Because Canada's approach to universal coverage is socialized insurance, it controls costs overall with price controls and with funding big ticket medicine carefully. MRIs are very expensive to buy and operate, comparatively, so for elective use (which includes a doctor treating someone with headaches and wants one to rule out a brain tumour), you're on a waiting list that could be six months or longer. For emergency use (like my nephew who fell and hit his head) you get it right away.
>Because Canada's approach to universal coverage is socialized insurance
But so is Germany's? I didn't get that MRI because "I just felt like it", it was due to decade long migraine problems and I had to see a neurologist before getting the MRI.
I still don't understand these massive waiting times in some places, sounds more like a lack of capacity than anything else.
Yes, it's a deliberate lack of capacity for a common form of big ticket medicine, which reduces costs overall. If you have migraines in Canada, you'll likely end up getting an MRI at some point, and you might wait six months to get it (though there are private options, and there are also ways to get in before your appointment like being ready on the cancellation list).
For a lot of things, MRIs are a medical convenience, not a necessity. When they're medically necessary, you get in within hours--my nephew got driven to the hospital with a head injury, and an MRI was the first thing they did. But if it's elective, you go on a waiting list, which might be short, but might be long. This is probably the most complained about aspect of Canadian health care, with some justice, but it's not obvious that eliminating all wait times with sufficient capacity for immediate access would yield better medical outcomes for the extra cost.
