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Free services in Quebec, payable one everywhere else

Noctosphere

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So yea, there are services in Quebec that are free
But if you check everywhere else, you've got to pay for it

For exemple, water...
Here in Quebec, water is free, there are no meter for it on every houses
I'm aware that Quebec province possess the largest sources of drinkable water in the world
But I still don't think I could live somewhere where water isn't free

Also, free health and care service
Of course, that's a real problem here in Quebec
There are tons of people who goes to urgency for soooo minor problem
But still, I don't know how, in modern country, basic health and care isn't free

Of course, none of these are actually free in Quebec, we actually pay for these with our taxes, but still...

For exemple, my mom had a friend who went to France
She had an heart attack and had to go to urgency
luckily, she had travel insurances, because it would have costed her 185 000$ for this surgery

honestly, I don't know if I could live my whole life outside of Quebec
 
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wsh1994

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Here in the Netherlands we have to pay twice for healthcare in a way...
First there is the mandatory healthcare insurance, which costs about 90 to 100 euros/month and then we have to pay the first 385 euros ourselves before the insurance starts covering the costs. This leads to people avoiding healthcare which of course cant be good but hey, thats called politics :)

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Here in the Netherlands we have to pay twice for healthcare in a way...
First there is the mandatory healthcare insurance, which costs about 90 to 100 euros/month and then we have to pay the first 385 euros ourselves before the insurance starts covering the costs. This leads to people avoiding healthcare which of course cant be good but hey, thats called politics :)
addition: these costs go up every year too
 

Tigran

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Here in the Netherlands we have to pay twice for healthcare in a way...
First there is the mandatory healthcare insurance, which costs about 90 to 100 euros/month and then we have to pay the first 385 euros ourselves before the insurance starts covering the costs. This leads to people avoiding healthcare which of course cant be good but hey, thats called politics :)

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


addition: these costs go up every year too


Hate to say it.. but that's still a LOT better than the cost of Health care in the US and the constant attempts to keep people from getting healthcare.
 

leon315

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man, here in Italy there's even a Law which explicitly forbidden anyone to own privately any natural resources of water. So yes indeed the water is FREE but we still have to cover some fees about delivery service and filtering/clearing.

waster service costs me about 80 euro every 2 months....And Healthcare is also free in Pizzalandia :)
 
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wsh1994

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Hate to say it.. but that's still a LOT better than the cost of Health care in the US and the constant attempts to keep people from getting healthcare.
well, i do understand how that is worse but look at it like this: as a generally healthy person i spend about 1200 euros a year for an insurance i barely use, and WHEN i need healthcare i pay for it myself anyway, so what is the use of these 1200 euros? wouldnt it be a lot better spent to place it on a savings account just in case i do need more expensive healthcare? In my opinion, if any government makes people take an insurance and threaten them with fines for simply not getting one, they should do it right, either by keeping the monthly costs low(just so youi know, the dutch government decides on those for the biggest part) or by not asking people topay for the first few hundreds of euros/dollars/whatever, making the insurance basically useless
 

Tigran

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well, i do understand how that is worse but look at it like this: as a generally healthy person i spend about 1200 euros a year for an insurance i barely use, and WHEN i need healthcare i pay for it myself anyway, so what is the use of these 1200 euros? wouldnt it be a lot better spent to place it on a savings account just in case i do need more expensive healthcare? In my opinion, if any government makes people take an insurance and threaten them with fines for simply not getting one, they should do it right, either by keeping the monthly costs low(just so youi know, the dutch government decides on those for the biggest part) or by not asking people topay for the first few hundreds of euros/dollars/whatever, making the insurance basically useless

And that mentality is what causes numerious people to go bankrupt in the US a year because "I don't need insurance... I'm healthy!" And what would happen if you came down with a chronic disease such as Diabeties?
 

Leobgood

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There wasn't a direct question in there Noctosphere but inferring - Why other countries would chose not to follow Canada's model or more precisely why doesn't the US provide free water and healthcare? Simply b/c it is a choice. Also, keep in mind that the US is not a homogeneous people, culture, or religion. It is very diverse and as such it is difficult to coalesce a goal that is ideal for everyone. Also keep in mind the old adage - There is no such thing as a free lunch. Hope this helps in your understanding as to why.
 

wsh1994

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And that mentality is what causes numerious people to go bankrupt in the US a year because "I don't need insurance... I'm healthy!" And what would happen if you came down with a chronic disease such as Diabeties?
At least in the US you get to choose, whether it is a good choice or not is always a point of debate.
 

Taleweaver

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Free water? Wow...that's a nice commodity. The water isn't very expensive in Belgium, but not free (in fact, I don't even know how much I'm paying for it).

Healthcare resembles the Netherlands here a bit. There's also a mandatory healthcare insurance of about 100 euro's per year. Payed consultants with the doctor (usually around 20 euro's) is payed back for about 80%. Medicine and treatments/operations vary but are overall very affordable.

At least in the US you get to choose, whether it is a good choice or not is always a point of debate.
Yeah...you get to choose between going bankrupt and remaining ill. :unsure:

One of my colleagues told me the following: during her vacation in the USA, she got ill at one point. She went to the hospital where the doctor looked at her and prescribed something (nothing major, though colleague didn't reveal what). All in all, she was in the hospital for 15 minutes. She had to pay a bit over 100 dollar. Seems fair, right? More than we're used to in our country, but not exaggerated.
A bit after she got home, she got a call from an insurance policy. They inquired on how she wanted to pay the rest. The...rest? As it turns out, her total bill was actually over 1000 euro's.

In other words: I tend to believe the "ridiculous" stories like Bernie Sanders taking people to Canada to purchase medicines at less than half the price, or Michael Moore's story on that guy who accidentally sawed off 3 of his fingers but could only afford to get one stitched back.
 
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Leobgood

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Yeah...you get to choose between going bankrupt and remaining ill. :unsure:
NO one is choosing between bankruptcy and remaining ill. This is a false equivalency.

You make a personal risk assessment based on your own historical medical knowledge. As mentioned before - it is a choice and you are within your right to make your own personal choices as you see fit - your body your choice. Why is this an argument?

The argument should be, "how do we help those who cannot help themselves?"
 

Taleweaver

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NO one is choosing between bankruptcy and remaining ill. This is a false equivalency.

You make a personal risk assessment based on your own historical medical knowledge. As mentioned before - it is a choice and you are within your right to make your own personal choices as you see fit - your body your choice. Why is this an argument?

The argument should be, "how do we help those who cannot help themselves?"
Erm… it's not a false equivalent: i gave an example that illustrated exactly that. It is, however, a false choice, as you don't really have a choice.

It's an argument that healthcare should cost enough to cover expenses, but in some countries costs how much people can (barely) afford instead.
 

Durelle

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Here in NB,Canada it depends where you live, if your water and sewage is connected to the city you need to pay, but in the country try where you have your own well and septic there's no charge at all.
 

Quantumcat

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well, i do understand how that is worse but look at it like this: as a generally healthy person i spend about 1200 euros a year for an insurance i barely use, and WHEN i need healthcare i pay for it myself anyway, so what is the use of these 1200 euros? wouldnt it be a lot better spent to place it on a savings account just in case i do need more expensive healthcare?
The goal is hopefully that even if you pay more than you use at least nobody has to choose between going bankrupt or dying, if they get diagnosed with something awful. You never know if that person could be you, so it is better to pay a little more and not have to worry.
 

Viri

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Water is dirt cheap in my city. I take long as fuck showers, and it still seems to remain the same price. I even find water to be too cheap, lol. I am happy I don't live on the west coast, where droughts are frequent.
 

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