> In other countries your health insurance payments are deducted automatically from your paycheck before you get it. Is it not the same or very similar?

Not at all, In places with national single insurer system, (medicare for all), like the UK where am based, the way it works is that you do contribute to National Insurance effectively as part of your taxes, (usually less than you'd pay in the U.S.), BUT if you switch employers or even are unemployed, you still have that healthcare available to you.

Also, all the doctors, hospitals etc. are technically always "in network".

Health insurance? Sounds like a scam. It comes from income taxes and other revenue in Canada.