Yep, there's also priority insurance in EU, so they inflate the waiting time to make you pay more for insurance. They are definately trying to go the US way.
this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2026
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And they wouldn’t even give you anything for the pain because the sacklers pushed opiates relentlessly got no consequences and now everyone is screwed
I remember when they sent me to an hospital from the clinic because it was possible I had something really concerning. I passed in front of everyone. It took 1 minute the second I talked to the reception. When they figured out it wasn't lethal, it took some time... you know... to take care of the dying people.
In the US, if the wait time is ever quicker it’s because a lot of people who SHOULD be there just died at home or at least tried to tough it out and will live with those consequences for the rest of their lives.
And yea, conservatives(lowercase, to not exuse anyone not in the Conservative party) are constantly fucking over our public instiutions. That includes healthcare, and frankly those politicians doing the damage are just murderers for hire. We have to do better, but at least we aren’t the US.
It's called triage. If you go in with a splinter you're going to have to wait behind the guy that came in after you with a piece of rebar through his skull.
Lots of people don't understand that it isnt a deli counter where you take a number and are called in order.
Many of these conservative "studies" compare wait times between Canadian booboos and American traumas without explicitly calling it out, and that's not a fair comparison.
Lots of people don’t understand that it isnt a deli counter where you take a number and are called in order.
Conservatives tend to be stupid and ignorant, yes.
You can tell these people have never visited an ER in the US when they post shit you could tell was a lie just by accidentally glancing into any hospital window.
They don't care. They just believe they have enough money to get priority in a for-profit system, at the expense of those who have less money but actually need urgent care.
Last time I went to the ER with an actual emergency and they took me right in... no wait. So yeah, I'll take it.
Yeah but like... Where do you live I guess
Edit (clarification):
It's just, unless you include that information, how do we know which one you're saying is fine?
But we're FREE, praise Supply Side Jesus!
In America, I pay for health insurance that I can't use because I can't find a fucking doctor! Seriously, I've been trying to get a PCP for years but everyone I call is not taking patients. I'm on several different waiting lists.
Canada needs to stop taking these comments seriously and learn to stop punching down on the USA. Our healthcare system still has a lot of room for improvement.
And the reason for that is the aggressive privatization efforts done over decades by conservatives and many liberals.
I.e. Americanization
If it's so bad in Canada, and so great here, why is nobody in Canada demanding to switch to that great American last place healthcare?
Some people are, but universal Healthcare is almost universally accepted in Canada.
So they debate goes around whether there should be a two tiered system with private hospitals/clinics so rich people can skip the queue for surgeries, etc.
That's a trap.
There are unfortunately a bunch of right wing idiots in canada who absolutely are :(
They’ll have our system soon enough, rural areas tend to be conservative and anti government because they care about themselves and family and don’t want to get taxed to pay for others
Others ultimately being those like themselves given rural costs a shitload more per person to offer any service to.
"Pedo Daddy told me to hate Canada so now I hate Canada."
Ah yes, this classic lie.
I fondly remember back in the olden days of news-papers reading an article that very fairly and balancedly compared ER wait times in the US to specialist referral times in Canada to show how badly socialized medicine was failing. More than zero people read that article and thought "USA! USA!" then went on to vote and share their ideas with people.
Then there was a big splash with a """study""" that actually compared ER times to ER times and the US freaking dominated!!! Of course, if you read past the headline you'd find cherry picked cases of "bleeding to death" in the USA versus "sniffles" in Canada.
Point being, there are many ways to lie and these bastards will try all of them.
Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
You can use statics to prove anything. 39% of people know that
if you are waiting 12 hours in the ER then you are probably there for a runny nose or something equally silly.
Triage is a thing that exists, and ensures that people get attention in the order they need it. . and when an ER is full of a mass causality event, your skinned knee or runny nose is not a priority.
Canadian here its not silly, you can wait 12+ hours for very serious conditions (as I have once, I realize this is anecdotal).
This doesn't mean its worse than in the states. I understand on average we are doing better healthcare wise than the states (interms of cost and mortality). However for the well insured in the states I believe the care is better.
Yet another issue with being so close to the states our health care suffers because our corrupt politicians see your system and drag us closer to it. You all also attract doctors away from us.
I went to the ER in the US for an infected gallbladder full of stones, it was so bad I had to be hospitalized for almost a week. I was in the ER waiting room in the fetal position for literally hours after a nurse took my vitals before a doctor saw me, there were a couple other people in the waiting room. I nearly died. Over $20k bill after insurance.
I've also gone to the same ER with relatively mild UTI, I peed blood and fainted from the sight but otherwise didn't really need the ER. They saw me immediately, and it was very busy.
Triage is a thing, whether they do it properly is another thing.
Also, you don't know what happened an hour before you showed up. Triage doesn't mean a serious case doesn't have to wait or a minor one does.
you are probably there for a runny nose or something equally silly.
It's silly to go to the ER for a runny nose if you have better options, like a family doctor with whom you can get appointments within a few days. Sadly, a lot of Americans don't have health care coverage and have to go to the ER for "silly" things because they don't have other options.
Very much this.
I've had seven heart attacks.
When I go in with heart attack symptoms, which I've had to do a handful of times (that it turned out not to be a heart attack, I mean) - I don't like going in there and them getting me back quickly. It means things are potentially bad. heh.
I understand that nobody likes waiting, and i've waited before and it sucks. But it sucks less than needing to be taken back quickly, really.
Seven heart attacks? Youch.
Anyhow, IMO, the worst experience in the ER is when you have a bone or muscle injury. You're triaged pretty low because it's not getting worse so there's no urgency to treat you quickly. OTOH you're in a lot of discomfort, you often can't find a way to sit so you're not in pain. And yet, you really do have to stay in the ER. It's not like if you have a bad cold or flu or something that will probably get better on its own, or where you might be able to leave and come back the next day if it's really busy.
Been there, done that. Sitting for six hours in the ER with a shattered ankle was probably the worst pain I ever had to deal with.
I understand that it wouldn't have changed anything if they treated me sooner, but for gods sake, at least give me an ice pack next time. Not cooling a fracture is probably the worst thing you can do apart from not correcting in.
Yeah, my experiences weren't that bad. But, I remember recently sitting there for hours awkwardly trying to support my shoulder with my other arm so whatever was broken didn't have to bear the weight of everything else. Of course, one of the first things they did after assessing me was to give me a sling... that would have helped hours earlier.
I dunno, maybe they need a "first pass treatment" triage where they hand out slings, ice packs, compression bandages, etc. The sort of things that a nurse can "prescribe" that might make things feel better, can't really make it worse, and will tide you over until the doctor can take a better look.
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or $47000, depending on specific disease they have to aim their shotguns at
I went to the ER with heart problems in the US. Waited 12 hours in a mostly empty waiting room.
Hate to have to repeat this.
My late dad had a fell at home and broke his femur in two places.
Half an hour after his home fall alert was triggered, a team of paramedics was at his home. They got there before I arrived and had already stabilised and immobilised him.
An hour later he was admitted in ER, got checked and X-rayed.
Four hours later he was in the OR room, where they replaced half his femur with a piece of titanium. Then he was at the hospital for one week and then sent to a recovery clinic.
He paid zero € for all the process, including ambulance, intervention, ‘hardware’ and recovery.
Oh, this is Spain, not precisely the richest country in the EU.
Of course, if you go to ER because you’re sneezing, you will have to wait. But if you go to a private clinic using your private insurance you have to wait too…
It’s called triage. We do the exact same thing in the usa. And that’s the case whether you have insurance or not. They don’t even know if you have insurance at this step of it, to be honest.
Oh yea, but in the states is going to cost you a car or 5.
They do know if you have insurance in most cases but it's against federal law to discriminate based on insurance coverage based on EMTALA and the civil penalty is over $100,000.
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I saw an analysis about this a few years ago where they showed that the wait time for care in Canada was generally less than the wait time in America for most stuff.
Certain things like non-emergency (but important) surgeries could take longer to schedule in Canada.
But that was years ago. Probably both sides have had changes since then.
The most important takeaway is that if you think wait times would definitely be worse with socialized medicine, you have fallen for conservative propaganda, you idiot.
Certain things like non-emergency (but important) surgeries could take longer to schedule in Canada.
Yeah, hip replacements and that sort of thing have a months-long or even years-long waiting list. But, most people waiting for those things can still live pretty much normal lives. IMO the wait is too long. But, people can get by walking with a limp until their turn comes up.
If the trade-off to get treated more quickly for that sort of thing is to accept the for-profit medical system of the USA, there are virtually no Canadians who would accept that deal.
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