RE:The collapse of medical care in Canada - Part 2Sorry to hear about your wife. Hope it was just a bump in the road sp to speak.
To be honest, I am not sure things are really that much better in the US and you have to pay for it big time.
A number of years ago while cycling in Tuscon, I was run down by a driver. I was knocked unconscious along with a broken collarbone and multiple rib fractures. I was rushed to the University of Arizona Trauma centre where I was for about 2 hours and then transferred to the Emergency Department (in the US each department of the hospital is its own profit centre!) where I sat for another 8 hours before being discharged (almost buck naked since the doc in the trauma centre cut my bike kit to shreds) with a referral to an ortho 2 weeks into the future.
Two days later, I had trouble breathing and my wife took me to the same hospital emergency department where I was for 9 hours. The doctor that finally examined me said that I was given bad medical advice regarding the prescribed drugs and ordered a liver test to make sure there weren't complications (liver was weakened but ok thankfully - good thing I had trouble breathing or it couda been worse!!). So after spending another 4 hours on a bed in the hallway, I was released with a prescription for some oxycontin and we had to drive 15km out of our way to get to a pharmacy that was open after midnight.
The bill for the two trips to the hospital including the ambulance? $27000.