It would be really, really cool if you could explain the healthcare systems of some european countries and their pros and cons as well (Germany for example). This stuff is so hard to figure out and you are doing an excellent job!

The logic behind our health care system is simple; noone, especially a child, should have to suffer or die from a curable condition because they don't have the money. Tommy Douglas was voted the Greatest Canadian because he taught us to take care of each other.

What weird myths. As a Canadian, I had never even heard these before. How strange.

"Most people assume that America is better..." You mean most americans, right?

You've left out the patient cost side of the system. Most provinces - no medical premium to patients, i.e. paid out of provincial tax base. No co-pays on covered services. No patient invoices. No bad debts/collections. No personal bankruptcies to pay medical costs. No lifetime limits. No "in/out networks". No pre-existing conditions.

I know that many of my friends ended up attending medical/ dental schools in the US (there are over 140 med schools in the US and only 17 in Canada), but nearly all of them intend to come back to Canada to practice.

I am a proud Canadian, I have lived here my whole life and I have never hear complaining about "wait times", or any other the other myths.

As someone born in the US, who lived (Kentucky) there for 26 years and has spent the last 5 years in Canada (Alberta), it is way better here.

Can I just say how happy these videos make me as a physio student in a course that emphasises evidence based practise. It is near unheard of to hear people supporting their claims with scientific evidence, and talk about how trustworthy the evidence is.

Every time I've ever spoken to an American about the healthcare system they always go straight to the wait time thing. I've never understood why they think the wait times are long. I've been to the ER 3 times in the last couple years and I've never had to wait more then a few minutes to be seen by a doctor. Likewise when my father had a heart attack they stabilized him ran tests and performed surgery on him within the hour of arrival to the hospital. I've never had complaints on our healthcare.

wait, what? I've only heard good things about Canada's health care system!

As a Canadian I don't even think about healthcare lol

Every time I hear Americans rag on about the Canadian system, I just go to the walk-in clinic and get my feelings checked for free.

My reaction as a Canadian: "yep"

As a Canadian I would rather wait and get care for free than pay a whole bunch of money. I love my free health care!!

I like seeing Canada get a bit of recognition. We're always glossed over as that place above america, so getting any screen time on anything just gets me going

Canadian here. This is pretty much spot on. It's also worth noting that many provincial supplementary insurance (mine is Alberta Blue Cross) for things like vision, dental, and pharmaceuticals, is provided by your employer to damn near every full time job, and also for many regular part-time jobs. As well, these plans generally cover your WHOLE family (my understanding is that in the United States, only a select few health insurance plans supplied by employers cover the entire family). Plus, this additional insurance is super inexpensive, since it only covers a few things, and all plans cover these same few things, so there isn't much competition to be had.

If you want a heart/lung transplant it's hard to beat Toronto General Hospital.

I'm Canadian, and if some moneybags want to go to the States for care, have at it! If I said I didn't give a damn, I'd be lying. No, I'm glad. Why? Because our wait times really aren't that bad, but if you can take even one daft rich person who wants to pay out of pocket, and remove them from /my/ waiting line? I ain't saying no.

Did anyone else notice that the anthem they played said "my home and native land" instead of "our home and native land" or is it just me

As someone who has had ridiculously bad luck when it comes to health I am incredibly happy to be Canadian. From surgeries on my ears, appendix, and brain, as well as type I diabetic genetically predisposed to cancer I would be bankrupt or dead if I lived without universal healthcare. Never had to wait for surgery, or care. Never had to wait long for an appointment. I have never had to pull out my wallet at a hospital (other than to pay the 30$ fee to have a private room) or at a doctors office. I can focus on my health rather than focus on trying to pay for my healthcare.

You pay less in your candian taxes than we do on our health care plans in America. Healthcare is skyrocketing. If you add up what full coverage costs for a family of 4, then put it next to what Canadians pay in taxes, you realize Canadians are spending less, and getting WAY more bang for there buck.

Thank you HT!! As a Canadian I am proud to see our system explained by Americans in a positive light. It is such a relief to be a Canadian and not have to worry about health costs unless expensive drug plans are necessary. I have had many family members and friends go through the system for medical procedures such as lower back surgery, hip replacements, knee replacements and other things, none have complained about our system and all felt they were treated well. Particularly in cases where surgery was necessary due to severe pain and medical emergencies, these people were pushed through the system remarkably fast in order to get them better and allow for them to get back to work. I am glad to live in a country where I feel secure that if I need medical treatment I will get it no matter what and that in the down time, I can even receive disability compensation for my time off work via the government. No one, I repeat, no one I know in Canada wants private health care and we all gawk and wonder at the US system and how people can defend it. I hope for the best for you guys!

I live in Canada and I happy to say that the wait times have improved dramatically. The healthcare system here is top notch. There is also an option here in Alberta to pay out of pocket for MRI, CT scans, etc. However I experienced first hand that this was not necessary last week when a family member was able to have access through the health care system after only waiting a few short days. My son who is just under 2 can also receive free eye exams and fluoride treatments which is great!

I know an american whose husband works at a very large company with one of the best health insurance programs around. ...she had to go to mexico to get something done because of the wait time in the US. so that'll be the situation i know and will tell everyone.

Wait times may be a by-product of financial means, but what most people in Canada (from what I've seen as an EMR) don't understand is how the triage system works. This is where the charge nurse labels you based on your issue's severity and then continues admitting people with more serious injuries. If you come in with a collapsed lung, you're not going to be waiting. If you're left to wait, it's actually a good thing. The wait times that we're considering to be a real problem are elective and non-life threatening. Not emergency. If you have a deviated septum that means you can't fully breathe out of your nose, you're going to wait a month or two. It isn't going to harm you or cause any life threatening issues.

I dont understand why the US is so afraid of looking at other countries when they need to make a change to something a huge a health care. Look at what other countries have done, and how it has succeeded! (they have to be doing _something_ right? and they can't *all* be oppressed)

From a Canadian. I went to the hospital lab for my 3 month. blood test, I stopped at emergency to check out my sore throat - 5 minutes, - had strep throat test - results in 4 minutes - all good - went home. Two days later I got call from my doctor who had been alerted by emergency and asked if I wanted a follow up with her. All free! Good luck America I hope you elect Bernie to keep you healthy

Are there seriously Americans that think Canada healthcare system is worse than theirs??...Bahaha

While Canadian Medicare went national in 1966, the first province to implement a universal single payer system was Saskatchewan and that was in 1962. The Premier who passed the Medicare legislation and is recognized as the "Father of Medicare" was the late Tommy Douglas, a Baptist clergyman, who was chosen by Canadians as the Greatest Canadian in 2004, beating out a number of famous figures such as our first Prime Minister and hockey legend Wayne Gretsky. Tommy Douglas is also the grandfather of movie star Kiefer Sutherland who is very proud of his grandfather's achievements.

Nobody gets "emergency treatment" for cancer. I do have asthma however and on the very rare occasions when I needed emergency treatment, it was less than five minutes between walking in the door and being put on oxygen. Paperwork was an afterthought. For those of my family who did have cancer, they did spend a lot of time in the hospital, were well cared for, and the last worry on our list was who is going to pay. Because of course it was free. Nobody has a "cancer attack".

As a Canadian, it's nice to have a simple explanation about how my country's health care system runs! (I mean everyone knows that it covers everyone, but I did not much beyond that.) Great job, and thank you, Healthcare Triage! :D

Im Canadian and im SO happy you made this video. I hate when American people tell me how my health care is. So im really happy to see that you are showing people how it works up here. Keep up the great work

Hey, Canada. As an American, I'd like to say that a lot of us want universal health care, but a just as large opposition is bogging it down, being the puppets of insurance companies. We need universal health care. Our health care system is classism at its finest, because several people here can't afford health insurance, and are in a ton of debt as a result. One day, I hope to get dual citizenship to Canada, even if the United States gets universal health care, because it's not just about universal health care for me. Canada is a place where, compared to the United States, classism and homophobia aren't as prevalent. Also, the Canadian people are a beautiful people, because it's similar, but different at the same time compared to the United States. Also, Quebec is a fascinating province. It's a world of its own. That makes Canada even more appealing to me. A lot of great entertainment has also come out of Canada. Canada, keep doing whatever it is you're doing, because it's obviously working. From the United States with respect and admiration.

That last point is humorous: the same people who should be praising Canada's fiscally conservative policies are instead attacking a system that has enabled the very thing many of them are normally campaigning for, yet they instead react on principle.

One of my ex-colleagues moved from California back to Canada (her home country) because it was cheaper and faster for her to get her healthcare problems handled. This happened the same week one of my in-laws told me that Canadians are fleeing Canada to get our awesome healthcare instead of those Canadian death panels. Weird how reality seems to not jive with the mad ramblings of my hyper-conservative relatives.

My late aunt (my dad's brother's widow) was a Canadian Citizen. She LOVED Canadian Healthcare!

My infertility treatments were not covered. Also, it is unfortunate that we don't cover dental, optical, or drugs under single payer. I am Canadian. This video made me feel more patriotic than all the Gold we just took home from Sochi. Double double y'all.

I'm Canadian. The very best thing about our system is that I have NEVER worried that a medical bill is going to cause me financial ruin, or that I could lose my house if I got sick. My husband had a major spinal cord injury - 4 hour ambulance ride, emergency surgery with a neurosurgeon, 1 month in hospital, 6 months in rehab learning to walk again, 9 years of specialists appointments and aftercare. Out of pocket cost to us - ZERO DOLLARS. Nothing was denied him, he received the best of care and everything we needed was provided without question. Conversely, a friend recently had to spend a night in hospital for observation while on holiday in California, cost to her - $8,000.

I am Danish. Our system is also a single payer system (and funnily enough we have almost the same exceptions as the canadians). We have optional (private) supplementaty insurance (which helps you for large bills for medicine etc) and some have work-sponsored private health insurance (mostly to avoid wait times, which are not horrible, but existent). Also, by law the drug stores have to inform the user of the cheapest drug with the same active component. That is often way under half the price (and with identical performance).

It always comes down to the question plaguing people since the invention of government? "How many government employees does it take to do one person's job?" Medical care is no different than police, ambulance or fireman. It needs to be government controlled with private doctors and whenever feasible facilities. Private insurance companies are not interested in people's health. It also allows funds to be spent in avoiding or prevention before they become a serious health issue. Try it!

So Canadian Medicare doesn't cover drugs, but they're still able to negotiate for them at a federal level? Why can't/doesn't the U.S. do that if single payer isn't a prerequisite?

I'm from Ontario, I was in the hospital a few days ago with severe stomach pains, waited in the ER for only about an hour and they took great care of me and I got an X-ray done, blood work done, got painkillers, etc. Pretty good, and its all free.

In the past 20 years I had some serious health problem. Nothing that kill me but some serious problem. Canadian health system fix me up every time. I have friends who is familiar with the US system and told me point blank that I would be dead if I was in US. I could not had been afford the care I got if I have to pay out of my pocket and no insurance company will ever take me. I'm eternally in debt to Canada.

I am from Nova Scotia. I have serious heart disease, first discovered when I had a heart attack just after I turned 31. I have had bypass surgery (5), angioplasties, stents etc. I have been treated well by our health system. I'll say this. Were I an American, I would have been allowed to die a long time ago, because I would have maxed out my insurance, and unable to buy a policy to cover procedures I had after my initial surgery.If I had any money left after my heart surgery, it would be gone in short order, and so would I. Health Care is a Human Right, not a commodity.

My grandma had to have her hip replaced 6 years ago since she fell down the stairs. I don't remember her waiting any significant amount of time. And I still don't understand how the US manages to pay proportionally MORE money on healthcare than Canada while still not having a public healthcare service. That is just ridiculous to me.

My mother has just had lifesaving brain surgery costing over £500,000 including recovery time and non of it would have been covered by most policies. She probably would have died in a private system.

My 2 cents: I was diagnosed with a pretty mild heart condition a year ago that was making my electrical conduction go wonky and i had surgery within a month and a half. it was that fast. between the primary care doc, ekg's, blood work, holter monitor, 1 cardiologist and 1 specialist for my condition, it really didnt feel like it took that long at all. this was in the Waterloo and then Toronto area.

Anyone who complains about the wait times in the healthcare system in Canada has only experienced it for non-life threatening issues. When your life is actually in danger, the system moves insanely quickly.

Just wanted to say thank you for deciding to do videos on healthcare in countries around the world. I lived in the UK for a few years and quickly realized that if your healthcare wasn't tied to your job and if it also wouldn't be one of the primary costs of retirement, how much less would I need to retire? I'm fascinated to see what other countries do and look forward to future videos. Thanks!

Fantastic video, Doc. As a Canadian, I don't like all the foreign hate our health care gets. I have never met a Canadian who is upset with our care. Much of my family who have had things like cancer or heart attacks or other medical situations have had no trouble finding care and support. Keep up the great work guys!

Hopefully Bernie Sanders will get this going here in the States. Canada has done a great job of emulating some of the good things about American culture and technology (and inevitably some of the bad. Unfortunately the USA has done a poor job of following Canada's excellent leadership in many social policies, mainly healthcare. Sanders 2016.

Ontario health care system is a total mess..clinics closing , months waiting for MRI. Scrambling , travelling miles at 3am to get appointments. 18months to see an alergy specialist . This expert here should try our system instead of reading about it. I read about seeing eye dogs, they re incredible.I said that to a blind buddy of mine who has one. He said.. you should try it some day.. its aint as easy as it looks. Read all you want, stats. Try our system when you think you may be dying, and you have to wait weeks to find out, managing your journey ON YOUR OWN. None has time to care about you. Or worse, a child.. this fella has no clue..Not until hes lived it.

We are so dysfunctional in the US now, we can't even provide health care for the wounded veterans we sent to war.

Wait times can be long for elective surgery but I have never heard of anyone complaining about our system when it really matters. Palliative care and life threatening emergencies are prioritized but then again shouldn't they be?

As a Canadian who has recently had the need for urgent medical care, I can tell you with 100% certainty that the "wait time" you find online for almost all hospitals is FAR under estimated. I live 10 mins from my local emerg, and when i checked, it said 1 hour wait time average over the pat 3 hours. when i get there, there are scores of people, obviously who have been waiting around for many hours, and i wasnt seen by anyone for at least 5 hours. this has happened at multiple hospitals on multiple occasions. So dont believe those garbage calculators. You may be admitted to the hospital, but that just means they have your name and you wait.

It's with great shame that I've learned more about my own country's healthcare system with this video than I've ever learned otherwise.

As a Canadian, I love our healthcare

We do a lot of donating too. Like, if a hospital wants to upgrade their systems or expend the hospital, they will ask the community donate to that specific area. Some sections are donated by companies and they get honored for that! :)

2 years ago my brother was depressed and told us he had suicidal thoughs. We took him to a clinic called a CLSC here in Québec. Within 20 mins we had access to a specialized lady whom helped him, gave us some information and directives. We had access to a doctor the same day, even if we don't have a family doctor, whom diagnosed him with depression and gave him a full recovery plan. He also had access to a free psychology program with doctoral psychology students under the supervision of reputed psychologist. The medication was paid by our father's job insurence. So free of cost for our family and in a day he was taken in charge by professionals and given a recovery plan. Turns out he had problems managing is anxiety and was cured in a few months and took classes to manage is anxiety problems.

Great video! I don't know if it's too big of a topic, but would you be able to cover why some medications are only available in Canada? I've had specialists offer me Canadian prescriptions for drugs like domperidone. It's not that it failed FDA standards; the pharmaceutical company simply solicits to Canada and never approached the FDA. Both countries have rigorous standards... Why is it only available in Canada?

Bad healthcare is one of many reasons I never want to live in America. The only reason I could come up with for not moving to Canada is that it's freezing cold. I will be remaining in Australia.

i live in toronto and I was snowmobiling last weekend and I got frostbite. I woke up Monday morning looking like a zombie. I went to the walk-in clinic to check my face and make sure there is no permanent damage. I ended up waiting two hours but the doctor told me that there was no damage and my face should be normal in a week or two. I am so thankful for our healthcare system because in the United States I would just ignore it to save the fee.

I'm Canadian and yeah wait times are kinda long, but it means I pay less taxes so I guess it's worth the wait!

No matter free healthcare or not, bureaucracy is destroying Canadian healthcare

Why is it that Dental care/insurance is always considered separate from Medical? Is it some historical artifact that's been carried into the modern day?

Every time I hear an American talk about the Canadian system they talk about the "wait times" but I have never ever heard a Canadian talk about wait times before lmfao. And about there's not "enough competition" because we don't have private services - we have PRIVATE doctors but PUBLIC funding. Where the hell are all myths these coming from?? 🤔

I am of the belief that the Canadian healthcare system saved my life. I am a university student on financial aid, because I didn't have to pay for it I was able to go to my doctor for a routine checkup where it was discovered that I had pre-invasive cervical cancer. I received by surgical treatment free of charge, which left me cancer free as of 2 months ago (YAY). If I had avoided going to my doctor due to cost (as many people in the US do) the cancer wouldn't have been discovered until it was too late. The death rates for cervical cancer in the US are astronomically higher due to a lack of screening.

I'm not worth $40-$400 an hour, so I'd rather wait 4 or 5 hours to get stitches.

This was great, I was always wondering what Canada's healthcare system was like so thanks for answering :)

I'd like to chime in on the wait time thing. Finding a specialist for something that is not immediately life threatening is what takes a bit of time. I have Crohn's, looking for the gastro took a few weeks to book a time to see him, then another few to see the surgeon. This was for diagnosis and again, not immediately life threatening. A while later a fistula formed and basically every appointment was a week or two for scopes and seeing specialist. The initial scheduled operation was 2 months out, but was on a priority list if cancellation happened. Effective wait time from the decision to be operated on to wheeling into the operating room was 2 weeks due to a cancellation. Later on a second fistula formed in a rather secluded/complicated area and was going through the usual week or two waits to see specialist when the pain spiked hard one night. Got myself to the hospital/ER that night at around 10pm and was assessed and on morphine within 20 minutes. Ultrasound and MRIs were done within 2 hours, operation was planned the next morning, and I was in the operating room in the afternoon. Overall a pretty good experience in terms of getting care. All they needed was my health card. No worrying about affiliated hospitals, insurance restrictions, or insane fees and crippling debt.

Lots of Canadians travel to the states for vacation. And sometimes something's bad happens while you're there. We, (my family), every time we go camping there. We get scared something could happen to us there. One time I had a sinus infection that ruined my camping trip there. We waited it out until we came back to Canada to get help. I got treated for it and felt better. That's how much we allowed myself to stay in my misery till we got back home. Now that I have kids, we are staying doing our travelling in Canada this year for our trip since one of them tends to get sick a lot.

This was a good video. But, commenting as a non American, can you please focus a bit more on what each country's system is, as opposed to correcting what Americans think the system is. Comes across as very American-centric when it has no need to be.

Thanks for explaining all this Aaron! I never understand the whole love to the Canada's healthcare system as I'm an Australian - and our healthcare (being biased and all) just is great. Healthcare Triage is such a delight to watch, thanks for all the videos! PS: any chance of going through that drinking milk rant of yours? quite curious

Hope you do the UK next week. I'm a Brit, and even moving to Canada with its single-payer system is a concern for me because of the possible or at least perceived difficulties of obtaining prescription coverage if you have a chronic health condition that requires lifelong use of expensive medication.

I remember speaking with a friend I had met through an online forum. He's from USA and I'm from Canada. He was going on about how he was really sick and having a hard time breathing and couldn't sleep well and he was always tired. I was telling him that he had to get to the doctor because it sounded like he had an infection or pneumonia or something of the like. He kept saying that he was just going to wait for it to go away and I was getting really worried about him. I've had issues with my lungs for many years now and I knew how much better his life would be if he could see his doctor. Finally, he told me that it was just too expensive and I was stunned into silence. I forgot that for me in Canada, it was really easy to go into the doctor and get my blood drawn and get an xray of my lungs and go back to see my doctor multiple times. It was also free. I felt very lucky that day to be a Canadian.

Do Americans seriously think that Canada is basically just Stalin's Russia bc that's the vibe I'm getting...

So happy I live in this wonderful country!

I'm an occupational therapist working in BC and one of the myths I find a lot of Canadians believe about our health care system is that everything is free. For example, during our last hospital wheelchair inventory, we discovered that over 40 of our chairs were missing! People aren't stealing them maliciously (Canadians are way too polite for that), but they assume that they can just take one home just because it's "from the health care system." Sorry folks, you have to pay for some of that stuff! Ask your medical and therapeutic teams if you're unsure!

I just subscribed to this channel because of amazing videos like this. Keep up the great work!

"Most people just assume the US is better, when it's often not." Is that how Americans think? LoL...

Canadians have it so good

I've had several broken bones here in Toronto in the past 15 years or so. Fastest in-and-out time: 2 1/2 hours. That's triage, registration, x-ray, consult, casting, set follow-up appointment. Leave hospital. Two and a half hours. Wait time? Phhhht. Average in-and-out time for 5 broken bones has been 4 1/2 hours. . . Our system works. Very well.

Wow...what a fantastic summary. I have commented before, but will comment again...thanks for the remarkable research that goes into each of these episodes.

Every time I get a foreign person in my taxi, I ask them about their health care system. I've talked to Brits, an Australian and a bunch of Canadians. They are all appalled that we have people dying from Preventable and Treatable illnesses because the only health care available to them is the ER, and the ER doctors don't do any kind of long term care. I'm sure I'll one day need a knee replacement or something similar. I'd be happy to schedule it 6 or even 12 months ahead of time, just to know that at some point it will actually Get Done. Before Obamacare, there was No Chance of me ever getting that kind of treatment. P.S. It's been said that certain people will stop referring to The Affordable Care Act as Obamacare as it becomes clear that this is a viable and useful program. For this reason, I will continue to call it Obamacare even when other people conveniently forget who got us there.

As a Canadian, I know I am lucky to have the health care that is available to us. And being born in Saskatchewan, I grew up learning to thank The Lord for Tommy Douglas. And in ways, I do. But our system is not without flaws. There is disastification, and I know in my health region, and in neighbouring regions, things are being scrutinized with the hopes of changing things around. I will absolutely always be thankful that if anything happens to me right now, I would not be denied care, and I know that our care is good. But I also know that things could be better. Just be careful with the "grass is always greener" mentality. That said, straight trade "as is" with the US - I wouldn't do it, sorry guys!

A very well done explanation of our system. I look forward to similar videos on other countries' health care systems!

Here is a typical example at a hospital. 1 you are triaged right away 2 You then are now seen depending on severity I was in emergency with my husband one time and I can’t remember how many people should have gone to their doctor or a clinic. Clinics can be a problem due to the government regulations on how many patients in a day a doctor can see. One woman stubbed her toe and it hurt (you would think the world was coming to an end) when the doctor saw her he told her to go see her doctor to get an X-ray. Another had a migraine (she apparently gets them every month) the doctor also told her to go home and that if her meds (which she didn’t take lol) don’t work go back to your doctor. The next one had a bad flu 🤦🏻‍♀️. Then it was are turn and I said to the doctor that my husbands doctor said to come strait here because (I didn’t need to say more) I asked the doctor is it always this bad with non emergency people here. He replied “all the time”

You sir really deserve more views. Unfortunately, the American people tend to shy away from the truth. And I want to blame to the lobbyist, corporations, whatnot. But it's really the ignorance of the American people to blame.

As a Canadian I'v never heard it called medicare its usually defined by province for example i'm an Ontarian and I have OHIP

As a Canadian without much first-hand contact with the healthcare system, I found this really interesting. I've heard all those myths before, and I love finding out that they're not true. Thanks for this!

This series is amazing. Thanks for sharing!

I remember seeing a report on how an Australian Senator sought care in the US. It was blown up by the republicans and US media on the perils of state care. A light reading into the story showed that the senator was in the US when he realised he had a problem. It seems like there is a vested interest against the US citizens getting a fair go.

health care is great in canada !

This is easily my favourite series to date for all of the DFTBA Chanels.

Thank you for reminding me about the benefits of the Canadian medical system. It's easy to forget that people pay large OOP fees to even see a GP, let alone have surgery or have a broken bone set. Love your videos, you reasonable reasonable man! Keep em comin'

Also, half thinking of moving to Canada.

I'm thinking to move in Canada and it helped me a lot... Good job ...

The decorations in your office are amazing. Oh and excellent summary video, thank you!

I feel like a lot of things in this video haven't aged well. "Canada is not a dictatorship" They keep their costs relatively low