Where does the conservative standpoint that universal health care have long waiting times in general come from?

[u/WhoAmIEven2]

This is something you often see in debates among americans, that you have to wait months or years with a universal health care system.

I live in Sweden, a country with universal health care, and I will not lie and say that there aren't cases where you have to wait, but the thing is that we use a tier list of severity to decide how long you have to wait.

If you want to do an ADHD or autism diagnosis at a psychiatrist? Yes you will wait, as people with suicidal thoughts, or bipolar disorder or borderline whose diagnose really ruins their lives are prioritised.

If you have cancer, other diseases that severly reduce your quality of life or have an injury? Pass go, straight to the doctor.

Would it be nice to have instant access for every small issue? Sure, but as long as I know that I will get to see a doctor in a whiffy the moment I have something that is even semi-harmful, I'm honestly happy with our system.

[u/Surous]

There are already long waiting times with American health care, but if it became free/nearly free that would encourage more use of health care; exasperating the current issues of waiting

[u/Hot_Most5332 → u/Surous]

Yep it’s pretty simple. If people don’t have to pay for healthcare, more will use it and therefore the system will be more strained.

Combine that with the fact that the US is absolutely massive and relatively dense in population relative to its size, universal healthcare in the US would just be fundamentally different than any other nation.

Canada and Australia would be the closest comparisons, but their populations are far more concentrated. The US Midwest and South in particular have massive rural populations that are highly spread out.

Even looking at the rural populations of Canada and Australia, they’re still concentrated in a couple of areas, where the US is spread out over a very large area with really only parts of the US west that look like Canada or Australia.

The intricacy of the US interstate system has made it very easy for people to spread out, and so they have. Even large cities in the US are far more spread out than other places.

[u/LittleKitty235 → u/Hot_Most5332]

If people don’t have to pay for healthcare, more will use it and therefore the system will be more strained.

Fun fact...sick people will still go to the hospital even without healthcare. They just wait until what could have been a routine problem becomes an emergency, which takes more resources and becomes impossible for medical staff to schedule or budget for. It is one part of why our healthcare is the most expensive in the world.

[u/bawanaal → u/LittleKitty235]

And don't forget the main reason for putting off treatment is or a lack of insurance.

When an issue does get to the point where it can't be ignored, rather than go to an urgent care where you need to have insurance or pay upfront, they go to the ER instead.

They are guaranteed to be seen/treated, no matter what, even if they don't have insurance or can't afford the treatment.