I would double-check Canadian stats on the US health system, based on the info I've seen about the Canadian system coming North across the border! But in general, one (an economist) would expect the supply of top-level well-paid surgeons to increase until they were under-subscribed (think Maytag repair guy?), unless there were controls. Those could come from med schools, professional societies, or government agencies, and they may well work differently in the US and Canada.
I had a funny experience with the waiting list issue, myself. In general, some parts of the Canadian and Ontario health-care system HAVE experienced lengthening waiting lists, and they've become a political issue, mostly since ~3-4 yrs ago, both provincially and federally. We have several programs to try to decrease them, and to disclose them.
When I saw Dr. Feindel last June, I thought that November (last month) sounded like a reasonable time for my OHS. I suggested to him that we "block in" a date in early November -- I thought it was like buying a plane ticket far in advance -- and he recoiled in horror! "I can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"If I booked you for heart surgery 5 months in advance, it would jump off the page at the bureaucrats as an unacceptably long waiting time, and would skew our whole average! They'd come down on us like a tonne of bricks." He explained that there was essentially no REAL waiting list at all, so if I wanted surgery in November, I should call in October and get the ball rolling.
I left him a "let's do it" phone message on Oct. 20, and I got to see him on Nov. 3. He offered me a number of surgery dates in November, which didn't work well with my schedule, so I chose Dec. 1. I have no complaints about the scheduling process, though the bureaucratic pressure worked in a slightly strange way!
(BTW, I got bumped ~ 4 hours the day before surgery, when an emergency got slipped in. I think that happens occasionally in all systems.)
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