>Medication is fairly inexpensive and if I have major surgery, I will only be out a couple thousand (the cost of a laptop). Okay, now what if you don't have a

>Medication is fairly inexpensive and if I have major surgery, I will only be out a couple thousand (the cost of a laptop). Okay, now what if you don't have a couple thousand lying around? There are many people who can't afford a laptop. >I have many relatives in Canada and the only reason the system works there is because it borders the US. They get all of their regular care paid for by their taxes and the middle class drive over the border and get major surgery done. Yeah, this is the shitty part of single-payer, public healthcare. That's why many countries in Europe have a hybrid private/public system. Canada, as you mentioned, effectively has one too. However, the point of a single-payer system is to ensure that everyone can afford the most crucial, urgent treatment. We're talking about being in an ambulance and being driven down to the ER. If you live in Canada and suddenly require urgent treatment, you can go to the hospital nearest you, because there's no such thing as "out-of-network" or "in-network". You can get treated by any doctor. And you'll get the same consistent billing everywhere you go, precisely because it's a single payer system.