On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:05:08 -0600, Dave Balderstone
wrote:

In Canada, waits far exceeding 24 hours are the norm. Twenty-four WEEKS is
more common.

Then you've been very lucky or not had do deal with a serious but
"non-urgent" procedure.

Possibly not, but a claim of twenty-four weeks as a common occurrence
is a completely misleading statement. Surely it happens on occasion,
but it's not the commonplace situation that Heybub claims.

And as well, the availability of public funds to pay for such
procedures is a consideration, but that's a necessary limitation in
such a system.

If you're middle class in the US needing a hip replacement costing in
the range of $30,000 - $40,000, have no insurance and don't have the
funds on hand, what do you do? As I understand it, you'll never get
treatment at all unless you become indigent. If that's wrong, then
please correct my belief. At least in Canada, you'd get the needed
surgery eventually, difficult as the wait might be.