18 y/o American, No insurance, may need appendectomy, Travel to Canada?

Come to Australia, become a citizen and it won't cost you a thing. Of course, there's the obligatory residency period before you qualify, and you just may be dead by then - peritonitis waits for nobody. This is precisely what is wrong with the US health system, and why things will NOT get better when the sheeple vote GOP. The poor die.

You are an American, not Canadian. If you need an appendectomy then you have seen a doctor and need to ask them for advice. Also, an appendectomy is not something to be put off and can be dangerous if you try to hold off. Go discuss this with your doctor or try to get help from social services.

You're not going to save any money coming to canada, if you even find a place to do it. They are going to bill as least as much as they'd bill the provincial health insurance for a resident. That is NOT cheap. That price will most definitely be higher than at many places in the US. What you need to do is shop around for a CASH price. The price quoted is usually the price they charge if insurance is paying, and that can be many many many times higher than the real cash price. It's a stupid system that serves to reinforce the idea that health care is unaffordable but health insurance is.

Talk to your doctor and see what they can do for you. No one is going to let you die because you have no insurance or money. Also, most hospitals have liason people who handle problems. The doctor may refer you to them. If not, talk to the hospital. And remember, the billing charges are not the true charges. The true charges are about 10% of the billing charges.

You can get an appendectomy here for free if you do a little research. Volunteer at a med school, if you get desperate. Get a life. They don't have to cost a thing. And you are not going to die. Instead of heading to Canada, head to the search bar. Mexico has to be cheaper still. And, Canada is not going to give you free operations. Forget that one. You don't just cross over the border and go get operated on. What do hospitals charge to remove an appendix? The startling answer is that it could be the same as the price of a refrigerator — or a house. It's a common, straightforward operation, so you might expect charges to be similar no matter where the surgery takes place. Yet a California study found huge disparities in patients' bills — $1,500 to $180,000, with an average of $33,000.

You don't automatically get health care just because you go to Canada. There are residency and citizenship requirements: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/publications/ohip/ohip_eligibility.aspx Among the requirements in Ontario, for instance: "...you make your primary place of residence in Ontario; and generally, you are in Ontario for at least 153 days of the first 183 days immediately following the date you establish residence in Ontario (you cannot be absent for more than 30 days during the first 6 months of residence); and you are in Ontario for at least 153 days in any 12-month period." So you will have to at least apply for citizenship, get approved (1-2 years usually), and rent an apartment and live there for 6 months before eligibility.