> In Canada, while in general private cover is not illegal, for covered health services, it roughly speaking does not exist and my statement that you "have nowh

> In Canada, while in general private cover is not illegal, for covered health services, it roughly speaking does not exist and my statement that you "have nowhere else to go" holds. The key is “covered health services”. E.g. a friend who broke his arm in Israel (which has an NHS like medical system) needed to have it cast; a standard plaster cast was covered, but for an extra $150 or so, he was able to pay and get a super-lightweight composite cast material (which he had to buy at a pharmacy down the road himself, but the doctors at the public hospital happily applied). This was about 20 years ago - I suspect the ultra lightweight cast is covered by now as well - but there will always be treatments which may make sense for an individual to pay for, but not for the system. Similarly to the NHS, more money doesn’t buy you better care within the system in Israel; but there is a complementary private system which occasionally can get you better care (and can often get you the same non urgent care faster). The general rule for coverage inclusion in the Israeli system is: if it’s life saving, it is covered. If it’s life extending or quality improving, then a QALYs analysis and budget constraints set the priorities (most proven reasonable cost treatment are indeed covered)