63,459 Canadians sought medical treatment outside of Canada in 2016

[athena]

20. Does the U.S. system "allow everyone to be treated in a timely manner"?

Answer: no, it doesn't. Not only do millions of people have no insurance, but millions of others have insurance that doesn't cover very much. Even those who, like myself, have excellent insurance, are regularly forced to wait upwards of three months to see a specialist for a 10-minute initial appointment. And hospitals and doctor's offices frequently make billing mistakes that increase our total out-of-pocket cost. I've spent hours calling hospitals and being put on hold, just to explain to them that I had already sent in a check that they had cashed but neglected to record in their system. After my last surgery, I spent hours, during my recovery period when I was still weak and in pain, arguing with my doctor's office because they submitted an incorrect claim to my insurance company and then tried to claim my insurance company refused to cover the procedure. The amount they charged me was more than three times what my insurance ended up paying, when, after many phone calls and e-mails, I finally managed to sort it all out. I dread going to the doctor here, and I have excellent insurance thanks to my husband's job. Consider yourself lucky to live in a country that views health care as a human right.

Note that those who don't have insurance often end up going bankrupt when they need emergency care. Tens of thousands of people die from preventable diseases like pneumonia because they lack health insurance. No one in Canada dies from a preventable disease. The only time you have to wait in Canada is when you have something that doesn't require immediate treatment. I know this because I lived in Canada for many years.

Finally, Canadians who travel to the U.S. for medical care usually do so not because of waiting times but because the specific service they need is more readily available in the U.S. than in Canada. When that is the case, Canada pays for it.

By the way, it is against DU rules to post articles from right-wing sources. "It came up in a Google search" is not a good-enough excuse.