Mikey. Here is how that goes here in Ontario. Doctor visit in person or on the phone. No charge. Having the Doctor write a script or a refill. No charge. Cost of medications, no charge, as we are both over age 65. At the end of the appointment, the secretary asks us what date will be good for our next visit.
The Doctors here don't have to spend any time filling in medical billing paperwork. They bill the Ontario Government for all the services they have provided in the month, and submit it by electronic means. They get paid 90 days later. My Family Doctor has a receptionist, who also handles the billing. She scans my OHIP card into her computer, adds the type of service I will receive that day, and sends it off to the OHIP computer network. We never pay out of pocket for any medical services here. I spent about 3 months in hospital this spring, and the only cash we spent was for parking the car, when my Wife came to visit me daily.
So how does this work? EVERYBODY who lives in Ontario contributes equally to the cost of supporting the universal health care system. We do that through income taxes and sales taxes. Even the people on welfare pay into it, when they buy smokes, or gasoline, or booze, as all of those things have a sales tax component in the price. No one here is excluded, no one here is refused, no one here is subject to the whims of some faceless medical insurance company clerk. Is it perfect? No it is not, but no Canadian is going to trade what we have here, for the US system.
JimB.
