death panels, etc. weren't so bad after all!


http://news.yahoo.co...huffpost/490080

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.

"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada," Palin said in her first Canadian appearance since stepping down as governor of Alaska. "And I think now, isn't that ironic?"

The irony, one guesses, is that Palin now views Canada's health care system as revolting: with its government-run administration and 'death-panel'-like rationing. Clearly, however, she and her family once found it more alluring than, at the very least, the coverage available in rural Alaska. Up to the age of six, Palin lived in a remote town near the closest Canadian city, Whitehorse.

[ducky]

This woman really is too much. Guess the long waits, death panels, etc. weren't so bad after all!


http://news.yahoo.co...huffpost/490080

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- who has gone to great lengths to hype the supposed dangers of a big government takeover of American health care -- admitted over the weekend that she used to get her treatment in Canada's single-payer system.

"We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada," Palin said in her first Canadian appearance since stepping down as governor of Alaska. "And I think now, isn't that ironic?"

The irony, one guesses, is that Palin now views Canada's health care system as revolting: with its government-run administration and 'death-panel'-like rationing. Clearly, however, she and her family once found it more alluring than, at the very least, the coverage available in rural Alaska. Up to the age of six, Palin lived in a remote town near the closest Canadian city, Whitehorse.

So was the care free? Did our Canadian neighbors foot the bill?

[The Average Joe]

Don't believe the hype...

Palin Derangement Syndrome (trips to Canada explained)

And a quote from a longer article about the same topic...

Palin's Father says they would have preferred to stay home for health care on two occasions they went to Canada, but travel problems forced the choice. Big whoop!

Palin's father said Monday they had little choice, given their location in Skagway.

"There was no road out of there at that time," said retired teacher Chuck Heath, reached by phone in Wasilla. "The ferry schedule was very erratic. We had no doctor in Skagway. The plane schedule was very erratic. The winds dictated whether the planes could come in or not."...
"We much preferred to use our facilities because my insurance didn't cover anything in Whitehorse. And even though they have socialized medicine, I still had to pay the bill, being an American citizen," Heath said.

Bottom line...This is much ado about nothing sponsered by those with Palin Derangement Syndrome. All you "cityfolk" who are used to hopping down to your local urgentcare/er, get a grip. They lived in remote areas with limited access. But I'm sure you would have made your kids wait for the weather or a ferry schedule to get care rather than go to what was available....

[ducky]

Thanks, Jbailey. That answers my question about who footed the bill, because that would be the only hypocrisy I could think of on Palin's part. Except, if the visits were when she was a child, she really wouldn't have been the deciding where she got her health care.

[bordercolliefan]

The point is not who paid or didn't pay.

The point is that Sarah Palin has made a career out of painting socialized medicine as a system that would sooner kill you than treat you... that care is basically unavailable under such a system because the waits are so long...

yet it seemed to do just fine in her case. If the Canadian system is so backlogged and deadly, why would you bother to go there? You would know you had no hope of getting care.

Hee hee, it also sounds to me like they told Palin's father that he better right quick come up with an explanation of why they were getting care in Canada. That sounds like some fast footwork if I ever heard it. I predict someone will find out the dates they went to Canada for care and it will turn out the weather was just fine...

[The Average Joe]

If you had bothered to read the quote, and provided a little analysis unfettered by political bias, you would have found,
a) The Canadian system was not their first choice
b) When you live in the boonies, you take what you can get
c) she was a child that had no decision on where she went

And if we are going to predict random thoughts about what we "think" happened, I posit that the reason she is so against socialized medicine is a direct result of having been exposed to it at an early age...

The wait is long for socialized medine...not for ER visits, but for needed medical procedures. Both of the Palin's trips were for urgentcare, not medical procedures. Any medical procedures would have been scheduled at the hospital of their choice in Alaska.
Check a map of Alaska and look for Skagway. Then look how far it is to a "big city". Then follow the trail north to Whitehorse in Canada. I too would have used whatever means possible to get my child to whatever facility was available.

BTW, I'm not a Palin "fan," I just don't understand the obsession with her.

[ducky]

The point is not who paid or didn't pay.

The point is that Sarah Palin has made a career out of painting socialized medicine as a system that would sooner kill you than treat you... that care is basically unavailable under such a system because the waits are so long...

yet it seemed to do just fine in her case. If the Canadian system is so backlogged and deadly, why would you bother to go there? You would know you had no hope of getting care.

Hee hee, it also sounds to me like they told Palin's father that he better right quick come up with an explanation of why they were getting care in Canada. That sounds like some fast footwork if I ever heard it. I predict someone will find out the dates they went to Canada for care and it will turn out the weather was just fine...

I'm also not a huge Palin fan, but, if JBailey's link is accurate, it really wasn't the same system. Also, as JBailey mentions, ER care is different than scheduled surgeries and, say, cancer treatments.

"And then, as "updated" by Smith, the medical system in the Yukon in the 1960s was not the same system Canadians have now. You know, the system which forced the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2010 to go to the U.S. for heart surgery."

[bordercolliefan]

This seemed to be a fairly balanced article about the problems in Canadian health care. It's funny they are all upset about their #30 world ranking -- that sounds bad until you realize the U.S. is ranked # 37!!


http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC1121447/

Canada's healthcare system, commonly known as Medicare, took shape in the 1950s and '60s. Founded on the principles of universality, accessibility, comprehensiveness, portability, and public administration, the system was considered the crown jewel of Canadian social programming and enjoyed both massive public support and international admiration. Its achievements seemed particularly impressive compared with those of its US neighbour, which realised none of these five principles despite much higher costs. The issue seemed settled, and health care ranked very low on policymakers' list of concerns, particularly at the national level.Times have changed, and a decade of turbulence has transformed Medicare from icon of Canadian values and organisational know how to an apparent state of crisis.1 A further blow to an already-shaken collective psyche was the publication of the World Health Organization report that rated Canada's healthcare system 30th in the world in terms of achievement relative to potential.2 (The media chose to downplay its seventh place ranking in terms of goal attainment, further promoting the air of crisis.) Has Medicare gone wrong, and, if so, what went wrong?

[Chris]

Up to the age of six, Palin lived in a remote town near the closest Canadian city, Whitehorse.

The last line of the article pretty much says it....... I tend to get my medical care in Folsom if I can, then drive to Sacramento if I have too, and God forbid, have to go to SF for a specialist.... If there was a state border or national border in between those places then call me guilty of whatever you are trying to say here....? Also, I tend not to hold six year olds responsible for medical decisions, where they get their care, or the co-pay...... If this is all the legions of Palin investigators are coming up with you libs are in trouble....
Chris

[The Average Joe]

"...World Health Organization report that rated Canada's healthcare system 30th in the world in terms of achievement relative to potential."

LOL Achievement related to potential? You've got to be joking. Nothing in real life is graded based on achievement related to potential... As a coach for many years, I never gave the speech,
"Well kids, we took first place in achievement related to potential...too bad our team took last place based on scoreboard!"

You've got to look beyond Wiki and question the conclusions...

Have you ever seen one of these WHO reports? Arbitrary criteria...agenda driven policies...they are hardly the unbiased arbiter of what works...
Did you know many nations are suing WHO for declaring h1n1 a pandemic from pressure by the drug manufacturer?

Also, I just have to include this quote from your link:

[i]* Canadians continue to favour a publicly funded, comprehensive healthcare system but seem pessimistic about whether it is sustainable
* Increasing privatisation, in numerous forms, has crept into the system
* Numerous reports have called for substantial reforms, but achieving a consensus based solution remains elusive
* To date, the government has simply given more resources to the system, while largely ignoring calls to enhance its comprehensiveness and accessibility[/i]

Seems it's not all wine and roses up there after all...why would we want to combine the worst of private healthcare with the worst of public healthcare?

[bordercolliefan]

Seems it's not all wine and roses up there after all...why would we want to combine the worst of private healthcare with the worst of public healthcare?

Of course we don't want to. We want to combine the BEST of public health care with the BEST of private healthcare.

Seeing's how we're #37 (France is #1), we should be lifting the best ideas from countries 1 through 36.

But some people are so prejudiced against anything that's done in other countries, they refuse to consider new ideas. We have become a very close-minded, parochial country.

[The Average Joe]

Of course we don't want to. We want to combine the BEST of public health care with the BEST of private healthcare.

Show me that plan, and I'll champion it....what is being forced down our throats is not even close to "the best" of anything."

Seeing's how we're #37 (France is #1), we should be lifting the best ideas from countries 1 through 36.

So I go to the trouble of analyzing WHo and their criteria to show how their "rating" is near worthless, and you return to them for basis of your argument? WHO's criteria is not our criteria.

But some people are so prejudiced against anything that's done in other countries, they refuse to consider new ideas. We have become a very close-minded, parochial country.

As I have explained in depth in other posts, America cannot be compared apples to apples against other countries. Nothing against what works for them (assuming you can make the argument that what they have is working), but what works in Europe cannot work here.

[bordercolliefan]

What works in Europe cannot work here.


Thanks for proving my point, J. Bailey.

'Nuff said.

[The Average Joe]

Hahaha...It is not through closed mindedness or arrogance I make my claim, but from thoughtful consideration of the differences in history,geography, societal norms, social conventions, budgetary issues, etc (which I detailed elsewhere...sorry you were absent that discussion or just had no argument against my premise).
I have no prejudice against any specific countries system (well, democratic ones anyway), but what works in one place won't necessarily work somewhere else.

[uberman]

Who said the Bush Administration's departure from the White House would result in a lack of material!? Sarah Palin, as a regular "everywoman," provides more comedic gold in 1 sentence, than all of Obama's gaffes thus far.

It's a great time to be a comedian! Is there like a RSS feed for everything Palin says? I want to start writing up to the minute jokes.