I am a Yankeedog, working in Cowtown, Alberta.
A colleague in the next cubicle, an immigrant from China, was found to have thyroid cancer. He was told that he could have his surgery in four months or so. He got on the plane and went to Tampa, FL, and had his surgery 'directly' (as we say in Da Sowf) for ~$10k CND, and happy to do so.
Some may recall that my US quack wanted me to have a colonoscopy shortly (in the next couple of weeks). As I pay into Alberta Health Care, I inquired up here about getting the test done. I was told, Sure, we will do it without cost to you; however, as this is diagnostic, and therefore speculative, you can have it done--in about 3 years. I considered that as my sawbones had in mind something closer to Friday, I came home to the Land of the Rich and the Home of the Slave and got a guided video tour of my lower intestinal tract the next week for a net out-of-pocket cost (thanks God for health insurance!) of about $1,800.
There are accounts in the local papers of people who died of cancer while waiting for a diagnostic test.
Suggesting that things could be done different in any way is political suicide here. Like proposing income tax in Texas or Washington or sales tax in Oregon. The local health care arrangement is as sacrosanct as Social Security in the lower 48. Definitely a sacred cow.
I know people who owe their life to the local health care system, so give credit where credit is due, but I think that a mix of private and public, as found in several places such as Mexico, Costa Rica, etc., would serve the wider public better.
Just my dos centavos.
El Gitano.