Pastel-Coloured Soviet Union
Finland has a health care system that has both public and private healthcare providers. The overwhelming majority of all expensive special healthcare is provided by public care providers. Therefore, there is no need to purchase an expensive health care insurance policy to cover special health care. Practically all cancers and such get treated by the public health care system, mostly at regional central hospitals or university hospitals.
General healthcare is a different matter altogether. Municipalities or Joint Municipal Authorities are responsible for general healthcare locally. They have local hospitals and clinics. Minors get treated for free whereas adults have to pay low fees at most in the tens of euros per consultation with a relatively low annual ceiling. Most workplaces have agreements with private healthcare providers providing occupational and general healthcare services to their employees. Another large subset of the population whose healthcare is provided by private care providers is students in tertiary education.
We have an insurance policy paid for our daughter that covers general healthcare. It's only costs a few hundred euros per year. We took it because it enables us to use private clinics with the costs capped at €100 per illness. It can come in very handy when we don't feel like waiting for half a day in a waiting room. In routine cases, however, using the public sector can be a perfectly good option. Once, when our daughter had an ear infection, we went to the public clinic closest to us to get a diagnosis and got it in about fifteen minutes. We were positively surprised at the speed and efficiency at which the system worked. After waiting for about five minutes after checking in, we were invited to see the nurse. The nurse checked her out and saw that she obviously had an ear infection. The doctor came in from the next room to examine her ears, after which she wrote a prescription for antibiotics. It was all over in 15 minutes and we were on our way to the pharmacy to get the pills. I was positively surprised.
Another time, there was another case in which we decided to save money and go to the local public clinic. It was Friday and a little over three pm. It read on the door that the clinic was open only until three pm on Fridays and that the only open public clinic at the time would be at the regional central hospital. We drove up to the hospital. We've been there before and it was a quick and and efficient visit in every way. Now the whole thing took three hours. I get it that it was technically weekend and that there were kids who were sicker than our daughter. But the process was what I'd image the Soviet Union to be, only with the walls painted in calming pastel colors. We got to the nurse in the main lobby after waiting for about five minutes. We tell her what the problem is. Then we get directed to the children's ward. We sit down and wait for maybe half an hour. A guy comes out of a room and asks us to come in. We explain what the problem is. When we're done, he tells us he's not a doctor but a nurse. He makes notes on the computer and tells us that a doctor will see us shortly. Why would we have to see a nurse again? We wait for two and a half hours until a doctor calls us and we go in and explain the problem for the third time. The diagnosis is what I think it would be. But it cannot be confirmed because a certain test is not done at weekends. Aargh! The doctor tells us to call our local clinic on Monday and make an appointment for the test. What a waste!
The funny thing is that in the actual Soviet Union kids wouldn't have to go to a clinic to get a diagnosis and a prescription in any routine cases. A doctor would make a house call in such cases.
Public dental care is free of charge for children as well. Adults have to pay but much less than at private clinics. It's not even remotely close to the actual cost. In non-acute cases, getting an appointment in the near future is very difficult. But I have saved some money by having my teeth checked at a public dental clinic. I never get cavities or have any other problems so booking an appointment a couple of months in advance is not a problem for me.
How does the healthcare system work in your country? From what I've heard, there is no private healthcare sector at all in Canada. If you're Canadian, are you happy with how it works?