Don't want to stir the pot, but in England we have a "free" national care plan, apart from dental, medicines & eye tests. The way it is going, we will soon be moving to a insurance based system like the US
If you need to see a doctor, there are usually long waiting times for this (unless its an emergency) and the procedure for actually getting something done can take weeks or months.
I think government guidelines state that you should be seen within 6 weeks of being referred by your doctor. This means that the consultant will see you to confirm the diagnosis, but not necessarily treat you, which can take much longer.
There have been many many discussions over here about why it takes so long to get treatment - my own opinion ( and we all have one of those) is that there are too many managers and not enough medical staff ( who do a great job in crap conditions)
Me - I was lucky enough to get private medical coverage from previous jobs (not now) and would pay for it again if I could afford it.
