gnu, do you know that in Canada doctors have the option to opt out of medicare and run a private, for profit practice? In Quebec in 2005 there were 90 doctors doing this. There are also private imaging clinics and private hip and knee replacement clinics.

Private does not always equate with quality though as attested to by this from http://www.canadians.org/about/Maude_Barlow/Too_Close_for_Comfort/index.html

A "meta-analysis" of all the studies comparing mortality rates between not-for-profit and private for-profit hospitals in the United States was undertaken by McMaster University, and the results werepublished in the May 2002 edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The massive study found that death rates in for-profit hospitals were significantly higher than in not-for-profit hospitals, even though patients who used for-profit hospitals were more wealthy and able to afford a healthier lifestyle. The researchers found that for-profit hospitals cut corners in order to achieve a profit margin for investors and to pay the excessively high salaries of their administrators.