I have to say, declaring the US system better because Kaiser Permanente is good is a bit like declaring rotten foods are better than fresh because you like yogu

I have to say, declaring the US system better because Kaiser Permanente is good is a bit like declaring rotten foods are better than fresh because you like yogurt. Lots of Americans don't have anything like Kaiser, and under the old rules, you could simply die of cancer because you couldn't afford to buy treatment or insurance (as a high school classmate of mine did). 27 years old in 2009; she died of adrenal cancer that probably started in 2004 or earlier but wasn't diagnosed in 2005 because she had no care. She couldn't be covered under her parents' care after college, couldn't get into a state program (they lost the paperwork, then told her she was ineligible because she earned too much at her retail job the year before), then she finally got into another state insurance program once she was poor enough (unemployed & living with parents again after having a surgery to remove a 14-centimeter tumor), and then she finally qualified for General Assistance/Medical Assistance/Medicare. Just about everyone agrees that the progression would have been different if she'd been diagnosed and treated earlier. To not be diagnosed with cancer until your tumor is like 12 cm in diameter because you simply can't afford a visit with a primary care physician -- -- that doesn't happen in Canada.