[dlev_pika]

> I can see a doctor or specialist usually within a week

That might be true to your specific location and set up, but I have some experience and family in healthcare, both in the US and outside of it, and it is definitely not like that for much of the US.

[anon291]

That's true of any medical system? Still we can look at the data on Canadian v American health care wait times and the data tell the story.

[dlev_pika]

Possible in some cases, triaging and wait times are a thing in other places too, with the difference being that you don’t get a bill at the end. I have multiple anecdotes from people outside the US having little trouble getting primary care, or even psych care, much faster than what I’ve seen here.

When looking at comparative data, I think it’s worth breaking it down a bit by socio status, for example. In complex systems with a wide spread averages can be misleading. My impression is that we are not seeing the whole story.