$500 for an ambulance seems way excessive. Especially for lower income. It will make people hesitate before calling one, which can add lots of medical costs down the line.
$1:
There are a lot of inefficiencies but there is actually little evidence that Canadians overuse the system. The long waits for care, both in emergency rooms and in booking physician visits, actually discourage abuse. And let’s not forget that problems like overuse of emergency rooms are a symptom of bad structure and management, not a proof that Canadians are health-care spendthrifts.
One of the defining characteristics of the U.S. system is, in fact, overtreatment. Paying directly for care actually fuels demand because a) people want to get their money’s worth for their insurance premiums and b) the private-driven system needs volume to be profitable.
$1:
Manitoba has begun to respond to overuse of its health care system by forcing people who visit too many doctors or pharmacies to limit their use to one doctor and one drugstore. The province reviewed the records of patients who made more than 67 office visits in a year and/or saw more than 12 physicians annually. The heaviest user made 247 office visits to 71 different physicians in 1 year. The new restriction applies to about 28 patients. The move is expected to save the province $116,000.
Hardly and epidemic.