A new poll says long wait times lead half of Canadians to avoid seeing a doctor or going to the hospital.

A new poll says long wait times lead half of Canadians to avoid seeing a doctor or going to the hospital.

The poll was conducted by Léger and commissioned by right-leaning think-tanks the Montreal Economic Institute, SecondStreet.org, and the Canadian Constitution Foundation.

The percentage of respondents who say they avoid consulting doctors because of wait times is highest among women, people over 55 and Quebecers.

    • 𝕱𝖎𝖗𝖊𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍@lemmy.world
      1·
      7 days ago

      I’ve been fighting with SunLife to get a treatment covered and it straight up reminds me of the hell I used to go through in the US

      • It took 2 months and at least a dozen calls to convince them that it’s covered, when it says right in my coverage doc that it’s covered
      • They don’t tell you any status updates. Everything is a letter sent through snail mail, and they refuse to tell you anything over the phone
      • They withheld a secret third form from me for over a month, after the initial two forms they made my doctor fill out
      • Their phone system has a bunch of robo-loops built in. When you finally get someone there’s a chance they’ll just hang up on you
      • Even after I filled out and submitted all forms via their online portal, multiple times, they didn’t “receive” the forms for about two weeks
      • Now that I have a letter from them saying it’s covered 100%, they pretend they don’t do direct billing and require me to first get the procedure and pay the full $31k then hope for a refund. Besides the insanity of assuming people have $31k just laying around and can wait months to get it back, I don’t trust that they’ll keep their word
      • Despite sending in my initial estimate in fucking august, I still don’t have a date due to their delays

      SunLife can go fuck itself. My coverage ends in December so it really feels like they’ve been purposefully dragging their feet. For-profit health insurance is a scam.

    • quanin@lemmy.caOP
      18·
      9 days ago

      Obligatory reminder that the EU has private health care and is not the USA.

      • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca
        21·
        8 days ago

        In Germany someone I knew only had a hospital bed before they died because they had private insurance.

        • quanin@lemmy.caOP
          1·
          8 days ago

          You just described Canada today. My mother’s immune system is compromised. She needs one. She also has private insurance. That’s still not guaranteed.

          • BCsven@lemmy.ca
            2·
            7 days ago

            So that’s a call for more public funding, not more private for profit care

            • quanin@lemmy.caOP
              11·
              7 days ago

              It’s a call for both, like they do in places like Germany. It is possible to have a properly run two-tier health care system. If your comparison is the US, you’re not actually arguing against what I said but against what you heard.

              • BCsven@lemmy.ca
                2·
                7 days ago

                If you have properly funded public healthcare, then there is no need for private. German has it because of conservative types pushing for profit driven models. As soon as profit is the metric, then patient quality of care suffers

                • quanin@lemmy.caOP
                  1·
                  7 days ago

                  It is very possible to have a two-tier health care system, still value the public health care model, and have a right wing government. They’ve done it for years in Norway. And even in Germany, no one significant is pushing for full privatization. That is strictly an American concept and Canada would do well to train itself out of it. Especially since we’re turning away from America and toward the EU.

                  • BCsven@lemmy.ca
                    1·
                    7 days ago

                    Give me a reason why private is needed, it matters not who’s instituted it.