The following is not to knock the Canadian system. It works fine for them. And, the issue described below is more by choice than chance as it helps keep costs lower.
It should be noted that once they see their primary doctor Canadians are well pleased with their care.
The question is what limitations, what changes in receiving care are Americans expecting and willing to accept?
There is no question America needs some form of universal coverage.
However, currently the greatest deception being played on Americans is that M4A will be much less expensive, cover virtually all health care services with no out of pocket costs and allow no interference between patient and doctor. In other words, everything Americans like about their health care (or expect) remains, and the annoying stuff disappears, but it’s all much less expensive.🤔
“A 2018 report showed that the average wait time to see a specialist in Canada was 19.8 weeks. Saskatchewan was the province with the shortest wait time (15.4 weeks) while New Brunswick reported waiting 45.1 weeks – the longest in the country. Wait times also depend on the kind of specialist you want to see or procedure you need. For example, for orthopedic surgery, the average wait time is 39 weeks. For medical oncology, it is 3.8 weeks.
When it comes to seeing a doctor, in 2017 it was reported that 43% of Canadians were able to get an appointment with a doctor the day of or the next day. Twenty percent said that they waited at least a week.“
Source: https://www.internations.org/go/moving-to-canada/healthcare
The waiting time for an MRI can be four months.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
A failed ideology socialist country is a democrat dream and an American nightmare.
LikeLike
Reading your post I realized that everything about American healthcare is focused on costs and patient interaction with their doctors. Last year when I injured my knee, it took about two months from injury to being able to walk and put weight back on my knee. My appointment times were less than a week, but there were many appointments involving 5 different offices / imagining centers to get me walking again even though my injury did not require surgery.
So my question is what kind of disability insurance or government payments do they have in Canada? There is no way that I could be out of work for 9-10 months waiting for an appointment just to start the process of healing. After 10 months, I my legs would be so weak that the physical therapy time would have to be many months longer than what I did. In America, I would probably lose my job after being out of work for more than a year because I was waiting for a doctor. I cannot see American businesses holding jobs for that long either. There are always employees out sick with major illnesses but it seems like in Canada even small employers could have a few out of work at any given time just waiting to be seen by a doctor. They would have to hire extra employees just to cover the employees out sick waiting for treatment.
When I was working I had great benefits and by the time I retired I had about 250 sick days but that would not even be enough if I wait 10 months waiting to see the orthopedic doctor just to start treatment. What are employees to do if they do not have sick time? New Jersey disability insurance only pays you for 26 weeks at 66% (going up to 85% in July 2020). You may not have seen a doctor during that time before you run out of benefits and a loss of 33-15% of your income will affect your financial health after a 6 months and you still have not started treatment.
If America adopts the Canadian plan and expectations, does this mean that there is going to be a cost shift to the welfare system? Are disability insurance rates going to go through the roof? Would disability payment have to be extended to 18 months? Are these hidden costs that Canada doesn’t talk about? Treatment costs might be lower but somebody has to be paying for a patient sitting at home waiting to be treated while they can’t work.
LikeLike