Yes, it is very common, but HN is one of those places where one is required to have the community's approved opinions on things, and even the approved supposed-

Yes, it is very common, but HN is one of those places where one is required to have the community's approved opinions on things, and even the approved supposed-facts on things. Of course many systems, including Canada's have this problem. The primary motivation for governments to prohibit private competition is specifically so that they can pretend that it can't be better elsewhere, to keep their system alive. If people realized how likely they were to suffer for years utterly unnecessarily, they wouldn't be willing to put up with the government health systems they have. But because the government banned competition to keep them ignorant of the alternative, people remain peaceful while they wait in pain for years to get treatment that is utterly routine in America.