A friend from Winnipeg defended the Canadian system years ago. At the time his children were small, and like other children, they had their share of minor illnesses, bumps and bruises, plus they needed the usual immunizations. Canada's health system provided all that at no direct cost to him. Of course, he was paying for his children's care and probably to care for a slew of deadbeats and their children in the form of high sales and other taxes, but he thought it was worthwhile.
The children are grown now and on their own, and my friend is getting older with the usual maladies associated with aging. He complains about waiting long periods to see a doctor and worries that one day, the lack of attention will kill him. I'm not sure he's so happy about national health care now.
National health systems - the world over - do not seem to like the elderly. I was raised Catholic and we believe in taking care of the weakest among ourselves...
“He complains about waiting long periods to see a doctor and worries that one day, the lack of attention will kill him.”
It is that way here unless you go to a doc-in-a-box and then quality is hit and miss. The med schools, for whatever reason, are not putting out enough doctors.