This is complete bullshit. In many European countries you get screenings for most common tumors (bowel, for women uterus and breast) for free depending on your age. Cancer treatment and chronic disease treatment is top notch and you get it for free (you pay it with taxes), like everything else. There is no such thing as "not being covered because treatment is expensive"---I had to reread that sentence twice because I thought you were talking about the US.

Life expectancy is higher in most of Europe than in the US, which would be pretty hard to achieve if people died because of "death panels" and waiting lists to see a specialist. Plus prevention is actually a thing.

Elective surgery has a waiting list that can be weeks or months, but this doesn't translate to everything else. If it takes months to get an NMR, probably it was the patient that insisted to get a useless one. If your GP marks an exam as urgent you can get it within a few days.