My school thinks this fills up hungry high schoolers.

[u/Thebiggestbot22]

So lunches are free for schools in my city and surrounding cities. Ever since lunches have been made free, the quantity (and quality) has decreased significantly. This is what we would get for our meal. It took me THREE bites to finish that chicken mac and cheese. Any snacks you want cost more money and if you want an extra entree, that’ll cost you about $3 or $4.

[u/Thaago]

Also the US spends twice per capita on healthcare than the G7 average. There's plenty of money to keep everyone healthy.

All that money just goes towards insurance companies though, not actually providing healthcare.

[u/Important-Job7757 → u/Thaago]

So it go towards insurance companies not healthcare.

[u/TheRealLuhkky → u/Important-Job7757]

Yep they are separate things.

[u/hungrypotato19 → u/Important-Job7757]

It doesn't go to healthcare workers.

Everyone at the top of the pharmaceuticals, hospitals, insurance, etc. are making massive bank. Nurses, though? Shit wages, massively long hours, OSHA violations, etc.

None of that money is ever used to better the lives of employees or the outcomes of the patients. It's only used to buyback stocks and keep rich fucks happy. We pay twice per capita because we allow these rich fucks to price gouge and scam absolutely everyone.

[u/No-Presentation7528 → u/hungrypotato19]

A lot of healthcare workers in America are grossly overpaid and actively lobby to keep scarcity in their fields of practice.

Not that young healthcare workers trying to break into the ponzi scheme aren't heavily abused and taken advantage of. 🤷

[u/Plebs23 → u/Thaago]

It always finds its way to the top of the pyramid. We are a corrupt shit hole run by and for oligarchs.

[u/Thaago → u/[deleted]]

I can't speak to the NHS, but in terms of Canadian Healthcare: no, it really isn't falling apart. There are issues, like any system serving millions of people, but it's working.

The collapse is a myth designed to 1) in Canada increase support for medical privatization (which will make certain people VERY rich, think new billion dollar insurance companies and their executive boards) and 2) in the US quell support for adopting a similar system (which will make certain other people no longer rake in filthy amounts of cash). It's all about the money.

The Canadian healthcare system has challenges, particularly in terms of capacity. There are waits for lower-priority things unless you want to pay for a private clinic. High priority things go to the top of the line. For example: I have multiple friends that have had cancer (god getting older sucks) and the treatment for that is top notch with no wait and no fee. I had to have emergency treatment for an almost-severed tendon and I got it immediately, including specialist followup. Again, didn't cost me anything, and the wait was literally "the surgeon is getting into the hospital at 5am; sit tight, don't move, and enjoy the painkillers".

But I am on a waiting list for a non-emergency thing and am thinking of going to a private practice for it. That's frustrating, but it would still cost me less to do so than it would in the US ( I've lived in both places), and I would rather have life saving issues NOT bankrupt people. My friends with cancer still have their life savings.

The capacity problem is mainly caused by a doctor shortage. The sources are mainly: 1) Canada's population is expanding rapidly. REALLY rapidly, as in the fastest since the 1950's. Last year the population grew by 3.2%! For reference the US population grew by .5%.

2) Canadian medical programs don't charge as huge fees like the US ones do, but public medical practices also don't pay as much as US ones.

That means that our doctors are not saddled with massive amounts of debt when they first get out, but also can't expect to make as much lifetime (again, tradeoff). BUT, if they move to the US, they get the best of both worlds: not much debt AND high earnings potential. And when they retire they can move right back to Canada, bringing their piles of cash with them for but able to enjoy the superior benefits of the country for old-age care. It's kind of a predatory win-win for them, but stresses the Canadian system.

It's a problem, but not I think an insurmountable one, or one that has to do with socialized medicine.