I'm Canadian, and I like our system. If you're in danger, you'll get that CT scan now. It'll take longer if your case doesn't require urgent care. But I've never waited for medical care more than what I would think was unsafe. Coverage isn't perfect, but it's getting better. I would pick this over your system any day of the week.
It also confuses me whenever Americans bring up that point to defend their profit-driven system, because to me it seems like bringing up something that's completely unrelated to money and billing just to make the other systems look worse by any means. How does a publicly-funded system intrinsically cause longer wait times? From what I can see here, it's an issue of doctor supply, caused by some of the most gruelling, limited-capacity and expensive training processes in the country, as well as purposeful underfunding by the provinces, not by how much money I pay on the way out.
Actually, maybe there is one factor in pricing that causes shorter wait times. I know it's not uncommon for people in the US to wait until they're basically dying to get medical care, because they're that averse to financial ruin. That would naturally cause somewhat lower demand, if you're okay with existing in that system with those kinds of externalities.
It also confuses me whenever Americans bring up that point to defend their profit-driven system, because to me it seems like bringing up something that's completely unrelated to money and billing just to make the other systems look worse by any means. How does a publicly-funded system intrinsically cause longer wait times? From what I can see here, it's an issue of doctor supply, caused by some of the most gruelling, limited-capacity and expensive training processes in the country, as well as purposeful underfunding by the provinces, not by how much money I pay on the way out.
Actually, maybe there is one factor in pricing that causes shorter wait times. I know it's not uncommon for people in the US to wait until they're basically dying to get medical care, because they're that averse to financial ruin. That would naturally cause somewhat lower demand, if you're okay with existing in that system with those kinds of externalities.