From England, home of the National Health Services (NHS), a “universal health care” system often touted as what the US should strive for:

Patients waiting 2 WEEKS to see GP as doctors see up to 60 people a day

“GPs are seeing record numbers of patients, 40 million more annually than five years ago, the greatest rise in any NHS sector,”

Yowza. The problem with free health care is the same problem with free anything: people like free stuff, and will take it whether they really need it or not. The guy with a busted leg, the woman with the suspicious lump and the feller with the non-stop headache have to compete for the doctors time against the kid with the boo-boo and the dork with the sniffles. If there was a price tag on an office visit – say, a nominal £40 office visit co-pay payable at the time services are rendered – you will see a whole lot of people decide that maybe they should just take an aspirin. And realistically, that’s about all a lot of people really need.