[version_five]

> Universal health care is not controversial in developed countries outside of the US.

I'm canadian and our universal healthcare system sucks. It's very controversial here. Universal often means universally bad - picture your typical interaction with the government bureaucracy and imagine that for something important. It's the same reason you wouldn't want government run utilities (which Canada also has)

[sillystuff]

Universal health care needs to be funded. If your country elects politicians who underfund health care, then you should expect negative consequences on the system.

Or, you could privatize your healthcare like the US, and pay multiple times more than the amount you've saved on your tax bill.

And, expensive privatized health care does not mean better health outcomes; e.g., the US has worse infant mortality than either New Zealand (a sibling comment) or Canada (or most of Eastern Europe / all of Western Europe).

https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/infant-mortalit...

[giantg2]

That's not a great metric for comparison of the healthcare systems. Outcomes for specific procedures or conditions would be more fitting. Many cultural and societal factors, even population genetics and the number of babies born in a year, influence infant mortality.

[xupybd]

I'm in NZ and our universal healthcare system sucks too.

For example don't have a medical emergency here. You'll wait more than 8 hours to get seen.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nearly-all-nz-hospitals-failin...

[smt88]

> For example don't have a medical emergency here. You'll wait more than 8 hours to get seen.

This is the same as the US. When you go to the emergency room, you're triaged. If you don't seem to have an immediate, life-threatening emergency, you often wait hours to be seen.

I think this is pretty typical. You can't scale medical staff and facilities rapidly by demand, and it's not sustainable to have the staff required for peak demand all the time.

On top of that, there's a shortage of medical professionals in most countries.

[xupybd]

I'm no expert on the US system but it seems to be much better.

From this article. https://hbr.org/2019/02/to-reduce-emergency-room-wait-times-...

"Patients who arrive at EDs with broken bones wait a painful 54 minutes, on average, before receiving any pain medication."

That sounds like a dream to me. 54 minutes is nothing. My friend's wife waited over 8 hours to be seen after cutting through nerves and tendons in her hand. Then she waited 3 days for surgery. After being seen, the doctors told her not to eat. They told her to drive 3 hours to the next City as the local hospital could not perform the operation. When she got there she waited days. Her husband had driven down with their two toddlers and had was not allowed in the hospital due to Covid restrictions. She was pregnant and went days without food waiting for care. This was a little over a week ago.

I had a suspected aneurysm almost a year ago. I woke up with an incredible headache. I waited over 6 hours for a CT scan. That was a high priority triage. I still waited for hours.

I'm not saying the US system is perfect. I don't even know if it's better but I do know our system is broken.

[giantg2]

How does the liability work there against the universal hospital?

Something like waiting 6 hours for a CT or instructing an injured pregnant woman not to eat would be ripe for a malpractice lawsuit in the US (provided actual harm occurs).

[xupybd]

It's basically impossible to sue the government. In theory you could but I've never heard of anyone succeeding.

[mwachs]

I doubt 66% of people insured in the US by their private system are satisfied. https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/canadians-largely-sat...

[datavirtue]

Be real here. No one needs the dystopian demeanor of the BMV when they are facing a health issue.

There is a lot of room for improvement in our current system but the quality of our healthcare facilities and professionals is pretty damn good in the US.

I wish the system would get out of their way and let them work.

[geoduck14]

Not to get off topic, but I'm actually quite satisfied with my DMV

[kurupt213]

California…the state that brings you the DMV will also bring you your medical care. Sounds horrifying.