It's insane to me that we celebrate our healthcare system, yet don't have universal payer for vision, dental, and prescription drugs. We need to work towards covering those things as well.
I agree. While I think we need to open up our health care system to private sector outfits and private money, as they do in Europe, I also think it's absurd that people can't afford the dental, eye care and prescriptions they need.
I grew up poor. I grew up with lousy teeth. Terrible teeth, which I knew were terrible, so I didn't put much effort into them, which made them even more terrible. When did I finally get them fixed? When I went to work for the government. Even then there's a cap on 'cosmetic' work, so I spent thousands, and ultimately, almost fifteen thousand of my own money to get my teeth in shape. I couldn't afford that when I was poor or lower middle class.
Eyecare. When you go to get glasses you're presented with different priced options for the lenses. Unless you've seen through a prescription pair of eyeglasses with the middle level lenses, and then one with the highest level, you fail to appreciate the difference. It's substantial. The best lenses deliver more clarity and more light. But if you're not reasonably well off you can't afford them.
As for prescriptions, New Zealand has some of the cheapest prescriptions out there because they negotiate a discount based on their size. There is no reason Canada couldn't do the same and save billions on the cost, but the federal government shows little interest in doing so.
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