[han-tyumi]

Is it really?

I come from a country with universal healthcare, and while public healthcare suffers from the same wait times we see in the US, private healthcare is on an entirely different league. For instance, with a good private health insurance plan, on a whim, without a referral, one could get an appointment at a decent specialist, and possibly the specialist of their choice within the week. My experience in the US is that you wait 3 months to see any specialist at all.

[TylerE]

Not really been my experience in a midsized US town. Don’t think I’ve ever waited more than a month or so… and generally same week if it’s something urgent. I do have Blue Cross though, which is I guess pretty good as us insurance goes.

[han-tyumi]

Right now I live in Cambridge, MA. The wait time to see a dermatologist was 3 months when I needed one. My health plan is also Blue Cross, hired through MIT Medical.

[TylerE]

Isn't Cambridge part of Boston?

By mid sized I mean approx 100k people, and it's an hour+ drive to anywhere bigger.

[jakearmitage]

What was the last time that you tried to get an appointment at a decent specialist at your home country?

[han-tyumi]

To give you some context, my home country is Brazil. Last time I used my private health insurance was in July 2021 and the wait time to see a top specialist was one week. However, I have been there again (without health insurance) and was able to get a same week appointment at the end of March this year, which cost $200.

[nine_k]

With a good private insurance (a PPO plan), I had a similar experience in the US. Well, in NYC which is not representative of the US, of course. Many things in the US basically repeat the population density map.

[Domenic_S]

The US equivalent would be concierge medicine, which performs as well as you're saying private medicine does in your country.