Some of my family has had some serious health problems and got excellent treatment with speedy responses.
My sister had breast cancer 6 years ago and was dealt with quickly with surgery (partial mastectomy), radiation and chemotherapy, recovery support, psychotherapy, and continues to receive follow up tests every 6 months. Her type of cancer is one of the worst ones, and she'll have to be tested twice a year for the foreseeable future. The provincial health plan covered pretty much all costs except for some drugs, which she and her employer's insurance co-pay.
My late father had good health until he retired, but in his 70s had to have life-saving surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurism, was immediately booked into a leading teaching hospital within 3 days and was operated on by the head surgeon in the department who did the graft. He was in intensive care for 2 days recovery, had post-surgery physiotherapy, and follow up checks. Excellent recovery. He had to pay for ambulance, extra fees for a private hospital room (his choice) and some relatively modest hospital fees. Everything else was covered by the provincial health plan.
Sadly, within 6 years he was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease. At first he was thought to have suffered a stroke, and was treated in hospital for several weeks. Later it was diagnosed after he had extensive tests, including referral to one of the top doctors at the same teaching hospital mentioned above. He got counseling and physiotherapy, and we were trained on home nursing care by his care-givers (my brother and sister and I were given training to help nurse him and learn the proper use of his feeding tube and general hygiene). He retained his mobility for a more than a year at home with canes, then a walker, until my elderly mother reached her coping limit. We had nurses visiting twice a day for almost two years up until that point. He then spent 6 months in hospital in a chronic care ward. In the last month he was moved to a palliative care wing where he got a respirator and more intensive nursing care. He was mentally aware and retained his will to live up to the end. The provincial plan covered the vast majority of the costs. The care was excellent.
My daughter was born 7 weeks prematurely and was born via C-section. She spent close to 15 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in an "incubator" before coming home. My wife's visits during the pregnancy to her OB-Gyn were all covered, as were lab tests and ultrasounds. Surgery was covered. I think we paid about $600 total for hospital stay for my wife's semi-private room, and the two ambulance trips required. The hospital arranged to have speech and motor skill development tests with a team of pediatric specialists every 6 months to assess our daughter's development until she turned two years of age. No cost to us.
I can call my family doctor for an appointment just about any time and get an appointment within a day or two, and a complete physical exam once a year. My wife has some non-crisis health issues that required a specialist and that took 3 months for an appointment. There is no fee for a visit. She also gets some partial coverage for some limited acupuncture and chiropractic treatments.
Some services are removed from coverage as the years pass. The health plan does not cover everything. I have to pay for eye examinations and prescription reading glasses. Dental care is not covered unless it is surgery in hospital. Drugs are not covered. People either get private employer benefits to help cover those costs or like me, pay entirely out of pocket.
I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of dollars the above care would have cost us if our family lived in another country with a different health care system, and we did not have comparable private insurance.
Emergency Rooms at hospitals are not fun to wait in, but the longest I have had to wait was about 5 hours when I brought an injured friend in and stayed with her. There were more serious cases, so she had to wait a long time. It was the weekend when they are busiest. Cost: just her time and patience. The plan covered the visit.