From: gld@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Gary L Dare)
Subject: Re: National Health Care
Summary: Canadian Sunbelt retirees with personal health insurance entitlements
Reply-To: gld@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Gary L Dare)
Organization: Curious Goods (formerly Louis Vendredi Antiques)
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 18:35:37 GMT

<jbrow@glv.com> writes:
>DGS4@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
>> 
>> Ah the old "theft" argument.  I've heard that line so often I don't even
>> dignify it with a reply anymore.  Your facts are wrong.  Canada has wonderful
>> doctors and health care.  So does France.  So does Germany.
>
>It's amazing how the Canadian health care system is so wonderful, yet 
>almost all the Canadian relatives (who live near the U.S. border) of one
>friend of mine venture down to the U.S. for most of their health care 
>(while simultaneously mouthing off about how wonderful the Canadian 
>system is).

>Path: news.columbia.edu!rpi!gatech!concert!glv!brownfield!jbrow

From the enormous hops taken in-between to get to my news site, it's
hard to tell where you're located but a good guess would place you're
in the Carolinas or Florida ... areas where LOTS of retired Canadians
live to escape the brutal winters or spend full-time (two very famous
Canadian retiree colonies are found in Florida ... primarily French-
speaking Quebecois ... and Arizona ... primarily Western Canadians).
Since I can't think of any other reason for a fellow Canadian to come
all the way down for regular care, that would go a long way to explain
your claims in a comprehendable fashion (to a real Canadian -- you
Americans can continue to let your imaginations run riot (-;).

These Canadian retirees are able to use their provincial health plan
insurance where they're in large numbers ... La Presse in mid-January
(Montreal's largest French daily) had an article about how many Miami
hospitals and clinics, in Little Montreal and the surrounding areas,
openly display the symbol of Quebec's La Regie de L'Assurance-Sante',
that they accept their payment on the Quebec provincial fee schedule.
One old man commented that their Regie insurance payments went to pay
for poor Americans who were piled up in the Emergency ward out back
("a l'arriere") for the stuff he would have normally caught well in
advance.  (National Geographic's February 1990 issue of has an article
on these retirees, called "Quebec South" ... so many retirees are down
there that the Turks and Cacaos Islands in the Caribbean have twice
petitioned to join Canada and get a slice of the retirement pie as a
"domestic" location.)

A second area where this is common is in Arizona, where retirees have
found themselves following their retired doctors, who see them during
their part-time practices (to get a Green Card, rather than use the
usual "temporary" resident alien retiree visas, and qualify for some
American public benefits on top of their Canadian and personal funds).

Cape Hatteras (sp?) is another growing Canadian warm weather colony,
in the Carolinas somewhere (New York Rangers' Mark Messier has put
his parents down there, of course visiting often to get in rounds
of golf on the side -- that's where he spent the NHL strike) -- my
geographic gets sketchy down there. (-l

So if these are Canadian retirees chilling out for the winter down in
warmer climates, able to use their heatlh insurance, why not?  That
would save them more time for summer fun -- no matter that you've had
10 Christmases in L.A., as a Canadian you're running in winter mode.
And, these retirees are not necessarily flush, either, but significant
numbers join in this trend enjoy American Social Security on top of
Canada (or Quebec) Pension Plan and company retirement and/or RRSP's
(IRA's in Americanese) ... that puts them over the top, and down to
Florida; many people in Miami's "Little Montreal" were WW II draft
dodgers who worked in the U.S., or teenagers who took jobs vacated by
Americans who enlisted when America joined the war, and stayed around
for the 50's (these were back in the old days of free movement); then
20/30/40 years later, they retire from their job in Canada and find
that old Social Security card and call the US Consulate to check on
their account balance and ...  ooh la la!!!  (-;

If I could golf in Arizona or spend a day at the beach in Florida,
come home or go to the bar for a tall cool one just as the hockey
game on satellite television starts, and know that I've got my own
health insurance entitlement ... I'd be feeling pretty good, too!

gld
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Je me souviens ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gary L. Dare				Elections 1992-93:
> gld@cunixB.cc.columbia.EDU		* Jean Chretien (Canada)
> gld@cunixc.BITNET			* Perot^H^H^H^H^H Elvis! (USA)
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