this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2023
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Asklemmy
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Define slow. I have to wait months or more for an appointment in the US. Is it that slow? Emergency visits take hours, sometimes charging people who wait but don't get service. Is it that slow?
Not the other poster but a Canadian too. It varies. To see my GP I can get an appointment within the week, usually same day, though most people here need to wait a couple weeks. Then there GP refers me to specialists, that's usually between 1-6 months wait.
Emergency yeah you are usually looking at 4 hours wait absolute minimum. Though you don't get charged for it at least. Though I guess it depends on severity, they will prioritize by how serious it is not by first arrival.
The other thing the other poster didn't mention is that medication is not covered so you have to pay full for that unless you have insurance. Also for some reason dental isn't covered at all without insurance (or I think recently for low income families but I'm not 100% sure if that's implemented yet or not)
So, plus or minus a little, it is similar to the US, but free.
Depends. I have had a bunch of specialist appointments for cardiologists, endocrinologists, reproductive health specialists and pulmonologists. The average wait for an appointment is about three months.
We are very fond of calling the Canadian system slow but my understanding is it's decently comparable to a lot of the States and is actually pretty impressive considering how spread out and small our population is.