I do not have the records for the Canadian system, but I have heard that there is a thriving business in medical clinics in northern states, catering to Canadians that cross the border for care that is either not covered or hard to get in Canada. I am glad your experiences have turned out well.

As to lawsuits, in the US, you need the Federal Government's permission to sue the Federal Government or a State Government. (Usually not a real barrier, but a hurdle that the most in need cannot usually do.)

Just brushing over this debate here, and as a British citizen, covered world wide with free health care by the state-run health system called the NHS, I see no bad side to a universal health care system.

I've never had a problem with the NHS, and I do read bad stories from time to time about it, but those bad points are far out-weighed by the good points.

For example, I'm in a car crash, My leg is broken, and I need evacuating pronto. The service arrives fast, you get into hospital, Get xray-ed and cast, then after some rest, your released, hassle free, to return for continuing evaluations and services, and possibly pyshiotherapy if needed.

All that is provided free.

I hate to say this too, but after watching Michael Moore's 'Sicko' (The only one that seems to be true), I was shocked at how the average American can ever afford to be ill?

It's really too bad to see one person try and skew the world's perspective on the entire system.

Of course there are isolated cases where the system fails people - show me any social program that works perfectly - but by and large it works well.

My nephew had brain surgery two years ago here, and the experience was nothing like that video suggests!

I honestly don't know anyone that's headed to the States for health care, but that might be because where I grew up and lived for years was a good 7 hour haul to the border, and from there it's further still to any big cities.

I know that there are drugs and procedures that aren't approved by Health Canada (? I'm not sure who's in charge of that all) for safety reasons, and people will head elsewhere to get those. In addition, some provinces allow privatized health care in addition to public, so if you don't want to wait a week or two for your MRI you can fork over a bundle and get it today.

While I understand that the majority of Americans don't want government health care because they don't want tax increases, I get frustrated when our system is always protrayed in a negative light in your media. I really like it, and so do most Canadians.

Michael Moore is not known for being an un-biased maker of documentaries.

Not un-biased, only to the closest to un-biased in the US. Any documentary maker who touched as sensitive topics as him as frequently as him turns out to be far more biased than him. This must be a US thing, documentary makers feel compelled to take sides.

As Universal Healthcare is concerned: the less corrupt a government is the better it works. If the US citizens feel like they can not trust their government with health care, they might be completely right. Universal Healthcare does not work in every country well. Maybe US has the best heath care solution as it is because anything else would be even worse over there.

This is the crux of the issue. I do not trust my government. Not as a matter of right, but as a matter of obligation. Unlike other countries, the US is supposed to have a government that is LIMITED by THE Constitution. Rather than "the people have rights granted by the government" we are supposed to have "the government has ONLY the rights granted by the people". While this is the best compromise we can have to allow maximum freedom while not falling into undefendable anarchy, it does not account for human nature (in regards to the people who serve as our leaders). Human nature says that when in charge, you consolidate and strengthen your position. Obligatory distrust means that I am always wary of the government and those folks that are drawn to service in the government. The Constitution spells out the limits, but the citizen must enforce them.

Sadly, it has become acceptable to choose safety and comfort over liberty. This was the attitude that our founding fathers denounced BY NAME when declaring us free from British rule. I guess if your only desire is safety, you can get that illusion by letting the government run everything.

(I apologize for the removal of context in your remark. I don't think I changed your meaning, just the scale. You quoted the issue better than I think you even intended.)

Well I was with you sort of until the last 30 seconds. The moment it said "the liberals in Washington"...ugh.

I happen to be in a somewhat similar situation as the guy in the video (minus the brain tumor). I have personal insurance through my job, but due to the fact that I work for a small company, we cannot get insurance rates that are anywhere close to reasonable.

The insurance companies rate you out, and if anyone makes any claims, everyone in the group's rates increases to cover it. If you have a group of 1000 employees, not so much of a problem. BUT if your group is say less than 10? Forget it, you cannot afford to get sick.

So I have personal insurance for me only paid for by the company. My family has nothing. at. all. My wife and kids are not covered. We just don't have the money to pay for it. Also because of a couple of conditions they have, we are considered "uninsurable". No one will cover us as a family.

Oh and how are we similar to the guy in the video? Well his wife put it nicely...you are desperate, you need help, and you don't know where to find it.

BOTH systems are f*cked. BOTH need to be fixed. It is not a black and white issue.

Neither myself nor my husband have any form of health insurance. His company of less than 10 people provides coverage, but it is so expensive that not a single person working for them buys it. We're talking $1000/month. My company of less than 10 people just doesn't offer it at all.

Even individual insurance coverage is out of our price range.

This is kind of surprising. From the outside the US government seems to be one of the least corrupt.

The other issue here is if you trust private enterprises more than the government. Right now US is seriously falling behind in medical research and capacity, thanks to the greediness of the insurance companies. Even east European small countries like Czechoslovakia has better statistics lately, even in technology intensive projects like brain surgery or cancer treatment. Lagging behind in infant survival rate is not money and technology intensive, there I can kind of understand why US is not among the leading countries (especially after living a few years in South Carolina).

The U.S. medical system isn't what it could be. I'll give you that. On the other hand, my wife has been waiting for gall bladder surgery for over six months. Meanwhile, my cousin in the States recently discovered he had a gall stone on Monday, had surgery on Tuesday, and was completely fine on Wednesday. So unfair, maybe. As slow and painfully inefficient as the Canadian "Universal" system, not hardly.

[Edit:] Oh, by the way. I'll let you in on a little secret: The government only has to take over and run things when people aren't doing it themselves. Health care isn't the government's responsibility... but then, neither is welfare or education. Creating a bigger, more controlling governmental system doesn't solve the problem. It seems to me that it would be far better to figure out how to provide more affordable health care privately than to depend on Big Brother to jump in and do everything for us.