Poll of the Day > Canadian Man OPTS OUT of FREE HEALTHCARE now gets CANCER and owes 22K!!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

43 y/o Ben Fuller from British Columbia, Canada was diagnosed with Colon Cancer back in 2019 is now facing HUGE DEBT as he's already incurred over 22,000 in hospital bills!!

Although it is assumed Canadians had generally free healthcare, in BC you have a choice to OPT OUT of healthcare because the province has a Medical Services Plan where a monthly payment is paid and you will be fully covered incase any serious diseases an individual may occur.

Anyone under 18 and those 65 and over and those in low income bracket will not have to pay a monthly payment but for everyone else, the payment was only $35 a month. Enrolling into MSP is mandatory under the Medicare Protection Act but you can opt out 12 months at a time

Ben however, originally from Saskatchewan decided he'd rather save his 35 a month payment, which was just over 400 a year and OPTED OUT..but if you do, you are responsible for your own medical, hospital and health care services until the next round to opt in or out and he will not be able to opt in until that date

Now in December 2019, he became seriously ill..something was wrong with his stomach as he thought it was a food allergy until he saw a doctor for several tests and found out it was not an ulcer or gallstones..he had STAGE 4 CANCER!!

He was diagnosed with aggressive colon cancer metastatic throughout his abdomen and liver and it is incurable so chemotherapy was prescribed to extend his life

But in just 3 months, he accumulated 22,000+ in bills cause he has no insurance and his wife Kristina say they are in a burden as he even askes his doctor if he can delay his chemo until July 1st, so he can opt in for insurance again but the doctor said No, he will die by then if he delays..

They are both out of work cause of COVID-19 and have reached out to the government for goodwill and offered to pay back mised premiums over the past year in return for enrollment but the NDP government said they cannot do that and he will have to wait until July as they must respect equitably to all residents

206 people opted out of MSP in 2019 where millions of others have opted in to pay..which ironically is now NONE as the government phased out the premiums at the start of this year

His facebook page showed years past that he bragged about the monthly payments and said he saved money a year and said he would never need healthcare as he called it a government tax grab on freedom..

The couple are now praying for a positive mindset as now they have to resort to gofundme's and family to help pay for costs until July 1st as she is hopeful he will recover as they will never opt out of paying a small payment a month for full coverage healthcare...

Had Ben opted into the healthcare system, he wouldn't have had to pay his massive $22,000+ bill today for the hospital stay, pills, chemo and other services he needs..

Would you pay $420 a year for fully funded healthcare?

https://i.imgur.com/eiJ6rGs.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/RZF879E.jpg
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I already do. I moved from the US and we were paying $420 in two months for insurance. Sure, we dont have stuff like meds and dental covered but MSP, but its not like we cant buy insurance for it.

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If you're paying $35/month, it's not free. It might be greatly subsidized, but it's not free. And all he needs to do is lose most of his assets and then he'll qualify for free healthcare anyway.

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BC is weird. Generally considered to be a liberal province, but has a lot of very far right wing people living there. Like Infowars or Breitbart kind of far right. Not much middle ground.

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faramir77 posted...

BC is weird. Generally considered to be a liberal province, but has a lot of very far right wing people living there. Like Infowars or Breitbart kind of far right. Not much middle ground.

I mean not wanting to spend money on healthcare doesnt make you right wing/brebart/etc

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faramir77 posted...

BC is weird. Generally considered to be a liberal province, but has a lot of very far right wing people living there. Like Infowars or Breitbart kind of far right. Not much middle ground.

BC has always been a conservative province, just like Alberta and Saskatchewan. It's Vancouver's population density is the problem.

You have all the hippies, immigrants, and alphabet people crammed into big city crying to the government for free handouts and other socialist like policies because they can't afford normal housing, instead of moving out of the city and finding where the 'real work' is at.


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Zeus posted...

If you're paying $35/month, it's not free. It might be greatly subsidized, but it's not free. And all he needs to do is lose most of his assets and then he'll qualify for free healthcare anyway.

Its the only province that had a premium. It doesnt cost anything anymore.

faramir77 posted...

BC is weird. Generally considered to be a liberal province, but has a lot of very far right wing people living there. Like Infowars or Breitbart kind of far right. Not much middle ground.

Youre in Alberta...

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Are you kidding?!
I already pay nearly $2000 per year for bare basic shit level coverage w/ like $40 doctor visit co-pays and such. Fuck yeah, I'd pay $420 to have shit fully covered if I could!

I feel absolutely zero sympathy for anyone given such an offer that rejects it.

Full Throttle posted...

His facebook page showed years past that he bragged about the monthly payments and said he saved money a year and said he would never need healthcare as he called it a government tax grab on freedom..

He was diagnosed with aggressive colon cancer metastatic throughout his abdomen and liver and it is incurable so chemotherapy was prescribed to extend his life

But in just 3 months, he accumulated 22,000+ in bills cause he has no insurance and his wife Kristina say they are in a burden as he even askes his doctor if he can delay his chemo until July 1st, so he can opt in for insurance again but the doctor said No, he will die by then if he delays..

I believe a recurring Simpsons character had a catch-phrase for exactly this sort of situation...

206 people opted out of MSP in 2019 where millions of others have opted in to pay..which ironically is now NONE as the government phased out the premiums at the start of this year

Damn, that makes it even funnier!

And bravo to the government for not caving in, and making him live (hopefully) with his poor decisions. I'm sure that rugged individualism will protect him.

considering my "health insurance" before I worked full time was $180 per month with an insane deductible, $420 per year is basically nothing. health insurance is a joke in this country.

Wow someone doesn't like facts.....LOL, cowards.

zebatov posted...

The problem with Canada in general. Vancouver is to BC what Toronto/Ontario/Quebec is to Canada. One tiny portion of the map should never dictate how the vast majority of the rest of the area lives. Especially the areas that support them and their lifestyle.

QFT

...and further the point, Ontario is the same to all of Canada.... few people thinking they can dictate the lives of those who live in the prairies and mountains?

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Well, I'm British so no need. Already pay it in me taxes o course, and a jolly fine setup it is and no mistake, guvner.

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Why are some people pro car insurance but not health insurance?

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streamofthesky posted...

rugged individualism

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what a fucking dumbass

$35 a month is nothing, even if you end up not actually needing to use it

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I mean with Stage 4 cancer it doesn't really matter at that point.

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Bulbasaur posted...

what a fucking dumbass

$35 a month is nothing, even if you end up not actually needing to use it

It's an extra $35/mo that he got to keep and would've otherwise done nothing for him. He's fucked.

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$35/mo?!?
Just fucking let me die.

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Krow_Incarnate posted...

It's an extra $35/mo that he got to keep and would've otherwise done nothing for him. He's fucked.

at least i hope they lube up, his poor colon is already in trouble, ok?

but i've always believed it's better to have and not need, than to need and not have, ok?

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Tragic on an individual level, but evolutionary hilarious. It's all very sad for him and his family.... But come on now, he had insanely cheap healthcare and he's still stupid enough to take this kind of unnecessary risk that already left his family indebted to a hospital, all for an extra $35 a month, or whatever his reason might have been. He doesn't deserve help or sympathy, nor is his suffering of any importance

ClarkDuke posted...

at least i hope they lube up, his poor colon is already in trouble, ok?

but i've always believed it's better to have and not need, than to need and not have, ok?

I mean, I agree with that. I would've paid for it myself.

Although I don't think it's quite as cheap as people are making it out to be. These are Canadian dollars we're talking about.

Still, it sounds pretty identical to a Medicare Supplement which can run upwards of $200-$400/mo in the states.

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Bulbasaur posted...

$35 a month is nothing,

Especially because it's Canadian money. $35 CAD is probably only like $22 USD. Granted, given how much the government squeezes people in taxes up there, it could be an every dollar counts sorta deal.

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Unfortunately, people are stupid. People make dumb choices. Allowing people to opt out of health care coverage only allows people to make a dumb decision. The concept of opt-out coverage is ridiculous when it comes to a service that anyone could likely need, but cannot predict.

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Some people pay 420 in a few months and still end up owing huge amounts on medical bills in America. The health insurance in America is playing people like fiddles. They take our money then when we need them, they renege on paying our costs.

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Krow_Incarnate posted...

I mean with Stage 4 cancer it doesn't really matter at that point.

Thats what I was thinking. You tell me I have something incurable and Im running up all my bills

Well... it's almost the same amount I pay for compulsory health care (state-sponsored). So...

I pay more than his monthly bill would've been in a single paycheck for my shitty insurance. No sympathy here

420 bucks a year for quality healthcare? Please I'm already paying MUCH more and the heathcare in this country is much worse

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Zeus posted...

If you're paying $35/month, it's not free. It might be greatly subsidized, but it's not free.

It's not truly free, but in terms of personal budgeting, it might as well be. "Free" in this case doesn't necessarily mean "you pay nothing for it" so much as "you never have to worry about paying for health care costs because you've already budgeted your $35/month." I'm not sure why people like you fixate so much on the "it's not technically free!" angle when it does so little to discredit the key point of the matter, which is that health care is infinitely more accessible than many other health care systems (namely the US').

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adjl posted...

It's not truly free, but in terms of personal budgeting, it might as well be. "Free" in this case doesn't necessarily mean "you pay nothing for it" so much as "you never have to worry about paying for health care costs because you've already budgeted your $35/month." I'm not sure why people like you fixate so much on the "it's not technically free!" angle when it does so little to discredit the key point of the matter, which is that health care is infinitely more accessible than many other health care systems (namely the US').

And I'm not sure why people pretend to ignore the key point in the matter which is the headline talking about optining out of free healthcare. There's little incentive to opt out of something you're paying nothing for, but there's a tangible benefit to opt out of something you're paying for. But feel free to ignore what Ducky is doing so you can peddle your agenda.

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