The American system is great if you have money. A lot of money. If you are poor then it is more a "Sucks to be you" system than a Medical System.

A couple of years ago I was paying us$700/month for medical insurance for my family, and it sucked. Deductibles meant that I still had to pay a couple thousand dollars for my wife's surgery and any visit to be seen cost a us$35 copayment. Just to be seen, not for any medication or treatment. To top it off, you have to fight the insurance company to get them to actually cover anything, and who work their asses off not to pay out. It is also always possible that your local medical facility wont take your insurance so you still end up paying out of pocket, assuming that you actually can.

Imagine being rushed to hospital only to find out that none of the treatment that they gave you is covered by your expensive insurance because the ambulance company does not accept your insurance and the doctors, nurses, anaesthetists etc are out of your network. Lot of Americans do not have to imagine that because it happens every day. Canada's system may be flawed but it can get worse. Much much worse.