I agree with the health care system of Canada 100%. I simply cannot imagine having a tens of thousands dollar injury hit you and force you to go bankrupt, or lose your life savings. The problem however is all these baby boomers who want to live forever and get the smallest of operation because it's free, and we're paying for it the young people. Still, the peace of mind more than makes up for it. And it's cheaper too! Cheaper per person than if it was a private system.
A. You live in a rural area B. You got lucky C. He was so close to death that they had no choice. My guess is C.
All of the trouble with Canadian Health Care except exorbitant cost are also present in the US, but of course the extent to which they are present may be quite different. These anecdotal accounts are of very limited value in evaluating the relative merits of the two systems. My own view is that the US system is in effect a cartel, and if the cartel was broken by introducing more competition and health delivery options, costs would come down, but it is doubtful that the quality of care would change much for better or worse. I recently had an excellent experience with Brazil's Health care system, somewhat to my surprise. I suppose we are all somewhat brainwashed by propaganda promulgated by those that have a vested interest in whatever health care system we happen to be stuck with.
Having spent more than a decade under each of US and Canadian healthcare systems I greatly prefer the Canadian approach. In terms of overall efficacy the systems are approximately equal, the primary differences being (a) the US system costs twice as much for equivalent care and (b) what Canada gains with universal access it sometimes gives back with longer lineups. The last personal experience I had with a major medical condition in Canada involved my mother - she went from ER admittance to installed pacemaker in ~8 hours - and this was being admitted on a weekend night. Exceptional care for no out-of-pocket expense. The last personal experience I had with a major medical condition in the US was a birth, at Beth Israel in Boston (part of Harvard med school). The care was very good, absolutely nothing to complain about, and our first rate insurance plan took care of everything. Through a spousal unit I also had a great deal of exposure to a major US research hospital that shall remain nameless. The difference in care between those who had "good" insurance and those who had Walmart insurance was incredibly stark and impossible to avoid noticing given our position (spousal was tenured researcher, I spent a lot of time inside the place.) I personally found it shocking that people could be treated that badly and their lives handled so cavalierly. It is important to realize all health policies are effectively doing the same thing: rationing care in the face of essentially infinite demand. So they will all have shortcomings, and they will all lose a percentage of patients "needlessly". IMO it is important for a society to have a frank internal discussion about what exactly they want to accomplish with their health policy - and part of that frankness needs to be acknowledgement that (a) no matter what is done, and no matter how much is spent, people will still die "needlessly" and (b) we can only spend so much (*cough* medicare *cough*).
Firstly, Let me say that I am glad things worked out for your family members. Your story in no way tells if the health care system in Canada is top quality or not. Not anymore than one single story about how bad it is. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Canada spends huge amounts of money on its health care that could go towards other things and has the luxury of hiding much of the expenses due to Canada's ability to export natural resources. I like the USA pay as you go system as its the most honest about the costs. That honesty keeps the system as efficient as it can be. Honesty may not 'feel' good at times but in the end I think that it makes an environment that keeps pushing health care to get better and better.
You absolutely have to be kidding. There is nothing honest about pricing of American Health care. Corrupt DRs and hospitals can basically make up any fee that insurance will allow and bill it. This level of naivety is how we got into this mess. Why cant anyone ever tell you what an operation will cost? There is no way to compare prices for a procedure, you just have to "hope" you are charged a reasonable price. Robert.......you must be a DR.
I hope your not proud of that. My last MRI I had to wait about 20 minutes and it was not life threatening. I can't imagine having to wait three months.