Part 2 - the negative.

I've read what Tatty said about his cancer treatment. I had a similar experience with a family member a few years back., and I was amazed at the level of service (months in ICU! - no additional charges - ever).

The cracks in the system start to show over what would be considered non-emergency surgeries, which are not really elective, but also not immediately required.

Classic case - "hip replacement" patients must wait many months for their surgery. Remember, nobody regularly had these surgeries until a few years ago. "Suddenly" hospital ORs are overun with people getting new hips, knees and shoulders. These procedures are done at no additional cost to the individual, but you have to wait for a gap in the schedule.

It's the people on line for those kind of treatments that go to the States, or Sweden, or Thailand for.

I'm not saying that there aren't stories out there were someone's cancer metastized while they were waiting for the use of the MRI machine, only that it's not been my experience, directly or indirectly.