Just out of curiosity, what are American wait times like for the uninsured? Infinite?
this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2026
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No, just like anywhere else, wait times are based on urgency. A severed limb will be taken instantly, a bloody nose will wait until there’s an empty bed. Doesn’t matter if you’re insured or not.
Uninsured will just get billed a full amount after the fact (payable in installments to the hospital), vs insured who might have to pay a copay, and then a few month later will get billed a reduced amount, after the insurance company chooses what they’ll cover.
I speak from experience. I was uninsured for a short time, and of course my appendix chose that time to rupture. I was admitted and in the ER instantly. Spent three days recovering in the hospital. Before I left the hospital had a bill for me. It was very high. I set up a payment plan. Eventually I stopped making payments, because I was broke. Hospital sent my bill to a collector. I blew them off.
Was unable to get a loan for a house for 10 years.
Yeah I don't hear the long waiting lines argument anymore
A comparison of Canada vs the USA is hard. All my instruments need to be recalibrated for imperial shithole country scales, but the conclusion is always the same: THE USA SUCKS.
If your leg is hanging off you don't have to wait 12 hours. Idiot don't know about triage
It's unfortunately common for some to assume that they are the only sick person in the entire healthcare system.
And that is just the referral
The only issues with Canadian Health Care system is american capitalism and "business".
Never waited more than 2 hours. I've waited longer at a walk-in clinic.
But maybe it's because I only go when it's an emergency?
Some fellow Canadians bash our system but usually its those that don't get what triage is.
Like my wife felt Ill we went to emerge, maybe waited 4-6 hours. Low blood sugar doctor recommended eating higher protein snacks in between meals.
But when they figured out I had cancer it was fast track for everything.
No point in explaining. If you go to the ER in America you’re waiting 12 hours, at least, unless you’re actively dying.
Oh and it will cost you a nice new car.
When the Australian Emergency department keeps me waiting for less than 15 minutes, I really start to worry.
Yeah the reason I haven't waited that long in the ER isn't because I'm American. Ok actually it is, as an American I'm not going to the ER unless I'm certain I have to. Head trauma, blood loss, issues breathing, anaphalaxis… I think a bone might be broken? I can go to the urgent care in the morning
People who think America has better healthcare are either wealthy, or don't have any health issues they deal with regularly.
Even upper middle class Americans have shitty healthcare. But many or most of them are proud of learning the system so they refuse to consider that they could have been getting fucked their whole lives.
That's a good point. If I had a dollar for every time someone smugly explained a horrific aspect of American healthcare like I'm an idiot for not knowing it, well, I still wouldn't have enough dollars to go see a doctor, but it has happened a lot.
Or they haven't experienced healthcare elsewhere, so all they have for comparison is what pharma is talking them
The thing about Canadian care is that it usually works well for urgent and life saving care. If you don't like the wait for non urgent items, you have to option to pay - you just need to travel somewhere to get it done. The media likes to go on about the cases when people die while waiting but some of them were so sick they weren't going to make it anyway. Having quick access to ER isn't a guarantee that you will survive the heart attack symptoms you've been ignoring for the last month.
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In america you die
Lol if you got a real problem in Canada, you're in and out. No fucking around. Trauma, injury, blood everywhere, yah you get stabilized and attention right away. Hell, I've gotten into a car accident. Bad one, no injuries though, got home started to feel rough after the adrenalin kicked out went to hospital said what's up, in 40 min I had xray, CT scan, and an all clear, see ya.
You come with a flu? Go sit your ass down maybe they will see you tommorow.
I had heart arrythmia. Was in within 5 minutes and hooked up to monitors. If Im in for something less serious, I'll wait. No big deal.
Americans dont seem to get that when we complain about our health system, it doesnt mean we want theirs. We want our issues fixed, not more issues and going bankrupt because of a small medical problem.
Cut my finger off twice, almost lost my foot to sepsis whilst camping, and was witness/transport for 2 different heart attacks.
Longest I've waited for serious treatment is about 5 minutes, most expensive was a 50$ parking ticket.
You're being fleeced like fools
So, out of curiousity, do you work as a sword juggler or is it more of a hobby?
Bro take more precautions
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When I went to Econ class, the professor explained that we call it "Free Market Economics" because of four freedoms:
- Freedom of entry and exit - participants (buyers, sellers, and prospective such) can enter or exit the market at their leisure, and the market will not change
- Freedom of participation - every participant is in the market of their free will and can leave the market without repercussion
- Freedom of substitution - every product on a particular market is essentially the same
- Freedom of information - every participant has the same information about availability and prices at the same time
The reward is that free markets are efficient: they lead to the lowest prices and greatest exchange of goods. That is the reason we have them.
When the four freedoms are not mandated, the market fails in different ways, and that's absolutely expected. When information is available to some before it is to others, we get price distortions - that's where insider trading laws come from.
Health care, the prof explained, suffers from the fact there is no freedom of participation. You either buy care or you suffer the potentially deadly consequences. That's why free markets and health care are fundamentally incompatible: they are expected to be.
Healthcare is the literal example of inelastic demand my prof used to teach us the concept. If you die without it, then there is no price where a reasonable actor can choose to stop participating in the market.
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12 hours and $35k? Stop your bullshit. I've dealt extensively with healthcare in the US. It's more like 10 months and $110k.
My partner is literally waiting 10 months to see a rheumatologist for debilitating joint pain. A virtual visit, no less.
Last year my best friend got diagnosed with cancer, and his VA docs let him sit 3 months between appointments. By the time they offered a treatment plan, he had become terminal, almost a year in. He died last June. It's really quietly horrifying to see it play out in real-time.
But on the bright side, the insurance company probably saved a lot of money. And as you know, line going up is more important than quality of life going up or even staying alive. /s
I’m sorry about your friend, nobody deserves that.
He said VA. No insurance there.
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When I was a kid, in America, I got a huge gash in my head that required stitches. It took them so long to see me in the waiting room they had to reopen the wound to stitch it shut.
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Today i crushed my finger in a metal door and it started bleeding a LOT because the metal cut my skin.
In the beginning i did not want to go to the ER, but then my SO persuaded me "what if you get sepsis and it needs to be amputated???"
I went there and i waited 1 hour only for triage (i can understand it, everyone was dying on a hospital bed while i had this little cut on the finger)
after triage the doctor says we need to xray. Xray?? Don't need it's just a cut, not broken, i don't feel painful. She persuades me to wait another hour for the xray and i am a bit pissed because now i have to waste time for xraying a finger that's definitely not broken, just cut and bleeding.
Result: i broke my index finger. WHAT?? I did not expect this conclusion.
Total paid €0, total time 3 hours
Triage.... I've spent a few hours in the ED waiting room for basic stuff. I've walked right through with serious stuff.
American here. Reluctantly went to the ER because I had been vomiting for a couple of days. Turned out that my gallbladder just stopped working. Was immediately placed into a room, given IV antibiotics, and had surgery the next morning.
Had to stay for 4 days to make sure I was in good shape. The surgery wasn’t super expensive, but the room itself cost me way too much.
Total cost was just over $24k. No insurance (contractor). Even on payments, it’s insane.
My plan is to just never get sick for the rest of my life so I don’t go into another debt hole.
That instant room you got is nothing special, but just how triage works. I came to the emergency room some years ago, shitting and vomiting my guts out, and they placed me in quarantine faster than I could hand over my insurance card. Come with a sore ankle and wait until the other patients are stabilized.
(Germany)
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I had a 14ga puncture wound last year in Canada, about 1" from my femoral artery. Rapidly flowing blood, tourniquet applied on-scene just below the groin.
Ambulance was on scene quickly, I was immediately put into the trauma center in the ER, stapled, full body CT with contrast, tetanus booster and some more stuff I don't remember. Time in ER waiting room: zero. Time in hospital: ~1.5 hr total, mostly spent waiting for a follow up outside the ER.
I paid $250 for the ambulance and nothing else. Canada's healthcare system is GREAT at keeping you alive (if you're not indigenous, which is a true national shame).
Canada's healthcare system is not amazing at keeping you healthy. Something minor and chronic? Get fucked, it's a 2 year wait for a specialist referral. Minorly hurt but not at risk of death? Yeah enjoy the 4-10 hour wait in the ER room. When will you be seen? Idk when we can get to it. Want to see a doctor? Walkin will see you for free in about 45 minutes. Want to see your doctor? Yea they're out this month working at the hospital, how's 3 months from now?
All of this is vastly better than my time growing up in the US where the hospital missed diagnosing me with pneumonia and gave me permanent lung scarring. Or missed my fractured ankle on the xray and said I was fine. And then billed my parents 10's of thousands of dollars.
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