I'll add something more from the Canadian side..

My uncle in law (who was the chief surgeon at a hospital for years.. and still practices) had some sort of muscular issue.. Health Care in Canada wasn't far enough along to do treatment (not sure why..) but a clinic in Germany was. He paid (out of pocket..) to go there and get treated over the course of I believe 6 weeks.   Why? Because he could, and didn't want to deal with the ongoing pain for however long he had to till Canada could treat him properly..  So it's a mixed bag there.. People certainly are willing to pay if they have the funds but the majority simply don't have that kind of money to throw around..

... and that's key.  Talk of the big bad boogey man Private Health clinics... scares people because of some of the horror stories they hear.  Since we are a centrist society.. and even our most right leaning have some fairly liberal views... most are unwilling to let the private sector step in. The costs of life can be high.