re: Has anyone lived in a country with universal healthcare?

Australia, 2000-2005.

In general, when universal healthcare is first introduced, it's the bee's knees. Over time, as the cost of health care rises and the money starts to run out because the government can't manage shite, it starts to go downhill. A cut back here, a cut back there...it starts to add up over time.

Personal observations and experiences:

1.) I had to have private, supplemental insurance to cover the stuff the government would not cover
2.) Many doctors began to accept private insurance only because dealing with the government for reimbursement sucks.
3.) My son was born there, and it was nice not having to pay a hospital bill for his delivery. However, I would consider their public hospitals a bit sub-par compared to ours, and they throw your arse out of the door as soon as they possibly can. Because we had supplemental private insurance, we were able to transfer my wife (no pics) to a private hospital after the birth (night and day difference between the two hospitals regarding level of care) because she had a c-section.
4.) Doctor clinics there were weird. It would often be a group of four or five doctors, pooling resources and paying rent. Sometimes, their offices were in a place where you normally wouldn't see a doctor's office. Like old storefronts, etc. I guess they set up wherever rent is cheap so you'd often find yourself in the not-so-great part of town.
5.) Never had to pay for prescription medication, so that was nice.
6.) A lot of foreigners from India, Vietnam, and China were doctors there.
7.) Some services or doctors required payment up front because they didn't want to deal with the government. You'd then have to take the receipt to a Medicaid office, wait in line for an hour, to get your money back.
8.) You may have to wait months or years for a surgery. My father-in-law had to wait nearly three years for knee replacement surgery.

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. It’s been 20 years now so I don’t how much more if a shite-show it has become there. Probably bad but not British NHS bad.