**in Canada and I have been in contact with the health care system several times. the entire system was surly, unpolished, slow and disorganized. (For example, I had bleeding behind my retina and the only specialist I could contact could not see me for four months!)**
I may have already mentioned this, but my parents located distant cousins living in England and visited them a few times. He was the Dean of one of the Horticultural Colleges that teaches the gardeners of the Queens various gardens. He needed an MRI and was given the number 19, meaning there were 18 ahead of him. His number came up too late. He was still waiting to be called for his MRI about a month later when he died.
My parents were livid. Socialized Medicine is NOT the way to go. Had he needed the MRI in the USofA, he'd have gone to the emergency room for the initial medical problem and then been sent to Xray while his wife was signing the papers down in Admitting. AND HE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE.
I love the USofA. It's not perfect, but I do know that if I have a heart attack or a stroke, I'll be taken to the ER in an ambulance and will receive the treatment I need. With all its problems, the USofA health system is still the best one going or coming.
I'm not sure tht's true of big cities nowadays.