I never gave much thought to medical insurance as a child growing up in Alberta and British Columbia in the 1950s and 1960s. Neither province had medicare at the time, and I remember how suspiciously we all viewed Saskatchewan when this province instituted government medical insurance. There were rumblings in the news: Was that province becoming a little too socialist for comfort? The media portrayed a government-run medical insurance plan as undemocratic... but to people like my father, a car mechanic who at 19 had escaped to Canada from a communist regime - universal health insurance seemed the essence of democracy. I remember how happy he was when our small city of Kelowna instituted dollar-a-day hospital coverage - we would be billed only a dollar for every day we were hospitalized. Was his sense of relief due to the fact that one of my cousins, who was a few months older than me, had been diagnosed with cancer and was spending weeks at a time in the hospital?
Across the country - in Quebec - my future-husband's family was experiencing their own medical ordeal at about the same time. While still in her mid-30's, Terry's mother had developed lung cancer. As the disease progressed, she was hospitalized again and again with pneumonia and then for surgery, as doctors tried to stem the disease by removing more and more lung tissue. Terry's father, an office worker who supplemented his income by working weekends as a waiter, was hit hard financially and emotionally by the burden of his wife's illness. By the time she died four years later, he was left with 4 children to raise alone, and a debt from his wife's medical expenses that he would never be able to pay off. His private medical insurance did not begin to cover all the expenses they had incurred.
When I went to Israel as a university student, any bias I had against government-run medical insurance quickly disappeared. Could I - a struggling student - afford to see a doctor? Of course! Everyone could - it was free!
So when I returned to Canada a number of years later, I was delighted to discover that all provinces had instituted government-run health care plans! The way we pay our premiums changes from time to time. Once, in Ontario, a set premium was deducted from our pay, together with other compulsory deductions. If you were a student, you had to mail your premium in. Now medical insurance is part of our income tax - the amount we pay fluctuating with our income. This past year I paid $600, or $50 a month.
How do I feel about a government-run medical plan? I wouldn't want to ever be without it! When I think about the stress endured by my husband's father when his young wife fell ill, I am thankful that I don't have to wonder - Can we afford to go to the doctor about this? I can see a doctor at any time, without taking my check book (as I remember my sister-in-law doing in Texas). My mother has had surgery for cancer twice in the past 7 years, but we have never had to worry about paying for it.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the two most important changes in Canada in the past hundred years are laws guaranteeing compulsory free education for all children - and free government-sponsored health care. Yes, both cost the tax-payer a substantial chunk of their tax bill, but they are both definitely worth it!
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