alt Hacker NewsI'm not sure we're talking about the same thing.
What I meant with "you have to wait months" is that if you go with the government-provided doctors and processes, they put you on a list and you have to wait for your turn. Getting an exam done can take months, and you can wait years for surgery, unless your condition is life-threatening.
If you go to a private clinic, of course you can get test results the same day and schedule any surgery within days.
Most people who can afford it go the private route. I had to do that too, which kind of pissed me off since I pay a hefty amount each month for insurance and I still have to go to private clinics. BUT, using the public infrastructure is just too inefficient. To get blood exams at a reduced price I had to schedule an appointment with my GP (days in advance), she'd send me to a specialist (about 1 week wait to get appointment), then a specialist would give me the paperwork required to get SOME of blood tests I needed covered by my insurance.
The point is that list isn't first-in-first-out. Public waiting lists are constantly reviewed by domain medical expert committees in the public system to triage priority patients.
If you're truly urgent, you will get bumped up. If you're not urgent, you can get bumped down as others go above you.
Unfortunately, individual QoL and urgency can sometimes be disconnected, which is why pensioners getting hip replacements can get bumped down despite having loss of mobility due to heaps of pain.
Cumulatively for lots of non-urgent activities (diagnosis tests etc) that drag can add up.
Much like any commons, is no perfect system, funnily enough.