Evidently she was not hiking in Canada, where they definitely will treat you and then make sure you the tourist does pay the sizeable (though not USA exorbitant) bill. The Canadian system in fact does have many payers; federal, provincial, private insurers, are all payers.
I'm a Canadian, but accidentally let my health card lapse right around the same time I had a fall that tweaked my wrist. At the clinic I went to, they explained that I would have to pay cash for the visit and to keep the receipt because it would be reimbursed by the provincial ministry of health once I got my card renewed.
Had a visit with a GP, he sent me next door for Digital X-Rays, and then I went back to to the GP where he looked at them and sent me home with a brace (no break).
GP visits: $25
X-Rays: $25
Brace: $15
I don't think I ever ended up submitting the receipts to SaskHealth... Just wasn't that big of a concern :)
I'm a Canadian, living in America and therefore not a benefactor of Canada's healthcare system, even if I'm visiting Canada. On a trip to Canada a near car accident caused abdominal pain for my pregnant wife and a subsequent trip to urgent care to confirm if everything was OK. The bill was $600.
