Hi,
@Mr.fun .... I hear your frustration with the wait times you're experiencing with your Canadian healthcare system. Trust me.....no country has the "perfect" answer when it comes to providing healthcare to it's citizens.
But I do need to clarify a few things about American healthcare. It's a little different than what you think.
Pretty much everyone in the US is covered by some type of healthcare insurance, unless they opt not to get it. It's not a national healthcare system like what is available in Canada, the UK, Europe, or Australia. Many companies offer medical insurance options through a group plan with one of our country's insurance providers as a benefit. It is not mandatory for employers to do this, but many do. There are usually several levels of coverage that involve payments from the employer as a benefit and some amount of money paid by the employee as well on a monthly basis (plus copays at the time of service). So, it's normally not free healthcare, even when it's a benefit.
If a person is employed by a business or company that does not offer an insurance benefit, there is an open market where people can shop for various types of medical insurance policies. The policies vary by state and usually have a number of options for the type of coverage and monthly cost. Some policies are part of a particular hospital network (where you must use their hospitals and doctors or pay out-of-network costs) and others (usually more expensive) allow you to go to any doctor you choose. All of these policies have monthly expenses for the insurance itself and additional copays that are required at the time of service.
If a person is unemployed or they meet certain low income requirements, they can be covered under their state's Medicaid program. These programs may have restrictions on who you can use for service and they may also have some copays at the time of service. There may also be some small monthly payment required.
People 65 and older who want health insurance must sign up to be covered under Medicare, which is a national healthcare program. There are many choices for plans - some at no cost and others that have monthly fees. But Medicare plans only cover 80% of the cost so there are copays for most plans with good coverage. So, a lot of people purchase "gap" policies to cover the difference.
While people can't go to hospitals or Emergency Rooms to ask for clothes or meals, our hospital ERs are required to evaluate and stabilize anyone who comes in the door. The only way they can not treat someone is if they are not in an unstable condition and it's not an emergency. Consequently our ERs are usually quite crowded and have long waits, just like you describe. We do have a lot of walk-in clinics located throughout our cities that help with this. You can go to them rather than going to the ER or trying to schedule with a doctor. They are usually for things like minor injuries, colds and the flu....that type of thing. Many of our hospitals, clinics, and doctors also use telemedicine now to offer another option that can be quicker.
Our wait times to see doctors and particularly specialists has increased in the last 10 years or so. New patients typically may wait 3 months or more to see a doctor. If you're already a patient, the wait times are more like 3 weeks. It does seem to be fairly easy to get necessary imaging done here, because we have a lot of independent imaging companies and a person is free to choose where they go. Wait times for surgery is in the 3-month time frame as well.
To me, the biggest difference in US healthcare and other countries is that we have a lot of choices in our medical insurance plans. This is good and bad, because it forces people to search for what suits them best. There are companies that will provide this service for you to help select the best plan for you and they do not charge for the service. But it's still a lot of work that some people can't or won't put in to get the best option for their situation. Each year we have Open Season in November and December and everyone is free to change insurance plans if they want to. Then you have to do the research all over again, which can be quite tedious.
There are good and bad points about any system. The important thing is to be an advocate for yourself and try as hard as you can to get the service you want and need within whatever framework is set up. It can be a challenge, no matter where a person lives.
United States
