Sinbad said:
As a Brit who lives under the beleaguered national health system I can confidently say despite its shortcomings at times. It's something most of us are extremely proud of still and the thought of being rendered heavily in debt due to health concerns is a completely alien concept to us. The only way that would happen is from an inability to work rather than an inability to pay our medical bills.
Here in Canada, our Health Care System is very similar to the UK model, and I thank our lucky stars every day for it. Particularly, if you have a family member who suffers from a chronic illness like we do.
However, the negative side, the Canadian health system is far from perfect, and can be a frustrating/anxiety filled experience if you have any illness that falls outside the norm or you require a specialist, then the wait list times become very stressful.
My daughter has suffered from a mystery/undiagnosed illness for almost 5 years... she has missed out on most of her formative teenage years due to her condition and now at 18, when she should be going off to college and chasing her dreams, she is still living at home because she never knows where her next episode will strike.
In Canada, it feels like the right hand does not talk to the left hand. Our GP does the best he can, sending out requests for different specialists, each with a minimum 6 month wait, and each time a different diagnoses that contradicts the previous one, a different prescription of meds, and no improvement. 5 years she has been on the merry go around, and while expense wise it has been minimal, treatment wise it has been heart breaking disappointing.
So after 5 years of this non sense, we are taking her to the Mayo Clinic (the number one ranked diagnostic clinic in the world) in the USA in hopes of finding answers and a treatment plan that works for her. The expense is extraordinary!!! But in one week, she will get more testing than she has had in the past 5 years!
I guess my rant is... or my take away is.... no matter the medical system.... if you have something more aggressive than a flu or cold, the health care system is not designed to easily aid you unless you have the money to go private it seems...