Originally Posted by WarChild

Rob Ford is almost certainly going to a private clinic and its location has little to do with any healthcare system.

The difference between Canadian and American healthcare systems in the simplest form is this:

Americans pay more per capita than Canadian's do for healthcare in general. Americans pay the highest per capita for healthcare World wide at about $7500 per person. Canadians spend about $4000 per person on healthcare. Everybody pays in to the system at a fairly low fixed rate, depending on your income. You can't be denied coverage and you can't choose not to have it either.

Dentistry, vision and prescriptions are not part of the public system, at least in BC, but many people buy coverage for these or it's paid for by your employer. Most employers cover the basic medical services fee as part of the compensation package.

Americans have access to a two tier healthcare system, with both public and private facilities. Canadian's, generally speaking, do not have access to private medical facilities in Canada but they are free to travel to the United States and pay for services.

Canada has Universal healthcare and everybody is covered. The United states has an estimated roughly 15% uninsured rate.