Yikes! I am glad she is feeling better.
I have a friend whose Dad's toes withered and fell off after he suffered a stroke. It was weird, but she found his toes in a little plastic bag in the dresser drawer!!
As for 'socialized medicine', I do not think that you have any good examples down there. Your VA medical system is a mess, medicaid or whatever you call it is a mess, and the idea that anyone would have give birth in an emergency room is outrageous.
I would suggest that a substantive reason (one among several) that socialised medicine does not work down there is because it is viewed as charity provided to the poor. It is purposely underfunded and limited in scope.
There is also a major misconception that the government has a role beyond paying the bills. In our universal, single payer system, the relationship between the dr and patient remains intact. The dr does NOT work for the govt. S/he works for the patient in a private practice, and then merely sends a bill for services to the govt. There is no middleman and no insurance agent is there to decide whether I am covered for treatment or not. EVERYTHING is covered except for cosmetic surgery type stuff (obviously). There is no such thing as a 'pre-existing condition'. If your medical team says you need a treatment, you get the treatment.
Occasionally, when a very rare type of procedure is required, but is not readily available in Canada, a patient may be sent to an American hospital for treatment. For example, I had a friend with a very rare congenital spine condition and she was sent to Johns Hopkins for needed surgery. That is rare though as most things are offered in Canada, and in fact, quite a few Americans will come up here to get things done. They have to pay though :-P
As for Canadians going down there to get stuff done? That is a rare occurrence. You might get some millionaire/billionaire type going down there because they want their new knees right NOW with a side of concierge care, instead of waiting for a few months with the rest of us peasants. There are only so many knee replacement surgeons to go around--both here and the US. No regular people go down to the US to pay for procedures they can get for no cost at home. Only people with money to burn.
Keep in mind, every time a wealthy person jumps the line, someone else had to wait longer. In Canada, wealthy people do not get to jump the line. Everyone is treated equally.
As for my premier getting heart surgery down there? He is only 47 so I do not think that he had any heart surgery down there. Are we talking about the same guy?
I know that you do not believe me or feel that I might just be one of the lucky ones, but I am not. I have been sick a lot in my life with various chronic issues. I have always received a world class level of care, no matter what province that I have lived in.
I will tell you another story:
My husband is in the military and he is fully covered for healthcare no matter where he is in the world. We were in Michigan and he got a gall bladder attack that was severe enough to go to the hospital. I searched all over for a hospital and had a hard time finding one! We finally managed to find one and went there. After we got through the metal detector! we were in a guarded triage room where all they really cared about was our insurance coverage. We were good to go so we managed to get into the actual ER. The nurse had to drag THREE different vitals machines over to us before she found one that worked. Yikes! Then they sent in an employee whose job it was to determine how much insurance was available and it turned out there was no ceiling. That made them pleased because they ordered every possible test they could get away with--even though they knew what was wrong already and how to treat it. $14,000 in tests were performed! Then they gave him the antacid for his gall bladder attack and he was good to leave.
I wouldn't call that world class care by any means. It was opportunism, gouging, and an unethical waste of resources. I additionally shudder to think of the cost of having a gall bladder attack for anyone who is uninsured, or under-insured. Yikes.
So private healthcare is not necessarily the best system.