I have lived both systems, and as much as I love America (and I was totally ready to become a citizen and fight for the country), the reason I moved back to Canada was because of the health care system in the US.
My wife got sick when we were living down there, and I could not believe how cumbersome and convoluted the system is. The amount of waste was just staggering.
After 5 years down there, tens of thousands of dollars spent on medical care (and I had "good" insurance for the most of it), she was on 10 different medications and was effectively sent home to die. Got her up here and in the space of a little more than a year, she was off of 9 of the 10 and living a pretty darn good life.
I have never had a situation in my life (nor have my parents or the rest of my family) where we could not get the medical care that we needed when we needed it. I have never had a situation where I could not get in to see my doctor the same day. And I mean my doctor - we don't have PA's or whatever the heck they are called, doing the doctors work. As a funny aside, when living in PA, I had the same doctor for 3 years, but I never met the man. Seriously, a PA would come out and see me, go to some mysterious, hidden room somewhere to consult with the doctor and then come back and advise me. When I go to see my doctor here, I see the doctor. No one else.
My mom recently had a stroke, and through it all, what kept coming back to me over and over and over was how happy I was that I wouldn't have to deal with some bloody insurance company and see the bills from the hospital, the various doctors, etc. coming through. Nor did I have to worry about my folks losing their home or all that they have worked for to pay the bills.
I do, however, have a constant concern about my 62 year old mother in law. They are on a fixed income, and when the medical care just for her (my father in law is a veteran) increased to over $800 a month, they just couldn't afford it anymore. And that was for very minimal care. They save that money themselves now, but the savings won't go far should their be a serious issue.
Nope, Canadian medical care ain't all bad....
