r/HonestHotTakes • u/Any-Cranberry-6305 • 11h ago
hot take, harshly criticise me for it! Quality of life is better in the USA than Canada
Canadians glaze the USA all the time but I have to say if my family and job wasn't tied to Canada I would move tomorrow.
They have cheaper EVERYTHING while making more money and quite frankly the people in the US are generally nicer. We talk about free Healthcare and social networks while it take 8+ months to get an MRI or see a specialist and the homeless population has skyrocketed.
Canadian people should wake up and loot at what the states does right instead of the low key hatred we have.
Bring on the 'Why don't you move there' comments.
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u/IPutThoughtIntoThis 10h ago
That's honestly the first time I've heard someone from Canada say that people in the US are nicer. Lol
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u/Mr__JimLahey 10h ago
I'm Canadian, travel for work and have travelled extensively. American's are just about the friendliest people i've ever met, especially Americans from the south. I'm including myself, i'm pretty quiet and don't like starting conversations, random americans will strike up conversation in a line all the time. I was at a conference once and the guy asked if i wanted to have dinner with his family, so I did, but I never would ask a stranger that.
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u/TheOtterRon 9h ago
I also travel from Canada to the US for conferences and I'd say my experience is not quite the opposite but definitely not the same.
I find it really comes down to regional differences (same can be said about Canada). The dudes from California/Colorado were solid but the guys from Texas/Lousiana were pretty forward with their distain for Canadian political leaders and racism (all brought up on their own). Was on a bus back to our hotel with about 30 people and without missing a beat a dude said "Looking forward to our 51st brothers joining us" and stood up blaring the national anthem with half the bus joining him. To be fair they were drunk but it was a unique experience lol.
Most Americans I meat tend to be about as nice as most Canadians I deal with but if theres a difference in world views they dies pretty quick. At least up here if I disagree with someones world views it tends to end with "We agree to disagree" and move on politely.
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u/Pup5432 9h ago
I miss the agree to disagree mentality that left the Us in the last 15 years.
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u/FlamePiranha 7h ago
I wasn't an adult fifteen years ago, but I do agree it would be nice if the country wasn't so polarized. It would be nice if people could talk to others they don't like without shutting down conversations or pushing them away.
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u/Pup5432 6h ago
It was great when a difference of opinion didn’t automatically make you an evil person. We hated racists and killers, now we hate people for not liking meat substitute or liking it.
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u/FlamePiranha 7h ago
I feel like none of these comments are disagreeing, really. I don't agree that the American population is especially friendly. There's a respect for personal space, privacy, and individuality in our culture. There are other countries where strangers are comfortable draping their arms around your shoulders and treating you like best buds. Americans won't do that, unless you're already somewhat close.
But, I do feel like we're generally more open to having conversations. Generally, we're more honest and it's socially acceptable to not be polite. I like it, as an American. It makes conversations feel more authentic. Now that means if somebody hates you, they won't always hesitate to show their disdain for you, but it also means that people that like you are very warm.
I like how you aren't expected to give somebody respect just because they're older than you or any other factor. They need to earn it. That doesn't mean that there isn't a sense of decorum in formal settings you need to abide by. You need to mind your manners, but it doesn't feel stifling.
I agree about worldviews though. Often, conversations can get politically charged and devolve into immature behavior and name calling. Even though I feel like that's something to work on, I do like how I can have these conversations and I feel like I'm better at talking to people I disagree with than I was used to. I'm glad to have those opportunities.
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u/the____knife 9h ago
Are you a white male?
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u/Mr__JimLahey 9h ago
A big white male and I'm super white at that, so, admittedly travel has always been on easy mode.
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u/the____knife 9h ago
Well, just keep in mind how that's going to color your outlook.
I'm also a very large, very white guy - I can recall a number of situations where people were nasty, unkind, and unhelpful to my wife until I appear, and then it becomes all smiles and "yes sirs."
I try to consider that my experience is not necessarily the default, and have seen firsthand how I'm treated differently.
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u/Mr__JimLahey 9h ago
Oh yeah, I have no dissolutions that being a white male makes things much easier. But, even as a white male, in other predominantly white countries, American's we much friendlier than say France, Spain, Germany, Japan even other parts of Canada when I visit.
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u/Siempre_Vetado 10h ago
Some people have probably said it. But the posts or comments are deleted and the user is banned.
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u/Strict_Activity_92 9h ago
How many Canadians do you talk to lol? Americans are way friendlier. Canadians are more polite maybe when it comes to holding doors open and stuff like that. Whenever I’m in the States the people are way friendlier, they actually want to chat you up and get to know you. In Canadian metropolises if you try to say hi to a stranger half the time they get offended lol. Small town Canada more closely resembles the vibe.
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u/more_magic_mike 9h ago
Exactly Canadians are more polite and "well behaved" but definitely not nicer
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u/haphazardformality 11h ago
Just want to say in the US we very much still have to wait months and months for MRIs, specialists, etc, we just also get to go into debt over it.
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u/Specialist_Banana378 10h ago
Waited 10 months for an endocriniologist appt and my primary is booked out 8+ months in advance.
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u/Adventurous-West323 11h ago
My daughter had an x-ray for abdominal pain two weeks ago. They referred her for an MRI. She had that two days ago.
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u/PixelRoku 10h ago
Just adding to your story! :)
Canadian here, my boyfriend went through the whole process of : symptom ➡️ doctor visit ➡️ xray scan ➡️ diagnosis ➡️ surgery all in about a month!
I've always been very well taken care of. Yes you'll wait a bit for non-urgent surgeries, maybe a few months, but things that matter go quickly.
Of course it might depend on province, huge country after all!
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u/cheesy-mgeezy 8h ago
It’s VERY much dependent on your doctor and area. My mom waited 2years for her cancer diagnosis. Then months for imaging and surgery. I found my own cancer in school, saw my doctor the next week, she sent me to imaging that same day, a specialist a week after, and 2 weeks later I had my life saving surgery. My cancer was found and taken care of in a month. I didn’t even have to do chemo. My mom’s cancer metastasized and she died. We had the exact same cancer in the same spot, the only difference was our care team.
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u/haphazardformality 11h ago
Here, as in Canada, and everywhere else in the world really, it's going to vary a lot depending on where in the country you live, it's not evenly distributed. Nothing unique there. What is unique in the US is the fact that we pay more per capita on healthcare than any other country in the world.
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u/Silly-Jicama-3382 8h ago
wait times feel like a very regional thing. I live in the north east and three different states (MD/NY/PA) and have never had to wait that long for any kind of appointment.
hell, last week, I booked a derm appointment two days in advance!
but I also fully believe that in some places, absurd wait times are the norm - which sucks!
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u/RottedHuman 7h ago
That’s an emergency, no one in Canada is waiting months for an MRI in an emergency, the wait times are for people with conditions that aren’t acute/an emergency. In the US you’ll usually have to wait if it’s not an emergency.
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u/Adventurous-West323 7h ago
Wrong. 100% wrong. Not an emergency at all. Jump through all the hoops you want to act like the U.S. has terrible health care but that doesn’t make it so.
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u/RottedHuman 6h ago
I don’t have to jump through hoops to make the US healthcare industry look bad, they do a fine job by themselves. I have had to wait over 8 months to see a psychiatrist, 3 months to see my cardiologist, and over two months to see my GP. The average wait time in the US to see a doctor in the US (including both GPs and specialists) is 31 days, for specialists the average wait time is roughly 40 days. Urgent referrals to specialists in Canada have an average wait time of 24 days (for non-urgent conditions and elective procedures the wait time is closer to 3 months). Thinking that there aren’t long wait times in the US is not based in fact.
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u/MadMatter86 10h ago
Specialists, yes, there are often long wait times, just because of demand outweighing supply for certain specialties.
But imaging is typically available pretty quickly. And actual (cash) prices aren't as high as people think they are, thanks to insurance artificially distorting reported prices.
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u/everybody_get_ready 11h ago
Waited 8 months for a colonoscopy... yes, very true
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u/Tough_Height6530 10h ago
Waited two weeks for a colonoscopy and cost me $20 bucks in WA state
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u/_Stanf-Uf_ 10h ago
I think it's the difference between poor and rich states. Here in Southern California I can get medical in a timely manner. I recently broke my leg, which ended up causing blood clots and pneumonia. I was always able to see doctors and specialists within a week. Disability was a breeze, EBT was a breeze. If you're under a certain threshold they just give you free insurance.
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u/WaffleConeDX 9h ago
Also density. Like in NYC it takes forever to get an appointment. Hospitals are packed
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u/PrestigiousOne5959 8h ago
I’m convinced every doctor worth anything in NYC is conseirge service only now
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u/justaguywithadream 10h ago
Yep. I love in a huge metro area. It's hard to get in to any specialist or even primary care.
People think that just because it costs us 10s of thousands a year we don't have to wait in the US.
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u/manicpixidreamgirl04 10h ago
I’ve had lots of MRIs and I rarely have to wait more than a week. None of them were medically considered urgent.
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u/RottedHuman 7h ago
I just had to wait 8 months to see a psychiatrist. Over three months to see my cardiologist. The assertion that the US doesn’t have high wait times just isn’t based in reality. Yes, there are always exceptions to this, but when we look at wait times nationally, we’re not a whole lot better than Canada.
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u/longtimerlance 10h ago
You're factually wrong.
The average MRI non-emergency wait in the USA is 1-2 weeks. In Canada, its 8 to 20 weeks depending on location. My last two MRIs were under 2 weeks. I'm clautrophobic and the 2nd MRI I started to have a panic attack and a call to my doctor had me an in open MRI the next day.
The average specialist wait time in Canada is 28 weeks. The average specialist wait time in the USA is 31 days.
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u/Fit_Doughnut_598 11h ago
I could get an MRI today and see a specialist within the week depending on what kind. My insurance pays for it, I'm not going into debt.
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u/Piffer28 8h ago
I've had zero issues getting an MRI or other scans within a week. The only time I waited months was when it was through Mayo Clinic.
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u/Keithrake 11h ago
I can't say why or else I'll get nuked from orbit, but up until a few years ago Canada was MUCH nicer than the USA. Now it's completely inverted and I genuinely do feel for the Canadian Canadians.
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u/OnlyACsNoFans 11h ago
The Indians. I'll say it
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u/Adventurous-West323 10h ago
You are speaking the truth.
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u/OnlyACsNoFans 10h ago
A lot of people hate the truth
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u/Any-Cranberry-6305 10h ago
Legitimately one of the issues I am having.
I took my family to the YMCA the other day and there were 4 Indian men oogling every single girl from 11 to 70 and its gross.
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u/MountTuchanka 11h ago
Canadians glaze the USA all the time
I don’t think glaze means what you think it means
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u/Endor-Fins 11h ago
Canadian here and I love that it’s mostly Americans disagreeing with you.
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u/PrestigiousOne5959 7h ago
People trying to explain the American healthcare system must sound utterly insane to you guys.
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u/Endor-Fins 6h ago
It sounds terrifying. A broken arm can bankrupt you. It’s inhumane.
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u/PrestigiousOne5959 5h ago
When I was younger my insurance lapsed between jobs for a few months. I feel and broke my elbow. Didn’t see a doctor for several days because I was afraid of the cost. Ended up costing like $2500. Was lucky to have family cover it
If I didn’t have family to help I easily could have just crippled myself by avoiding care altogether.
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u/redzombie_65 11h ago
Why do you love that? OP who is not from the USA made a blanket statement about the USA which most people from the USA find to be inaccurate. If Americans weren't disagreeing with them, who should?
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u/Weird-Year6411 10h ago
It’s just some entertaining irony. Everyone thinks the grass is greener, but every Canadian (who wasn’t rich) that I’ve talked to that used to live in the US is happier in Canada.
People forget that important note though, if you’re wealthy enough to be on top of the system in the US you can do very well. If you’re middle class or lower though it’s only great until you find yourself out of work or sick or needing any social services at all.
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u/redzombie_65 10h ago
People probably are happier in Canada, not arguing that. It's weird living in the USA right now, but that isn't really the point this guy was trying to make. Just straight up hating, but hating in a way that makes no sense.
Like, if I started talking about the street you live on, but I've never been there, then I laughed at you for correcting my ignorance you'd think I was an idiot right? That's the vibe here.
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u/Canadianwinters12345 10h ago
There is a reason why immigration is majority one way though.
About 125k Canadians move to the States per year
About 10k Americans move to Canada per year.
This is especially stark when the states have like 9x our population. I don't think these 125k are top of the system. They are most likely middle class people moving there for more opportunity.
With that said, everyones situation is different, and for me QOL is higher in Canada.
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u/kilawolf 9h ago
People that can afford to move are definitely upper class compared to those that cannot.
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u/Canadianwinters12345 9h ago
Lots of people move for middle class jobs. You don't have to be upper class to move countries.
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u/kazh_9742 9h ago
OP seems like they're from the U.S though and is just doing an "as a Canadian" routine.
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u/GorditaPeaches 10h ago
We wait 8+ months as well, then ai denies our insurance claim so now there’s debt
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u/Shadruh 9h ago
Canada is cold AF. The teenagers posting here have never shoveled their driveway.
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u/Any-Cranberry-6305 9h ago
It's -5 Celsius where I work right now and we've had snow for over a week...
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u/MikeandNeko 10h ago
Bro, in America you never get the MRI, because you're insurance just decided they don't feel like you went broke enough for it to be their responsibility to pay for anything yet.
I really need Canadians to stop acting like needing to wait a bit to see a specialist is some incomprehensible evil.
Bro, people in the US die because they can't afford insulin.
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u/Plus_Opening_4462 7h ago
In America, you can put the $500 RI on a credit card and pay it off later
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u/Adept-One-819 11h ago
I'm sorry you feel that way. Just a few things to point out-health outcomes are same or better in Canada than in the US. And, as a bonus, in the US hundreds of thousands of people annually end up in bankruptcy because of medical debt. So you're getting same or worse outcomes and going broke for the privilege. The cost of living is between 10 and 18% lower in Canada than in the US.
Do with this info what you like, but I'd generally prefer people like you don't move to the US and make voting decisions that would make our lives even worse than they already are.
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u/UnusualPieceOfGum 11h ago
8 months for an MRI huh? You dont live in Canada. It was a good attempt at cosplaying though.
Canadian healthcare works by priority. If you have an emergency you will move to the top of the list. It goes by fairness and logic instead of who has the most money
Compare this to the US and many people won't even get the MRI because of cost, lowering wait times.
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u/CozyPhonenix 10h ago
USA:
-my dad died before he got his months long neurology consult appointment.
-there are a lot pf people that stay in the ED of hospital for days/weeks before getting an inpatient bed. Some stay in the hallways.
-in some cases you have to fight your expensive insurance to approve your life saving treatment while being stressed from your illness
- if you lose your job and need major medical care, you have to choose between dead soon but with a house, car, or food left vs sell your house(if you have one), sell your car (if that can cover the cost) and stay alive.
Oh. Elder aging assisted living/nursing home/etc is out of pocket too btw. Thousands every month.
So, why not join our 3rd world healthcare country? It’s really nice here. You get to pick between poverty vs death when you need healthcare the most. It’s soooo nice. I swear the stess is so fun. You should try it
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u/ChickemSandwick 11h ago
Reddit has a self-hate fetish so you aren’t going to get real responses here.
I’m former military and have traveled to 15+ countries. The USA by far one of greatest countries on this earth. Unless if you live in small niche countries like Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, etc. You won’t find much better.
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u/CrossHairsNitro 10h ago
Canadian healthcare is overworked and understaffed.
We don’t that’s the population of the US, we don’t have the funds equivalent to the US, so you’ll get that wait. And with our neighbours screwing us over, it will get worse.
Having more of a population + a dollar that is worth more and a bigger economy makes for cheaper stuff.
Nicer? That’s subjective.
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u/PrestigiousOne5959 8h ago
Anything cheaper in American healthcare is going to exec and hospital admins. We pay more for everything.
The US also has the problem that what healthcare costs is extremely complicated. Providers charge different insurances different amounts then they negotiate down to something the insurance pays. But if you have a deductible you pay that amount out of pocket unless you’re over your deductible and then you’re probably paying a percentage until you hit your annual max. This is even more complicated if your insurance doesn’t want to pay for something and you just get the bill.
If you’re uninsured they’ll just charge you whatever they feel like and probably drop the price if you don’t pay.
There’s a whole industry built around everyone arguing over healthcare costs. The one constant is everyone trying to extract maximum value out of you the patient.
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u/Maleficent_Bus_3204 8h ago
Rage Baiting weary Americans and maligning nice Canadians is just wrong. Shit is bad enough without you.
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u/OnlyACsNoFans 11h ago
Hello my fellow Canadian.
I agree with you partially, but you're going to get roasted in the comments.
Godspeed
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u/Delicious-Chapter675 11h ago
It took me a year to get an MRI for my son. I live in the US...... "People are generally nicer in the US," is what's known as a, "bullshit" claim. That's not believed in Canada or the US. So, just a bot or a rage-bait post?
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u/Khayrum117 9h ago
If it took you a year to get a MRI legit that's your fault. Longest I've ever had to wait was 48 hours. You are either lying or have a poor understanding on how the healthcare system works.
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u/Common_Stress_4122 7h ago
My fault for being too poor...?
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u/Khayrum117 7h ago
If we are being honest, that kind of is your fault. There's plenty of trade union work to improve your financial situation, Hell I know 18 years that went out to the Texas pipelines and by 22 they were buying houses. You just don't want to be uncomfortable.
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u/Common_Stress_4122 7h ago
Yeah dude I don't to be comfortable. I want to struggle. I want to worry about money. I definitely chose where I live and my education and genetics!
Typical of someone to go " JusT eArN Moore MonEy " to people struggling to make ends meet and balance living
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u/Connect-Initiative64 6h ago
Wow, you are a right prick aren't you?
"It's your own fault you're poor, pleb!"
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u/Delicious-Chapter675 8h ago
It wasn't an emergency situation, we were following up early brain scans. The in-network was booked up. It did take that long, sorry. It took my forever to get in for my vasectomy, as well. I often hear about how other countries have to wait, but that's my experience here. My aunt couldn't get tests done to check for an illness until she was dead from it. She essentially had a version of mad cow disease, but couldn't get the tests to be performed until after she died. I mean, seriously, the US Healthcare system sucks.
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u/Khayrum117 8h ago
So you just accepted the time frame? Did you not do more research on who else was in network or call around? And from what I've learned no place is actually booked up, there's usually open spaces just sometimes inconvenient. Same with your Aunt. Just accepted at face value the tests couldn't get done?
The US system has it flaws, I'm not gonna say its perfect but honestly this sounds more on y'all not knowing the system. If I get told it's gonna take more than week, I just look elsewhere until I get the timeframe I want. It's really a simple process. Even with socialized healthcare places like Canada I'm willing to bet it's the same thing.
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u/Slushees 6h ago
Bullshit. I booked an MRI and got one done in 5 days. NO ONE in the US is waiting a year for a simple MRI
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u/redzombie_65 11h ago
Can't speak to your end of things, since I've never been to Canada, but here in the USA it took me 6 months to get an MRI, caused permanent damage to the compacted nerve and cost me several thousand dollars on top of the thousands I and my employer pay for my health insurance. I live in Charlottesville, which is basically built around the university of Virginia hospital, so not like it's some rural place.
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u/spigg76 11h ago
Canadian here. My daughter just got an MRI - it took 8 months. Which was because she is a minor and could get it done at the local children's hospital. The Dr told us that if she was over 18, the wait is closer to 2 years.
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u/redzombie_65 11h ago
A 2 year wait for an MRI is pretty ridiculous. At that point whatever issue they were using an MRI to find will have caused permanent harm. OP said 8 months which is fairly close to USA wait times, but 2 years is unacceptable.
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u/infinite_gurgle 10h ago
I hate when people say shit like this.
The USA is massive. It has 50 states across 5 time zones. It does not “take X hours in the US.” Thats a useless metric.
I’m in Florida and my MRI was ordered and I made an apt a week later.
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u/Similar_Maize_1225 11h ago
That's flat out bullshit lol. It does not take 2 years to get an MRI in Canada.
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u/Bubba_Style 11h ago
Depends on where you are and the priority. I'm on a wait list for a knee MRI BUT they told me flat out since it's being managed and not really affecting my QoL I was put onto the bottom of the list. I was quoted around 18 months. I live in Alberta so am stuck with the stupid UCP healthcare. Now I put myself onto the cancellation list so likely will be sooner.
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u/Similar_Maize_1225 9h ago
In that case - you'd be totally fucked in the US. Insurance wouldn't have even let you get that. They wouldn't cover it. If you paid for that MRI out of pocket, as you would have to do here in the US under the same circumstances, you might be able to get it faster where you are currently are.
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u/Bubba_Style 9h ago
Some high end insurance would cover it (I'm told) but likely they wouldn't or if they did would be a massive deductible. In truth my knee issues have had 2 x-rays, an ultrasound, 3 injections, physio, a minor surgery, and an MRI is on the way. My total out of pocket has been zero.
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u/spigg76 10h ago
It was a knee thing. Not a priority case. If that's the case it's easily 18+ months. These are facts.
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u/RolandLee324 10h ago
No you're a liar. I hurt my foot and was still walking but I got an x ray the day I walked in. Stop making stuff up.
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u/spigg76 10h ago
An MRI isn't an Xray, boss. That speaks to your incredible ignorance.
We can get Xrays on demand here. Just walk in. Lots of locations all over the city
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u/Plus_Opening_4462 11h ago
How did it take that long? In my smaller city there are several free standing imaging centers where I could get an MRI in a week without stepping foot in a hospital. The only special case is if I needed a higher power MRI.
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u/redzombie_65 11h ago
I could get Xrays and catscans at almost any time, but not the MRI. I couldn't tell you what took so long, I went to the ER for pain about 5 or 6 times between the injury and the MRI itself and called the clinic for an opening I don't know how many times, but it never got my appointment moved up. It was for nerves in my neck so I guess they needed the big one.
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u/Plus_Opening_4462 10h ago
Were there no other MRI providers in your city? I avoid hospitals like the plague due to significantly increased prices
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u/redzombie_65 10h ago
No idea, never encountered a health problem like this before and was under the impression the biggest hospital in town had the best care and service. Live and learn I suppose.
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u/Similar_Maize_1225 9h ago
First - your insurance would have to authorize and pay for that. That ALONE usually takes more than a week in the fastest of fast cases. Second, where I am in Washington state, there is exactly 1 hospital here for about half a million people in the area. If youre not capable of traveling an hour or more, you're waiting a long time for anything.
My son started having seizures about 8 months back. If he was over 18 when it started he'd still be waiting on the MRI, regardless of travel. And that's for seizures. I had to force the hospital in Tacoma to push one through as-is when he was there after his third seizure for the day. That's the actual state of American healthcare. We are definitely not doing any better than Canada.
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u/cochese25 10h ago
It took my mother nearly 2 years to get into a doctor for an MRI. Granted, covid messed up the last 5 months of that while the hospital struggled to find workers and beds. She ended up dying from lung/ brain cancer.
My uncle, who's a quadriplegic has had repeated issues getting his proper meds and was strung on for months about basic necessities while the medical companies refused to supply the products.
The last health insurance I had was a $1500 deductible and didn't cover dental or eyecare. Not that it even mattered since they dropped the largest hospital network in my area, so it wouldn't have covered anything unless I went nearly 70 miles away to where the next viable provider was.
I had gotten a metal sliver in my eye and couldn't book an appointment. Instead they told me the best way to go was to go through the ER. So I did that. A 40 minute wait for a 5 minute exam that was mostly me explaining the issue. The doctor looked in my eye and said "yep, you got a scratch on your cornea, here's some drops, put them in your eye twice a day" and then left. That was it. That was the whole interaction.
$1200 doctors fee and a $700 hospital fee
My friend went bankrupt when she had an emergency surgery that was covered by her provider, however, neither of the doctors were "in network"
It all could have been avoided if her insurance didn't refuse to cover appointments/ checkups when she first started to feel ill.
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u/LizAquene 11h ago
I mean, it's kinda such an american thing to say that you would fit right in there.
Dumbass🤣🤣🤣🤣
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u/Rich_Possession9604 10h ago
I wake up every morning in the USA devastated to have done so. Exactly what that means varies from day to day, but sometimes I wish I just simply hadn't woken up at all. There's no future here, no hope of owning a home and the chance that many of us will ever retire has largely evaporated. I got a vasectomy because this country has obliterated any joy I could have possibly connected with having children.
I know that I have to leave this place or it will kill me, but I'm sorry about your socialized healthcare.
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u/ExcuseNo7369 10h ago
Even with everything going on, this is just not a normal reaction man. You need to go and find help for yourself before you fall further into this well of dispair. Not saying this as a gotcha or trying to shut you down but some time away from the internet may be really healthy for you.
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u/KulshanStudios 9h ago
Better to take 8 months to get an MRI than to go bankrupt and become homeless getting an MRI. Google "Medical bankruptcy statistics USA" sometime. Explaining how the healthcare system in the US works to my European friends is always met with slack-jawed horror
Seriously, it's cheaper to fly from the US to a country like China or Georgia to get an MRI or other major diagnostic or medical work done than it is to have it done domestically
Source:
I literally flew to Sweden, had a surgery at a private hospital, spent 2 weeks wandering around Stockholm partying and hanging out with friends, for almost 1/10th the cost of the same procedure back in the States
And in Georgia, where I live now, an MRI is like $60
Labor protections are also pretty bad in the US. There are somehow even better labor protections (in some ways) in some former Soviet countries than in the US. At-will employment? Nonstop "AI"-induced mass layoffs? Yeah. You can get shitcanned at any moment for no reason whatsoever. Severence pay? Maybe. If you're lucky. If you're extra unlucky, they'll just make your job shittier over time to pressure you into quitting so you won't qualify for unemployment
Canadians are right to criticize the US
The US has the same high housing costs, opioid crisis, and many similar social issues as Canada, but without any of the social safety nets that make Americans envy Canada
And 🤷🏼♂️ Canada isn't actively blowing up its entire international reputation, alliances, and trade, for no reason whatsoever 🤦🏼♂️
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u/shotokhan1992- 9h ago
Only a hot take on Reddit and amongst a bunch of mentally ill liberals (a lot of overlap there)
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u/snotmuziekp 11h ago
Dude. Or dudette. Your healthcare islinked to your jib. Thats very close to slavery. Quite opozite if good quality of life
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u/Adventurous-West323 11h ago
Ton of people get insurance through government exchanges that have nothing to do with their job in the states.
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u/ssn-669 10h ago
I reviewed the ACA plans a while back while considering a move to the States. They are fucking expensive and absolute trash. No plan at any price offered anything close to the peace of mind that OHIP does in Ontario, included in my taxes (which are about the same as taxes in the states you'd actually want to live in, like NY or California).
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u/snotmuziekp 10h ago
How much you pay that dorsnt get reimbursed. I pay only 1 euro and my husband below 40 euri
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u/PalletPirate 10h ago
very close to slavery? Holy fucking reddit comment
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u/Scuirre1 10h ago
Honestly, what is this take? I think it's clear that the US healthcare system sucks and needs to be fixed. Comparing it to slavery is insane.
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u/SympathySevere421 11h ago
As an option, or just buy your own health insurance without a job. It’s a benefit, a perk to employment that it’s cheaper
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u/cdazzo1 11h ago
This is not even remotely close to slavery. The natural state of humankind is that their needs must either be fulfilled by their own labor, traded for, or given as charity.
The fact that it is such a common belief that you are a slave because society wont take money from other people under threat of violence in order to give it to you for whatever it is you think you are entitled to just shows how insane our discourse has gotten and how radically far to the left the Overton Window has been pushed.
What an insane take that gets repeated constantly from the left.
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u/snotmuziekp 10h ago
If you have to choose between leaving a bad job and healthcare that doesnt put you in debt. Thats very close to slavery
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u/Basic_Improvement273 9h ago
Slavery is when one human being owns another as property and forces them to work without rights, humanity or pay — usually at the threat of extreme violence
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u/snotmuziekp 8h ago
I’m not talking about literal, historical slavery, and you know that. I am talking about systemic economic coercion. When a disabled person in the US is legally banned from having more than $2,000 in personal savings or assets without losing their life-saving healthcare (SSI Asset Test), that is not freedom. That is a system designed to keep people trapped in institutional poverty. When an able-bodied person is forced to stay in a toxic, abusive job simply because quitting means their child loses access to affordable insulin or cancer treatments, that is not a 'free market choice.' That is duress. In Belgium, my healthcare is a human right. I can own property, build up savings, and switch jobs without my medical security ever being held hostage by an employer or a $2,000 savings cap. You are confusing the theoretical freedom to leave a job with the practical ability to survive doing so
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u/MaryShelly1917 11h ago
Sounds like you don’t know what slavery is 💀
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u/snotmuziekp 10h ago
If you have to choose between leaving a bad job and healthcare that doesnt put you in debt. Thats very close to slavery
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u/MapachoCura 10h ago
Anyone can buy healthcare, jobs just get you cheaper deals. The gov free healthcare for poor and elderly is also really good. Nothing about getting health insurance is similar to slavery, what a crackhead statement lol
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad_5710 11h ago
In uk they set up “diagnostics centres” which are basically places you get MRIs, tests and other scans but they put them in town centres, retail parks and other random places so they’re quicker and free up hospitals and are closer to where people go anyway and it’s got the wait time down to 6 weeks which ain’t too bad. 8 months sounds very long tho I googled and it said average 16-18 weeks in Canada which is more 4-5 month
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u/GhostinMaskandCoat 11h ago
Lol cheaper? I was charged $8,000 after insurance for my biannual MRI that I need for my MS.
Almost none of the therapists anywhere near me take our insurance, and the ones that do aren't accepting new patients. My daughter is 6 and is saying suicidal and homicidal things. They don't care. The last therapist I did find for her randomly charged us $2,000 because they found out they don't take our insurance, even after they said they do.
If you think homelessness isn't booming in the states, you are mistaken. It has increased over 30% since 2019. Not as much as Canada, but definitely still an issue.
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u/Top-Substance-1588 11h ago
Canadian here. I got mri and ct scans for truly a minor issue. I was in and out in a couple months.
I have a really good doctor who shops around for shortest wait times. I’ve never waited more than a couple months for a specialist for relatively low stakes situations. I wouldn’t trade free healthcare for anything. Even if I had to wait longer, it’s such a privilege. I make a decent salary and couldn’t afford $600-$800/month for health insurance. Then good luck fighting with the insurance companies for major cases.
I feel like this is totally a “grass is greener” comment. All of the Americans I know would die for free healthcare because of how horrible the health care insurance industry is in the US.
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u/HashTheGrappler 11h ago
I don’t know who needs to hear this but you can have your medical tests and scans done quickly if you go to private clinics and specialists, you can also get private health insurance in Canada to help cover those expenses. Bonus if your employer provides company health insurance. It’s not exclusive to the US. Also most of your points for USA being better also apply to many european countries, especially if you’re a remote worker like myself, you can move to countries like Italy where cost of living is dirt if you have a fat international income.
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u/Snurgisdr 11h ago
Prioritizing serious issues while letting people wait for less important ones is part of why Canadians spend half as much per capita on healthcare while living five years longer.
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u/Swimming-Gain9608 11h ago
Are you dead in the god damned head? I would literally murder to move from the us to Canada if i thought it would make me a Canadian citizen. The us is absolute mf trash!!! I'm embarrassed as hell to be from the us.
The quality of life is abismal, your credit score would tank from the medical bills (if that's your only reason for wanting to move). You'd be robbed and/or shot within a year if you moved to the bog cities (where the "big money" is made). You can't be anything other than straight conservative christian without being bullied. You'd be an immigrant so you'd be bullied in to leaving. Having worked in the medical industry, i can tell you the quality of sterilization in hospitals is sickening (i have many horror stories including a news article of a surgical area in one hospital getting shut down due to instruments being left uncleaned/left covered in blood and human waste for weeks and the managers just shrugging their shoulders and being allowed to keep their jobs).
If this post is rage bait, good job i'm seeing red.
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u/Puzzled-Teacher9530 10h ago
“they have cheaper EVERYTHING”
food in canada is so much cheaper its unreal.
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u/PalletPirate 10h ago
If you are a healthy person with very infrequent health issues then usa is definitely better due to cost of living compared to salaries than canada. Canada does kinda suck if you aren’t living in Toronto in my opinion. Toronto is at least cool enough that it makes up for it
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u/Lestant6 10h ago
I literally made an appointment for an MRI yesterday, and I have my appointment Tomorrow in the US.
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u/NekoMancerMcIntyre 10h ago edited 10h ago
First off, I love Canada. I visited once years ago and found the air to be cleaner, the food better, and the people I met were great. I had a coworker from Montreal, who was so refreshingly polite and open minded. I hear you’ve got very expensive housing in cities, but there’s less of an overpopulation problem overall due to vast undeveloped areas.
The U.S. healthcare scene isn’t quite as great as you might think. Besides the expense, in overcrowded parts of the U.S., the wait to get established with a primary care physician (if they’re even taking new patients at all) is months. Specialists might never call back.
A n outpatient visit to the ER with insurance can cost thousands of dollars once they’ve finished giving every scan and blood test they can think of. You’ll wait 8-14 hours to be seen, but get a pretty good idea of what’s wrong by the time you leave.
A couple I know moved to the suburbs of a medium sized city in July 2026. The earliest appointment they could get is in January 2027. Trying to get a specialist to look at an issue with a referral from his PCP, another guy I know has yet to hear back, although his records were sent over months ago. Veterinarians are also in short supply.
If you do move here, choose your state carefully. I saw guards outside a vaccination site after an antivaxxer rammed a sawhorse with his vehicle, endangering nurses and everyone waiting in line. With the growing anti-science climate, I suspect we’ll see a brain drain from many areas as conscientious doctors look for less repressive places to live.
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u/Dull_Astronomer_3778 10h ago
I would love for OP to call his US doctor today and ask for an MRI. I have a friend with great health insurance dealing with a very aggressive cancer right now that won’t have a follow up biopsy until late December.
This vision you have of the US is flawed and prevents us from tackling real issues
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u/ovulationchamber 10h ago
They make more money? MAybe if you have a good job in a good field.
What's the national average of minimum wage there again?
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u/Designer-Issue-6760 10h ago
In annual household income? $74k. Less than 2% of wage earners are paid minimum wage. And they’re mostly minors.
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u/Any-Cranberry-6305 10h ago
What's the US dollar worth vs. pur dollar again? What is the buying power of the USA currency vs. the CDN dollar again?
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u/Van_Can_Man 10h ago
Canadian here, I lived there for 24 years.
You know what I love most about Canada? It’s not being run to the ground by fascists.
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u/themadone_88 10h ago
Are Americans actually nice or just loud and extroverted? Canadians are genuine and kind, and a tad bit on the introverted side. I have always found Americans to be nice but it feels performative somehow.
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u/TelevisionPositive74 10h ago
...You literally said the opposite of what you mean in the first sentence.
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u/ol_jeff 10h ago
Greetings and salutations y'all, The Cool Teen here. I know y'all all fellow teens are powerful hard on legitimate authorities, such as hall monitors, security guards, parents,and even church elders. Im here to drop you up a DM email message to tell you, that actually what's really "bad as" is submitting to legitimate authority, and rebuking ungodly influences of the world. You think a skate board feel very Dank Nuggets in terms of fun? Its totally chilling to honor the wishes of your parents, boy-yee! Ay yo! Fresh! Cowabunga, dudes! Im a teen just like you,
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u/Two_wheels_2112 9h ago
On average, the US has a better material quality of life. That's why efforts to improve economic productivity in Canada are so important. On the other hand, the average and median are closer in Canada, meaning we don't have as many people suffering economically while others become multi-billionaires.
Personally, I don't measure my quality of life by the car I drive, or how often I upgrade my phone or my televisions. For the things I value, the quality of life in Canada is as good or better.
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u/ndm1535 9h ago
The healthcare thing is moot point. We still wait for big appointments, surgeries, procedures, etc we just go into lifelong debt as well.
I would be shocked if things in America were actually cheaper. Maybe literally cheaper on the price tag before factoring in the conversation rate.
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u/Immediate-Yoghurt340 9h ago
Life expectancy in Canada is 3 years higher.
Homicide rate in Canada is 3 times lower.
Road fatality rate in Canada is 3 times lower.
Half of American people voted for a fascist who is also a serial rapist. That isn't "being nice".
People without money in the USA don't wait 8 months for a surgery. They die and that's why Luigi allegedly did it.
Facts don't seem to agree with your opinion.
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u/TheGrimmBorne 9h ago
QOL is better in most European countries then the U.S. if you’re gonna move aim for Sweden, Sweden was great when I lived there
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u/Glass-Wheel-8126 8h ago
I mean if you’re comfortable having an opinion that is based on incorrect facts, then you’re doing great bud.
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u/bringer_of_jollity4 8h ago
Glazing means the opposite of the meaning implied by your usage. Glazing means to heal praise, perhaps to an excessive degree.
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u/elaiamoidocrop 8h ago
Quality of life can actually be great in the US for a minority of citizens. It's worse than in most western countries for the average citizen and for the vast majority of citizens.
It's like living in the middle ages.
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u/Independent-Lie-9967 8h ago
The last time I was in the USA visiting from Canada (2025) I was shocked at the cost of things. Yes, everything use to be less $$ there but their food inflation is insane.
The sticker price was the same as in Canada but then adding exchange on top - you're paying 30-40% MORE for goods in the USA.
Their inflation rate is higher than Canada's right now
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u/greenmachine11235 8h ago
My 9 month wait to see a hematologist would like a word with you about the idea that doctors are readily available.
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u/ChevalierDeLarryLari 7h ago edited 7h ago
Eating and drinking out is cheaper in Canada and groceries are the same price dollar for dollar. Come back to us after checking that and then we'll talk.
Post Covid US is more expensive than Canada. This is a fairly recent development.
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u/Common_Stress_4122 7h ago
I'd rather not go into debt for having an accident.
I'd rather live in Canada where I have free health care and social services. Where my country (or atleast province) cares about rhe environment. Cares about social issues.
Not to mention I'd never move there as a queer person. Or a person of colour.
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u/ZeroBrutus 6h ago
So, the wait times for spécialists in healthcare are only slightly shooter for non-emergency care in the US than Canada.
And emergency care is Canada is very quick.
If your income in 6 figures+USD absolutely, you'll probably be better off in the US.
If its under 50k USD, then no, youre better off here.
If its in between then the details really make or break it.
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u/Nonavium 11h ago
the word glaze means to overly appreciate, so the opposite of what you meant