Colon Cancer Part 2

For those of you in the U.S. whose gov't is still debating the cost of "social" Medicare I wish to point out a few facts regarding the treatment of Elizabeth when she first visited her family doctor. He suspected that the problem might be greater than he could deal with and referred her to a specialist at the Ottawa General Hospital. Within four days she had a colonoscopy. The specialist then ordered a CT scan and an MRI. Three weeks after Elizabeth met with the anesthesiologist before her operation to remove the tumor. He commented on the fast tracking when he looked at her medical file. The operation took place two weeks later but was cut short because the doctors felt that the tumor was too large.
Elizabeth was then put on a program of chemotherapy and radiation. Pills were prescribed and while I can't remember all the names I know they were expensive. I remember the pharmacist telling us that one particular prescription cost $1,000.00. Her work health insurance would have covered some of the costs but since one of her medications was in trials we didn't have to cover her prescriptions. Three months of treatments and pills. All the visits to the hospital, the doctors, then the visits to Mt. Sinai and the operation and finally the air ambulance back to Ottawa. We never saw a bill. Her recuperation at home in a hospital bed provided by the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan is covered including the home care of nurses which come and go almost daily.
The Medicare plan applies to all provinces in Canada. It is supported by the federal and provincial government. While often called a socialized-public system it is in fact merely publicly funded. Most services are provided by private enterprises, and doctors are not on a government salary, but operate as independent businesses.