I guess I’ll provide a counterpoint that I have been incredibly impressed with the quality of Canadian healthcare after my sister had kidney failure, was on dialysis for a year, then received a timely transplant from me and neither of us paid a dime. This was in Manitoba. She still has to pay for her medication, though - hopefully pharmacare passes in the near future.
Meanwhile down here in the US I was charged $150 after going to an urgent care clinic for strep throat. They couldn’t tell me how much it would cost ahead of time.
Also, due to a temporary billing error in the Manitoba hospital (everything was supposed to be charged to my sister's insurance, but some things weren't by mistake) the hospital's billing department half-assedly pursued me for payment for a renal ultrasound. The bill was fifteen (Canadian) dollars.
> Meanwhile down here in the US I was charged $150 after going to an urgent care clinic for strep throat.
To be honest, I don't think it is unreasonable to pay $150 for a nurse's/doctor's time to examine you. I've gone to urgent care and the ER a few times, and they're always filled with people who are there for non-issues. If it was totally free, you'd have them filled with people with things that should really just be handled by a regular doctor's appointment.
Hell, my local hospital had to make a public statement for people to stop going to the ER just to get COVID tests.
Meanwhile down here in the US I was charged $150 after going to an urgent care clinic for strep throat. They couldn’t tell me how much it would cost ahead of time.
Also, due to a temporary billing error in the Manitoba hospital (everything was supposed to be charged to my sister's insurance, but some things weren't by mistake) the hospital's billing department half-assedly pursued me for payment for a renal ultrasound. The bill was fifteen (Canadian) dollars.