Last time I was at my general doctor, I was in the room for an hour with Doc and nurse. Talking about how I’m eating, how I feel after running long distance, if this blemish has changed shape, how I’ve been sleeping, etc etc.
It took 10 days to make an appointment which is annoying, but I have never once felt rushed or that staff was rushed.
Like I said. Annecdote, but polar opposite.
Not too long ago, I still had my general physician who could sit down and talk it all through. He retired... and another one in another city did as well. Younger ones seem under much higher economic stress. Maybe also stress from peers?
It seems more of an emergent problem to be honest.
Recently my wife & I were forced to use the public service, and after 3 days of traveling back & forth, day after day, to another city, being told to visit another ward next day, and come back the day later, I was begging for someone to throw money at to make our problem go away. And I'm not really blaming the staff; they're all severely overworked, underequipped and underpaid. There's a huge problem with public health care here, kind of an opposite to the US problems. Poor or rich, you will get medical attention, just possibly months after when it's needed.
Imagine visiting a hospital for an emergency, and receiving 10 bills from different doctors totaling to few thousand dollars then fighting with insurance to pay for it.
Universal healthcare brings OVERALL cost down. It makes private treatment cheaper. A crown and root canal costs about $2k in the US. Plus, it is nearly impossible to find cost of a procedure prior to it. It is fking weird.
For comparison, with insurance in the US my root canal cost about $250 out of pocket.