It was only after we had left the hospital that we realised that not only had we not paid a penny; but that no one asked us to show our insurance; fill out a ten page form, or anyother of the humiliating things our friends back in the states would have had to do to get treatment for their sick kid. None of the procedures had to be run by the profit and loss manager of some HMO.
This is socialised medicine that the insurance lobby has patriotically kept us from suffering under all these years."

One mans truth amongst all the lies.

I'm glad to hear there are success stories, but public health care is no panacea, often creating extremely long waits for even critical medical procedures. Just this last summer, for example, the Supreme Court of Canada held that Quebec's mandatory public health care system violated the Quebec Charter of Rights because the system failed to grant patients access to health care in a timely manner.

In Ireland, my wife has a number of relatives in their 70s. I don't have statistics, but based on their experiences, long waits appear to be routine: six months for coronary- and prostate-related surgery, nine months for hip replacement.

Unfortunately, even medical care is subject to the laws of economics. If you reduce the cost, it tends to restrict supply and increase demand.

• Chaouli v. Quebec

Remmember; they wait for a hip-replacement. Here without good insurance you don't get a hip-replacement..or you get treated in Belview by someone who went to medical school in Guatamala and has never seen the word titanium.

Everything must be put in perspective; most of us here are doing well and have insurance on this forum. Try getting treatment without it.
You will eventually get some kind of attention but it certainly won't be either timely or of any recognisable quality.