It is interesting getting input from real Canadians (you guys are "real", right?) on this stuff from Ray, Bob and Al. I have heard and read so much absolute Bull-**** about how bad the Canadian/English/French/German/Dutch/Swedish (pick one or add your own) health care systems are compared to what we have in the US and I KNOW, from first-hand experience in France and Germany (and second hand input from Canada and the UK) that health care outside of the US is often as good or BETTER than what we are offered here, and I live within spitting distance of Boston with the best health care offerings in the world.
I, personally, have needed surgical procedures while on business trips in France and Germany and I have nothing but great things to say about both systems AND their handling of insurance issues cross-border. THEY initiated the insurance interaction and THEY resolved any issues and I ended up paying, at most, a $50 dollar co-pay for something I would have paid several thousands for (after insurance) were I still at home and I got excellent care. I see that as a petty good deal from a so-called "socialist" health care system. Maybe they're just a government that is trying to offer a better quality of life for their constituents?
That whole "Socialist" thing has been thrown around a lot, lately (especially on Fox News, because it is their main bludgeon against the Democrats), and given a lot of bad rap without anyone actually challenging their position with people who "walk the walk" - actual people who live there. Maybe this is our chance, right here on a so-called "Car Forum" to set the record straight with our Canadian friends. Their health care is pretty damn good! "Socialism" is a spectrum of ideologies transitioning from light government intrusion (think your local DMV) to government involved with just about everything. There are an infinite number of degrees in that spectrum and it is up to the populace to decide where in that spectrum they wish to live.
I live within a 60 minute car ride from Boston, a place offering the best health care in the World (like the Lahey or Mayo or Dana-Farber clinics and numerous research facilities), but that depends on whether your insurance will pay for a substantial part of it, or whether YOU can pay for all of it (and remember, we here in Massachusetts still have what the original "Obamacare" was based on, developed by a bi-partisan legislature, accepted by popular vote and signed into Massachusetts law by a Republican, Mitt Romney. WE are living with the original "Obamacare" and loving it).
We often hear of "miraculous" procedures done at Mass. General or Tufts or Brigham and Women's Hospitals for people brought in from war zones or refugees or whatever, and you know what? A lot of those are done pro-bono by the entire surgical team because they wanted to do it, as reported on local news. That is not socialism, that is compassion.
There is also a waiting list for a lot of advanced procedures and any and all of those procedures are extremely expensive. Yes, many people from other countries come here to Massachusetts (or various satellite sites scattered around North America and Europe) not because it is cheaper, but because, for the time being, THIS is where the best talent is and no other reason. When that talent leaves (and that might take a bit of time), people looking for it either follow it to other countries (Canada, UK, Mexico, India, etc) or hope that the replacement USA talent is up to the task.
I have a friend since childhood currently going through Chemo for kidney and intestinal cancer. The treatments are scheduled at three times per month (all she can stand, really). The procedures cost $75,000 each month and their insurance, thankfully, picks up $60,000 of that. Is that stealing $60,000 per month from other people who are contributing to the health insurance plan? Or is that just how "insurance" is supposed to work? Either way, they're still out $15K per month while living on retirement income - that hurts, for sure, and they're struggling, but they're making it, so far, but barely. By the way, if they were in the UK (I have no experience with the Canadian Health Care System) they would be paying their usual visit co-pay of £10 pounds (about $15 bucks) and that's it and I know, from the experience of friends in the UK, that they would NOT be "waiting to get on a treatment list". They would be attended to within a week, same as here.
BUT! That extraordinary talent in Boston is realizing that they can return to their home countries (over 80% of the specialist talent in Massachusetts health care is NOT from America and they had to pay for their educations without benefit of student loans). They can help a lot of their fellow countrymen and women to a better quality of life AND still make a better than average wage without all of the debilitating hassles of the American Health Care Insurance System, so they are beginning to leave in droves. THAT is why the interval between diagnosis and treatment is beginning to stretch out in the US - Not because the technology isn't there, but because the talent behind the technology is leaving.
Think about that for a second......... Will your local specialty centers be next? I'm betting that they will be, because contributing more than 40% of a doctor's or specialists time to dealing with insurance issues just seems stupid, to me, and to them, too.