CrystalShadow said:
Yes, but the two are not mutually exclusive. You can get private insurance in just about every country that has a public health system.
For that matter, I had an accident in Australia, I needed stitches, and I had that done within 10 minutes of getting to hospital too. And that didn't cost me anything personally. (obviously, it's paid for with taxes. But that's not the same thing.)
We were in a car crash at some point too... They didn't waste time with that either.
Meanwhile, in the UK, which is a slightly different, and perhaps somewhat more strained system, it takes ages to get an appointment for something which isn't an emergency, (like, 1 to 2 months), but if it's something serious that needs immediate care you aren't left waiting around for hours either.
Public healthcare and being made to wait aren't a given. (Though I have to say listening to financial arguments about the NHS is annoying. The NHS is pretty much the cheapest healthcare system as a fraction of GDP of any western nation. The US's is the most expensive - And the actual effect it has on people's health is less useful, even for the wealthy that can afford the best of the best.)
My stitches didn't cost me anything either, I travel for work and have corporate health insurance. What i'm saying is that the quality of care in American hospitals particularly in low priority areas and diagnostic testing is by far superior to any single payer system i have ever seen, and i have had the, possibly unfortunate, opportunity to see a few different ones. Chances are what your best experience in an E.R. in Australia (I am guessing here as I never managed to injure myself in Australia although i did get stuck in a spider web) is comparable to an ordinary day for someone with good insurance in the USA.
The issue isn't that national healthcare systems don't work, they do, quite effectively for everyone. There is however a very valid debating point that in a single payer system like Canada and many European countries expects people in higher income brackets to pay more for the same service. Essentially switching to a system like Canada would result in poorer care for them. There IS a reason wealthy people from all over the world flock to the US for surgeries and treatments. However I am not arguing that this is CORRECT, I think its pathetic that a first world nation like the USA does not have public healthcare, and yes they let nearly 50,000 people die every year because they don't have the money to buy treatment which in itself is sick HOWEVER: I know for a fact that Australia has had hallway medicine issues, uses a public private partnership system that unfairly distributes resources to wealthier regions and deals with a chronic shortage of doctors. It is hardly the ideal system you are making it out to be, and certain Americans prevent change as they know they are better off with the status quo.