Canadian. These days I cannot see many pros. More and more private health care options are cropping up to compensate for shortcomings in the universal system.
We pay for the universal system with our taxes, so for the average person there is not a lot of money left for private care too.
I don't have a doctor because my province restricts billing numbers for doctors. I moved to a new town a few years ago and have been unable to find a doctor willing to take new patients.
Hence, I get no continuity in care because I am forced to use walk in clinics and see a different doctor each time. At a walk in clinic, you are just a "number", not a patient.
My father would not be alive if it were not for the US health care system. He suffered three heart attacks and was, as it turns out, lucky enough to suffer all three when in the United States. He received immediate corrective surgery while on vacation (covered by the travel insurance). Had those heart attacks happened in Canada, he would have gone on a long waiting list for the surgery (years) and probably would not be with us today.
Compare the wait times for cancer diagnostic and cancer surgery in the US vs. Canada. Hey if I need cancer diagnosis, I'll be taking my wallet to the US rather than wait.
I almost died 8 years ago after emergency surgery. There were staff cut-backs in the hospital. I came in through emergency, had emergency surgery and despite that it was slow on the emergency ward that evening, shortly after surgery (before I had even awakened from the anaesthetic) they stuffed me in a wheelchair and sent me home. A couple of hours later the incision (abdominal) broke open and I almost bled to death.
An adequately funded health care system would not send a person home from surgery 2 hours after surgery when the patient has not even awoken from the anaesthetic. It happened to me because of cut-backs in funding for the wonderful "free" health care system.
Are you getting a picture of how I feel about the Canadian health care system? IF not, I could go on.
