I wonder, do they have fundraisers for cancer patients in Canada?

[elocs]

I saw a poster for one the other day and it made me think about it. I commonly see them for all kinds of fundraisers for things like cancer or transplants or other illnesses when the person either does not have insurance or their insurance company's death panel decided to cut them off.

Are Canadians really missing out on these great opportunities in bringing their communities together?

[rucky]

1. I just attended one yesterday.

A 6yr-old kid with leukemia & family has no insurance. Totally sad. There was no warm & fuzzy feeling about this at all.

[Bragi]

2. As a Canadian, I attended one of these once

However, it was in my sister's neighbourhood in Ohio.

I can't say as I've ever seen one in Canada. If there was such an event, I guess the idea would be to raise money for some non-medical purpose.

[Lasher]

3. I was wondering how many Canadians are homeless because they got sick.

That's another great way Americans get together - under bridges and in cardboard boxes.

[indypaul]

4. And a question raised by Sen Franken

How many bankruptcies were processed in Canada (or
other countries) due to medical bills?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. I've been tempted to make a red stamp marked "Republican Health Plan" ..

.. and stamp it on every flyer begging for change I see in local businesses.

[annabanana]

9. (not a bad idea)

http://www.stamp-connection.com/products/ms11_multisurface_rubber_stamp.html

[SidDithers]

6. Not for treatment...

but there are fundraisers to assist families with living expenses, or for donor searches. A parent may not be able to work, if they need to care for a very sick child, so I've seen fundraisers to allow a parent to go without income. Also, I've seen fundraisers to help pay for compatibility testing if a family is trying to find a donor (usually bone marrow) for someone in need. The bone marrow transplant itself is covered, but, if a compatible donor is not readily available, it can cost thousands to find and test potential donors. (I think, my memory isn't what it used to be :))

Sid

[Spazito]

8. Exactly, there are fundraisers but not to cover the medical care ...

it is done for the family to cover their costs to be with the child. I am not familiar with fund raisers for bone marrow donor testing but that seems plausible as well.

[madrchsod]

11. most if not all our "beg a thons" around here are for medical costs

in my area of around 40-50 thousand across three counties there are at least two a month and sometimes three. the majority of them raise a few thousand dollars for the families.

even with insurance the cost of the deductible and what the insurance won`t cover destroys families.

no one has the guts to correct the system of health care we have.

[Spazito]

12. I know and it is very sad....

I was unaware of the horrible state of health care in the U.S. until I found DU. I think, though, you will get reform this time. It won't be universal or single payer but it will be a start. We didn't get universal right out of the gate either, it was incremental and took 20 years and we still have to fight constantly to try and keep what we have because we have Canadian neocons and US corporations constantly attacking our universal health care system in hopes of privatizing it as well.

[jwirr]

10. Those are understandable. Having accompanied my daughter to

the University of Iowa many times, I know what the costs can be. One thing they did back then in Iowa City was that the houses surrounding the hospital took us in as boarders at very reasonable costs. We also ate at the hospital cafeteria but that was costly. Some of us were lucky enough to live in the barracks while we were there. These barracks were old WWII quonset huts that doubled as homes with community baths and such. Ronald McDonald collects pop can rings to supply this kind of help at many hospitals.

[slipslidingaway]

7. Our fragmented system in the US pits one group of people against another...

in the quest for health care dollars.

Many others nations have decided that everyone is worthy of medical care and then goes about finding a way to deliver and pay for care.

[elocs]

13. These peope are most often just regular working class families who struggle,

who have tried to do everything right when a health tragedy strikes and brings them to their knees. Even if they have insurance they have been hammered by deductibles and copays until losing their home is a risk. Then in this economy there are those who have lost their jobs, lost their insurance, or have their income severely reduced. Also, imagine the stress this all brings to the one who is ill who instead on focusing on getting well is worrying about their family, especially if this is a little kid who is helpless to do anything.

[Canuckistanian]

14. I've seen a few of them here

But the fund-raising was NOT for medical costs. We have a national single payer system, so medical costs are not a factor.

The fund-raisers were to support the families of the patients for transportation, missed work, extra in-home care workers or special accomodations in the home.

Some low-income families already have a hard time, but having a family member in chronic care in a distant hospital can be devastating.

That said, I've only seen a grand total of 3 fund-raisers in our whole Eastern Ontario area.

[polly7]

15. We had one for my best friend as a child, to raise money

to send her to England for a treatment not yet approved here. She died a few months after she got home, but we did try everything. That was years ago, probably it would have been paid for by our prov. gov't plan today.