Graham wrote:

>> Wait lists are an issue. It takes longer to get an MRI or CAT scan, but if
>> it is urgent people are bumped up the line. At least they can still get
>> the tests, unlike places where they are available only if you have
>> insurance or the money to pay for it.
>>
> I remember American journo Diane Francis recounting that as her father had
> had back trouble, he couldn't get insurance. Therefore, when he later
> developed cancer, he couldn't afford the chemo and died much sooner than he
> should have.
>
> There was also an interview with a young Dr working in a hospital in a
> large US city. He had a patient in ICU whose insurance ran out and the
> insurer ordered him to send her home!!
>
> How many tales do we read or hear of like this?

Yep, we hear horror stories like that all the time from south of the
border. FWIW, my sister in law has just been diagnosed with cancer. My
brother suffers from depression and is on a disability pension. She had
had a numebr of low paying jobs. They could never afford medical
insurance. She went to the doctor a month ago about back pain and got an
MRI which picked up a spot on her liver and was then sent for a
biopsy. It is a cancerous tumor. Worse yet, it is a secondary cancer,
so she was referred to an oncologist and saw him this week. Next week
she goes for a whack of tests to find the primary cancer.

Her health situation really sucks, but it would be a lot worse if they
had to pay for all that. I will try to be optimistic about the outcome,
but it is not going to ruin them financially.