Graig,

>My point is, if you need surgery to stay alive, you shouldn't be put on a waiting list that pushes your surgery out several months, unless it's something like a transplant, where the right donor needs to be found.


And you're assuming that is something characteristic for 'socialised' healthcare? Nope, not here (anymore). The problem with these kind of issues is the problem of availability and capacity of the available specialists. That problem exists in any healthcare system whether its purely commercial or socialised. The only advantage might be that if you're in the top %5 who can afford it you might be able to buy yourself on top of the waiting list.


You're making my point.





>
>>I can't believe people buy this stupid argument. Yes, if you've got the money you can buy excellent healthcare that might not be available elsewhere. However, its extremely difficult to find that good healthcare. For 95% (if not more) of all US americans, they would be way better off in Canada.
>>
>>There is an endless list of reasons why healthcare in the US is so expensive, of low average quality and why people are excluded from it. Again, if you think that a silly argument of foreigners buying healthcare in the US is going to make those other arguments away is like sticking your head into the sand. It does not apply to 95% of all americans.
>>
>>
>>Everyone here in the Netherlands, can make an appointment with their familiy doctor, have an appt today (if urgent, else next day), have a consult without waiting for hours, get a prescription, get their medicines without drawing their wallet once. I have never, ever had to open my wallet for any medical or dental procedure. Even last summer when my son hurt his knee while I was on holliday in Turkey, I did not have to open my wallet for that x-ray and consult. Only the painkillers of $5 I had to pay cash.
>>
>>The US should be ashamed for lagging behind as much as they do right now.