I am a Canadian who occasionally complained about long (several hour) emergency waits for broken limbs from mountain bike downhill racing. The triage system prioritizes people who are dying, not adrenaline addicts.
... However ...
I got diagnosed with Cancer (lymphoma) in 2008. I was xrayed, CT scanned, blood tested and ultrasound guidance biopsied so fast that my head spun. From initial lump discovery to the onset of chemo was only a couple of weeks. Quality of care was first rate, and it's been 5 years. My experience with Canadian health care for a life threatening condition was extremely good.
I should also note that the cost of my medication was a significant $100k+ figure, not including chemo drugs, and this was all covered to an out of pocket of under $1k.
I was a working as a contractor, and didn't have any private medical insurance of any kind.
Needless to say, looking at the cost of treatment, and the ruinous effect it would have had on my (and my wife's) finances, I am very glad I live in Canada.
Sorry if I wasn't clear. I went from "Hmm, that's a weird lump" to chemo in just over two weeks. The quality of care was stunning, and the success rate is one of the highest in the world.
There are medications I need that cost an entire order of magnitude more in the US than in Canada. I'm not exaggerating. They're about $80 full price from Canada and $800 here in the US.
That's the pharma industry's 'America pays' system. Canada receives subsidized costs on medications like much of the world, and America picks up the tab.
Not sure what point you're trying to make here. The pricing on the medication was exceedingly high, about $200/dose, but as far as I can tell, that is the same price as in the USA:
The cost of the drugs was just picked up by the medical system instead of my pocketbook.
I have seen this argument before; American health care is expensive because everybody else is a slacker who can't pay. It's obviously false. US pharma companies aren't subsidizing Canadian drugs, the Canadian government is. That Canadian drug prices are lower is more a function of the broken US medical system than anything else.
No system is without its problems. I'm just glad in the US it's not about quality or quantity of care, just funding.