Comment by deskamess | Hacker News Reader

Comment by deskamess | Hacker News Reader

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And yet getting an appointment to see a Doctor is a multi-week process (Ontario). The last time I wanted to see my own Doctor was a 3 week wait for in-person and 10 day for a phone. I took the phone option because I had the issue before and wanted some feedback as soon as possible - I did get prescribed the same antibiotics - until then I self treated with OTC hoping it did not make matters worse. However there are many who do not have a provider and the walk-in system is not working effectively - most offices are not taking walk in patients. In Ontario, I think even online health provider systems are off, exacerbating the systemic problems. The rest of the family is losing their Dr in March due to retirement. Right now healthcare in Ontario is free and unavailable (empty store syndrome).

The US system has always seemed available, especially Doctor/urgent care visits. Clearly there are procedures that are inaccessible to certain demographics.

Meantime, a friend of mine here in the US (with excellent insurance) just made an appointment with a gastroenterologist in January.

2024.

Presumably something on the wait list will open up sooner... somebody who made an appointment in February 2023 and got treated by somebody else. Or just died. Meantime, we'll try to find somebody else.

But the notion of "Americans always get health care quickly compared to everybody else" strikes me as absurd. Some things work well, but other things work very, very badly.

> And yet getting an appointment to see a Doctor is a multi-week process (Ontario).

And there's the rub; in the U.S. you pay for healthcare with your money, and in Canada you pay with your time. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

You also pay with your money, just through less direct means.

I've heard this but no one ever cites any relevant studies that shows any such disparity.

You don't need a study. Enough people, myself included, have used the healthcare system multiple countries or have family in other places, that this is mostly common knowledge. That might not satisfy a debate judge, but it's good enough for most of us.

That wait time to see your doctor is not much different in the US where we are. We may not wait as long for procedures, hard to tell, but just basic health care is not easy to get. Just glad my company provides decent health insurance.

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