That's the other problem with the Canadian system - it varies from Province to Province. In Ontario, there is no private system. But we don't wait as much as in B.C. either, it seems to me. The Ontario government monitors wait-times to ensure they remain low. We also don't have that MSP thing mentioned earlier. However, it's not perfect here either. But what we definitely aren't missing is the worry over ability to pay for it. The government doesn't dictate anything about how health care is delivered, they just pay for it. They do keep an eye on things so as to better target certain kinds of funding (ie. do we need more MRI machines? another hospital?). The feds basically stay out of it, dictating only the minimal free coverage for the whole country, and sending money to provinces to help pay for it.
Anyway, and hopefully this is obvious; shmokes I hope they get you all fixed up, and that the costs are manageable. markronz, glad it was only $30. And this thread (and others) continues to remind me of the mantra "safety first" - thanks.
(fwiw, this months SciAm weights in on the subject too)