As pointed out earlier, Canadian health care isn't free. In fact, when I worked for a Canadian company, almost all our employees in Canada had supplemental health insurance.
You can get individual PPO or major medical insurance in the US where you can go to any doctor you want to see, no referrals ever needed, etc. You can even pay for it yourself and see whomever you want (I doubt Bill Gates has an HMO.
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My doctor spends as much time with me as I need. I can get an appointment Monday afternoon if I call Monday AM and really need one. I scheduled my yearly mammogram and pap smear (yuck) this week and I have appointments for both next week.
Americans were spoiled by having corporations paying for their insurance, and in return, their medical care for so long that they didn't see the rise in costs. However, costs have risen due to more modern technology, cost of living increases, and the hospitals/doctors/government having to foot the bill for those with no insurance who won't pay their bills.
The government so far has screwed up almost every thing they've taken out of the private sector and I don't expect health care to be any different.
BTW, people from other countries - including Canada - come to the US for specialized health care. They only time I've heard of Americans wanting to go to Canada for health care is because it's "free".