I have to laugh when I hear the Republicans using "horror stories" of Canadian healthcare as a way to scare people into voting for them. My experience couldn't be further from that. I moved to Canada just over eight years ago, and after having only been here a couple of months, I suffered a bout of extreme and intense pain in my chest/abdomen. I took a taxi to the emergency room of the nearest hospital and after a series of tests and examinations, I was diagnosed with gallstones and set up with a specialist to operate on me. I was not yet working, so unsure how I was going to pay for everything. My surgery was initially scheduled for about a month later, but I had to postpone it due to my getting a job. The surgery took place just over a month later (so much for the long wait times) and I had to spend one night in the hospital post-surgery for observation. The cost for all of this? For a trip to the ER, numerous tests, laparoscopic surgery and a stay in the hospital? $13.54 - that was the cost of the taxi I took to the ER. Everything else was paid for by the wonderful healthcare that all residents are entitled to. I wasn't yet a citizen, or even a permanent resident at the time, but just a new transplant from the US. I hesitate to think what all of that would have cost in the US!