Thinking of costs

 I have not thought about it for a while because Edward being ill was expensive and he was in the hospital a number of times and once for four weeks. But myself I only go to a doctor once a year and the optometrist I have changed to every 16 months and usually one set of blood tests per year. So in total I pay a huge amount for my medical insurance and really do not use very much but one never knows for sure and the system has to support itself. It is interesting how our medical system works really. We have OHIP in Ontario and I  have medical insurance I pay for and then I also pay income tax which includes a medical tax in Ontario based on the amount you earn so that helps to support OHIP with transfer payments coming back from the Federal government to the provinces. Then my private medical insurance gets paid out to the members who use it (including me like my $24 return for a retinal scan which was 90%). I could have bought new glasses but passed on that this time as these glasses suit me and I only use them when I am on a computer. I carry a magnifying glass so that I can read the best buy dates on the groceries hence didn't bother going from 2x to 2.25x.  It is co-operative our medical care; not sure one would really call it socialist. After all if we do not need the care then the insurance is just paid by me to make sure that if I ever did then it would be covered without putting a strain on my children. So I do like our medical system. But then I am not waiting for any surgeries or care; Edward certainly received care when he needed it but it is more specialized items that one ends up waiting for due to availability of surgical suites/surgeons/etc. The ERs are busy for sure but they were when I was younger actually even as a child. I cut my leg when I was about six years of age and had to go into the ER on a weekend which included a holiday in the summer. I can remember waiting for quite a while for the stitches; triage stopped the bleeding but no room for the stitching for a bit. To save a trip back to that busy ER my godmother who was a nurse took the stitches out. I think medicine is much smoother now in terms of necessary visits. Luckily for me I seldom go anywhere so do not appear to catch anything and I get my Flu Shot and COVID shot (2x) every year. Again there is a cost to these shots and it is covered by OHIP which comes out of my taxes. The one extra I carry is international medical insurance although I have virtually no interest in travel but it is set up just in case I need to do that. Edward loved traveling and I discovered after traveling so much that I really didn't care for it and seldom go anywhere.