"But in comparison to the American system it is an unmitigated good, at the absolute least for everyone with less than say, a million dollars in liquid savings.

"But in comparison to the American system it is an unmitigated good, at the absolute least for everyone with less than say, a million dollars in liquid savings." This is a little bombastic, and your anecdote is just a data point, not a reflection of the 'system'. The US system is very expensive, but if someone is covered it's generally much better. I'm not quite sure if it's a very good deal, but the quality is high. The Canadian system is highly rationed for many things. While in the US you might wait a few weeks for an operation, in Canada it could be months, years - or never. In Ontario and Quebec - you literally cannot get a 'doctor' anymore, they are forcing people into clinics because it's more economical, meaning one's medical history may be not be integrated into diagnosis. When people have 'serious things' obviously they get care, but I personally had a 'difficult to diagnose problem' and the doctors at the clinics just didn't care - I had to go to the 'Cleveland Clinic' in Toronto, a 'private practice back door' to get someone to pay attention. Almost nobody in the US has a 'million dollars in liquidity' and so this statement is really unfair. The US system has 'major pitfalls' that regular people can fall into when they are not covered, and of course, a ton of people that are not insured. It's a more existential problem than mere private/public discussions can address, that said, the lack of real private practice in Canada severely limits how much people can spend if they want to in the area, and it means an otherwise huge chunk of the economy lives in the socialized system, which means money doesn't get into so many things we might like it to. Canada and other nations end up depending heavily on the US for a lot of medical innovation.