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we are not talking about healthcare in the united states, we were talking about canada's healthcare system. I am not saying ours is perfect just as I am sure you are not attempting to say that yours is better. I just believe that our system fits the needs of a country this size a little better.

There is no such thing as a perfect healthcare system I believe that one should be able to cross the border for healthcare if they so choose. Leave it an option to choose either americas or canadas that way everyone can be happy.

Which would hurt the United States' economy, I know I look like a jerk but I am merely looking out my countries economy first, I am merely doing what anybody would do. Also the way I see it, the government has done such a great job with everything we have given them to take charge of, can we really trust them with something as important as healthcare? The way I see it the more someone is paid the more motivated they are going to be to do the best job they can so they don't lose that job. Yes our doctors are paid much much more. I get paid 8.25 at my job, at 19 thats one of the best wages I can expect, it is the best wage I can expect for a job that requires no heavy lifting, with almost no contact with the general public, in fact the public kind of ignores people with my job.

My friend however works at meijers, he has to push carts inside in the dead of winter, in the overbearing heat of summer, in the rain and if he complains about it they will tell him oh well. He gets paid minimum wage, from what I've seen I value my job far more than he does, and as a result of that I work better and faster.

Government inefficiency is truly legendary here in the states, Socialized healthcare would likely be a disaster here.

I suspect that government inefficiency is quite epic in Canada as well but I cannot say for sure, but I ask you one question? Have you ever been treated in the states? If not how can you claim yours is better?

I am not trying to claim that our healthcare is imminently superior to yours, but for my family we have enough money we can afford the treament we get here in America, we are happy with our system, so why would we switch?

Why is is that we got a lot of people from Canada in my Hometown's hospital?
You are on a waiting list for socialized medicine could be forever and a half 'till you get the kidney you need.
get one real fast in the U.S.

Canada's health care rules compared to the US's. The people are healthier, Canada has a higher life expectancy than the US.

Profit motive sucks for health care in a free market: getting paid a lot of money will motivate some people to work hard but it will motivate most people to cut costs. Doctors all over the US get preferred treatment and referrals from insurance companies if they keep costs low. This means that a doctor in the US will make MORE money and have MORE patients referred to them if they DO NOT provide care. Profit motive is great for making computer chips, but absolutely terrible for taking care of people's health.

Doctors in the UK make quite a bit of money too. I don't know how it compares to US doctors' pay but it is quite enough to attract talented minds to the field. Doctors in the UK also have incentive programs for extra profit. They get bonuses to their salary for convincing NHS patients to quit smoking! This improves the average health of the people and saves the government money as healthy people need fewer expensive medical treatments. The life expectancy in the UK is also higher than in the US.

The US's economy is not the issue. Your right that in terms of cash in hand, people would probably have less money every month due to the taxes required to fund a socialized health care system. However, the average amount of money people spend on health care and insurance is a significant portion of their income. So what if I pay more taxes? I then DO NOT have to pay for expensive insurance and DO NOT have to pay for medical care! At worst the money evens out and the population is more healthy. Long tern, as average health improves, the cost to the government will go down and the people save money.

Worries over the economy are simply scare tactics by the owners of insurance companies voiced through the politicians who's campaigns they paid for.

the difference between Canada's fast food consumption and the US is not that significant. It does not explain the difference in average health alone.

A good portion of health care is preventative care. This means the doctor or other health professionals give official advice on healthy life styles and warn of nutrition problems before they are an issue. In the US, people rarely practice preventative care as is seriously costs $100 just to shake hands with the doctor, much less get medical advice, whereas in Canada, people do not fear the medical bill so there is nothing stopping them from asking their doctor about every little thing.

My doctor tells me to not eat fast food almost every visit, if more people saw the doctor more often, they would get the same expert medical advice, more people would follow it, and the average health of Americans would go up.

Kidney waiting lists have less to do with efficiency and more to do with availability of compatible organs.

There may be waiting lists for non-emergency treatment, which might encourage well-to-do Canadians to pop over the border for an MRI, but the OVERALL health of the population is higher. A lot of people in the US do not go to the doctor as often as they would because of high costs or lack of insurance coverage. If everybody in the US went to the doctor every time they needed to, regardless of cost, we would have longer waits in line as well.

Emergency patients are always given priority, nobody bleeds to death in the waiting room.

The inconvenience of a waiting list is insignificant compared to the benefit to the health of our population. You may be irritated by your wait in line, but entire demographics of people would now have access to health care when they previously did not. The benefit to the overall health of society would be enormous.

The care we would receive would not be sub-par. A universal system would eliminate the incentive to cut costs which encourages doctors to withhold treatment in exchange for patient referrals by insurance companies. The care for most people would be far superior to joke of treatment they get today. Take a buncha pills indeed.

For Diabetics or those with Heart Problems it is the Sux0rs!
Get the Government out with most of their regulations we'd be golden
But, as you said before Universal Healthcare will probably will not happen because the insurance industry is a big money maker in this country.