> Then why are there stories of Canadians crossing the border to seek care in the US?
Because they got the scrap to pay for it and they can't quite get what they're looking for in Canada. There are private clinics here, too, where you can pay out-of-pocket or maybe with private insurance for treatment where you haven't gotten a referral from your family doctor (PCP), but if you're looking for something specific and fast, you're in basically the same boat as any American.
For example, my wife got a referral from our family doctor to what would basically be some local ENT for surgery on something that wasn't at all life-threatening but still needed to be dealt with. I'm pretty sure people from all over Canada come to see him and he's internationally-renowned, which I've gathered from him being out of the office for a few weeks to work out in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He's got all these plaques on his wall for teaching at the university here here and in Saudi Arabia and such. I'm sure he is the cream-of-the-crop given that he's going to the other side of the world to do his thing. He just happened to be the guy that she got to see with just regular provincial health insurance. Also a totally lovely dude.
Compare this, too, to the the whole debacle about Americans having to buy Canadian insulin ...
> I work with some Canadians in Toronto. They’re always complaining how terribly slow and inefficient their healthcare system is.
Well, it is slow and inefficient compared to most things when people expect to get everything on-demand, and it is probably worth complaining about. I'm pretty sure it's mainly because there's a doctor shortage crisis here and there's a lot of factors that go into why that's the case. But having grown up in the states where my family had very little money and I didn't go to the doctor at all for probably 10 years, I'm very glad to be here and get to go to the doctor at all.
> I am by no means defending the US healthcare system as good. It’s not - it’s terrible.
No worries--just saying that it can be hard to weigh salary vs. amenities (or necessities?!) and especially that things can be better than they are in the US :)
> I just wish that those here that want to see it improved/reformed would look across the Pacific, not the Atlantic (or the northern border) for what a truly good healthcare system looks like.
For sure. Now I'm curious about how it works and if there are any issues in funding or doctor supply like there are uh ... everywher eelse