I’ll Take Freedom Chips With My Poutine Please
Things That Matter, By Dennis Rizzo
Well, now we are in a trade war with our neighbours and erstwhile friends down south. Luckily, Canadians’ shared loathing of bullies has resulted in a unified and direct response that we should embrace for the future.
As an ex-pat from New Jersey, I know a lot about the American people. After fifteen years in Canada, I feel I know a little about the Canadian people. I hope to present some observations and thoughts for discussion in my columns.
Let’s start with health care.
The Americans (United States Americans) have had a stylized image of independence and self-reliance since forever. Despite begrudgingly acknowledging that government is inevitable, they like to think they are making it on their own. This is the damnable Protestant Ethic we learned about in grade school. The Horatio Alger stories, and the storied tales of how John D. Rockefeller started out selling newspapers at 5 cents each and ended up owning Standard Oil. Americans and think that this is the logical course their lives can (and will) take. All they need to do is learn a trade, be loyal, work hard, and attend church on Sunday.
The common misconception, encouraged by employers, is the high-paying jobs workers deserve are there if they are loyal and toil diligently. If you aren’t making it, you’re not working hard enough. If you can’t earn enough to pay rent and food, you have to just take a second job. If you have to take a second job, that’s because you didn’t go to school. If you didn’t go to school because you had to take a job to feed your family, that’s on you.
It’s always individual failures defining the social context of anyone requiring charity or a leg up. If you’re on drugs, it’s because of moral or personal shortcomings – not because your stepfather raped you from the age of six. If you can’t pay your rent or buy food it’s because you didn’t work hard enough to get a good education – not because education was in a poorly funded inner-city school, or you had to go to work to support your family because the breadwinner was sick and didn’t have health coverage.
The general response from many is, “Stop whining. I had it worse than you and look at me.” Still, the fact they can’t make it on minimum wage isn’t their fault – it’s the fault of government for taxing them and giving the money to the welfare moms. Or drug addicts, or hungry children. Then there’s the immigrant issue.
How does this relate to Canada? There are many similarities in the Canadian Ethic if we can call it that. Loyalty to the company, personal responsibility, etc. This parallel work ethic seems to have been a logical progression from the interdependence of corporations and investments between the two countries. It’s also a symptom of the pioneer struggle embraced by many who are no longer pioneering anything more than a trip to Loblaws. Unfortunately, this condition of strident independence seems to be the credo of the Neoconservatives.
Yet, there was, until recently, the concept in Canada of societal largesse. (Well, except for the Native population, and immigrants, and others not from the former colonies.) There was a sense of obligation and community responsibility to the members of the tribe; of something greater than the local charitable ministry or food bank. There was the insanely un-American idea that the taxes you pay should go to bringing up the overall standard of living of the whole society.
I have listened to my American friends talk about how taxes in Canada are so high. In fact, the taxes paid in the USA are higher, if you include property taxes, road tolls, fees for service, and the cost of paying for your health insurance coverage. Ah – health care. Something the conservatives consistently try to cut. And there we are at the topic of this prose.
I am on pension. I pay about $4,000 a year in personal income tax in Canada. This does not include HST, fees for licenses, or cost of property tax. For that tax investment I get OHIP coverage. If I were in the USA, and I was not lucky enough to be employed by a company that provided full health coverage, I would be paying about $1200 a month at my age for health coverage under a private plan. (see below) This is how corporations get a hold on workers there. You can’t take the insurance with you if you leave.
I had stomach cancer two years ago and serious complications. Two years of medical care, including 70 days in ICU, cost me $0.00. I never saw a bill so I couldn’t tell you what it cost. Thankfully, others in our society who believe public medical coverage is worth having helped cover costs in what is known as the pooled liability process.
Insurance companies use this in group plans. Except, they work the details to increase shareholder profits, not improve service. That’s the difference between private and public health care. But why does it matter – eh? You have a health policy with one of the carriers so why should your taxes fund OHIP?
In the USA, I would have to hope my private insurance company covered all my services. My brother, who pays that $1200 a month in the USA, was in ICU care for 3-4 days following surgery and received a bill of $20,000. His policy required a $2,000 deductible before they would accept a claim. Of the remaining bill of $18,000, his insurance only paid 80%. He had to pay $5,600 out of pocket for that covered care. So his cost or tax for staying alive amounted to about $14,400 in annual premiums, plus $2,000 out of pocket before they would cover anything, and then $3,600 on top to clear his bill with the hospital.
Sorry. I’ve seen both. I’ll take OHIP any day. And if you think this is horse manure, just check out the cost of private insurance and compare that to the taxes you already pay into the social “pool” covering you and your family 100%.
Here are average premiums for private health coverage in the USA, (2024, Forbes):
- Age 21 – $425/month
- Age 27 – $446/month
- Age 30 – $483/month
- Age 40 – $544/month
- Age 50 – $760/month
- Age 60 – $1,208/month
Private insurers have one purpose – shareholder dividends. When my twin daughters were incubating, my wife had to stay in hospital for three months due to complications. This was in the USA. As luck would have it, we had health coverage from my employer. We had top-notch medical services and university level physicians. Nevertheless, there wasn’t a week went by my wife did not get a phone call at her bed side from the insurance company telling her she had to be discharged and they were stopping payment because they determined she could leave the hospital. We had a good perinatologist who told the company to stop harassing his patient or he’d see them in court.
The move to privatize is a fool’s errand. Were we to properly fund health care and physicians we would have the world class system we think we have. We can resolve the problems that do exist. Most of those problems, by the way, result from underfunding and cuts. Hence, the concern about a Neoconservative government which has the sole purpose of increasing shareholder profit.
The dialogue over health care is all about how the government you love to hate spends your money. It’s all about whether they prioritize your family’s health or their contributors profits. And when you go blindly shouting to axe the tax what you’re really doing is cutting off your own foot. When that happens, don’t expect Manulife or Canada Protection Plan to cover your care like OHIP. Get out that 29% interest credit card to cover the deductibles and 20% they won’t pay.
Oh, that reference to being an ex-pat USA American? More in the future, but just remember – they think Canada is part of upstate New York so whatever the man in charge is telling them they soak up like a sponge in a desert rain burst. Educate your American friends and family. Tell them the real numbers. Most are not brain dead – just brainwashed into the idiotic Protestant Ethic.
(Images Supplied)
Dennis Rizzo joins SUNonline/Orillia as a columnist writing on big issues affecting ordinary Orillians. He is an ex-pat Yank from New Jersey. Orillia, Ontario. Canada is his adopted home, but he has brought along a degree of puckishness and hubris. Dennis spent more than 30 years working in the field of disabilities, with some side trips to marketing and management. He presented and keynoted for many conferences and served on a President’s advisory committee. Dennis is the author of several journal articles and booklets in the field of disabilities and work and five non-fiction books, including A Brief History of Orillia – Ontario’s Sunshine City. He recently republished a novel set in 1776 and a mystery set in 1860. He also enjoys sitting in on music sessions around town when he can.