For the citizen, none. For the insurance companies, they get forced signups.
> Does the lack of a large private insurance market in countries with government-provided health insurance cause lots of inefficiencies and waste?
The US spends the most of any nation on health care. The US is the only western nation with increasing infant and maternal mortality rates.
Actually, that's false. I can assure you that having lived in Canada and having moved to the US because of health care, having options beyond "deal with it" when not getting any sort of care or service is wonderful. Single-payer is great if you are actually getting the care you need. But when it fails, you are left with little to no alternative.
What's worse is that because of the perception that single-payer is so great, people don't really push for real solutions to solve its many problems. People would rather stick their head in the sand and ignore the very real problems, pretending everything is ok.
Until then, we happily live here in the US where we get more services for less than what it would have cost in Canada.
I moved to the US from Canada, thankfully I am pretty healthy and don't need the healthcare system beyond my yearly checkups. The first place I lived had someone who lived down the street who will be paying off a $100k bill until they die because of a heart surgery they had to have. Wonderful system.
On the other hand my father, who still lives in Canada, complained of shortness of breath one Thursday. Called his doctor and was told to go into the emergency room right then. He did, because he didn't have to worry about how much the visit would cost. They found a 90% blockage in his aorta. Was immediately admitted for surgery that occurred Friday. Was free to leave the next week. Total cost, $150.
Ya, US health care system is fucking awesome.
Wrong. You probably shouldn't assume you know anything about me, or the situation I'm in.
> You also probably shouldn't assume you're the only one in the room who moved to the US from another country.
You probably shouldn't assume that it matters.
> The first place I lived had someone who lived
I was referring to problems with the system as a whole for entire groups of people, not just individual stories. My children being one of those where the Canadian system fails them horribly.
But no, continue believing that Canadian Health Care is perfect for everyone and that there are no benefits the US system for normal citizens.
This person is not an isolated incident. Major medical care in the US is far more expensive than any other nation on the planet and for a large number of people in the US life saving care means financial ruin.
> My children being one of those where the Canadian system fails them horribly.
You can't be serious. Need your child to see their primary care physician in the US because it has a fever? That appointment is probably a week or more out, in Canada, they will see that child that day. And that visit will not cost money.
Simply posting as an American on HN I can make a good guess you are paid far better than the majority of the nation. Do you not know people that are not? When a child gets sick, it is a question on whether or not to call the doctor or go to urgent care because that visit costs money. If it's not the visit that is too expensive, its a question of if whatever treatment can be afforded.
The US system is entirely around how well you can afford to be. There are no benefits to the US healthcare system unless you are rich, a doctor or an insurance company.
I'm not referring to a simple thing like a fever. I'm referring to more serious things, like autism.
> That appointment is probably a week or more out,
We got assistance from the US before we moved here.
> in Canada, they will see that child that day.
The wait time was years. Literally.
> The US system is entirely around how well you can afford to be.
The services that specifically benefit my children's autism has nothing to do with how much I can afford, or my level of insurance. In Canada, however, it would have cost me $30k+ a year to get assistance in the shortest amount of time, and that was still after a 1.5 year wait.
You are making assumptions, all wrong, about the situation my family is in. If you want to pretend that Canada offered better care for them, be my guest. I just hope you never have to go through what we had to go through. It was horrible, and your blind assumption that Canadian health care is superior in all cases is because you choose to remain ignorant of it's problems.
> There are no benefits to the US healthcare system unless you are rich, a doctor or an insurance company.
Or, in my case, I love my child and don't want to see him abused by a corrupted system.
Willful ignorance is a bad thing.