I have personal experience with health care in Canada, as my wife is Canadian and we have a lot of relatives up there. Our family ranges from my wife's 90 year old Grandma to our 5 year old Grandson. Healthcare is not free in Canada. You pay according to what you make. I have had my wife in the ER up in New Westminster and in Overlake ER. I was pretty impressed with the quality of care she got in New West and not so impressed with the miss-diagnosis she got at Overlake.

Yes, there are lines for non-life threatning treatments like knee replacement, shoulder surgery etc., however for anything life threatening the care is instant and excellent. Some Provinces are better then others. The care in Alberta is much better then in B.C., according to my wife and now her mother who moved to B.C. last year from Alberta.

The only complaints I have heard from Canadians is that private health care is starting to worm it's way in. There was a lot of controversy over a private clinic that opened in Vancouver a couple of years ago. The idea is being sold on the concept that it will relieve the lines for non-life threatning treatment, but instead it will probably draw Doctors away from the public system.

Is their system perfect? No. Is our system perfect? No. Read today's Times about the shortage of Primary Care Physicians down here. Apparently there isn't enough money in Primary Care.

I have 100% paid for top of the line health Insurance through my employer. The premium is around $1200 a month. Since my wife moved down here she has had numerous MRIs trying to diagnose a back problem, that still goes un-diagosed, but Docs here have no problem spending my employer's insurance. She was actually healthier under the Canadian system.

I realize it is a nearly impossible task to re-do our healthcare system and I am not advocating one thing over another. Our system and Canada's have their pluses and minuses. But if you are looking at overall longevity and quality of life, our system is not the leader, except in costs.