In Canada and in Britain, you simply go to your local GP and get a referral, or go to A&E (Emergancy).
>> but serious issues remain problematic.
No, generally treatment in Canada and Britain for 'serious issues' is very good as well.
We all hear about the well publicised failures of the NHS and Canadian Healthcare, but by and large it works very well. I have seen close relatives and friends have cancer, septicemia, strokes, severe bone breaks, a life changing injury that made a friend a quadrapeligic, and more. For the most post part, the level of healthcare in Canada and Britain has been excellent.
My friend who had septicemia was in a very remote location, and once diagnosed was airlifted to a major hospital.
All of this is covered by public healthcare. It is amazing.
It is even more astounding that the USA still has this Byzantine 'private' system that tries to claim that it is an open market, but it is not.
From a macroeconomic point of view, the USA pays 18% or 19% of GDP for its healthcare system, where as Britain and Canada, and pretty much every other western country pay about 10%. (These are OECD figures) The American healthcare system is horribly inefficient, and puting in a public system ought to be every American's politicial priority.
Imagine that, a universal healthcare system is cheaper to operate than the private system?
The rhetoric and hyperbole that comes out of those who are vested in the status quo is outright criminal.
I have a preferred doctor who doesnt have an xray machine. Obviously getting an xray image is the first step before even talking to the doctor. An xray of your hand is a _very_ basic procedure. My plan was to get my own image from a conveniently close facility of my choice and bring it to the doctor.
This is an open commercial market right? I decided to play a quick game with this and ask all my in-network local providers what their charge would be for just an x-ray of my left hand.
A car mechanic should be able to quickly give you an up-front estimate for common procedures, why not an imaging facility?
If youve read this far youre probably not surprised I called 4 different facilities, followed up with a series of requests over multiple days and failed to receive even one straight answer except "come in and we will see what we can do".
It makes me realize how soul-crushing the experience can be in this so-called "open market" to find the best possible treatment when you have a more complicated problem. The amount of leg-work, scheduling, waiting for doctors and getting opinions all while in pain would break the spirit of most anyone.
Is it really that much simpler in other countries to connect with the proper provider? I was under the impression countries like canada handle simple problems like mine much more gracefully but serious issues remain problematic.