Sorry for over repeating what people always say, but I am genuinely so grateful for the UK's NHS.
What was amusing was that at one point the anaesthetist came up and said there had been a mistake in the billing and I'd have to pay part of the bill directly. Having heard all the horror stories from the US I was thinking it was going to be a huge amount of money - he very apologetically gave me a bill for £12.00 (yes, twelve pounds) :-)
[NB Worth noting that although we do have private health care, anything serious that has happened to us over the last few years was fixed by the NHS].
Mind you the NHS is socialism... but perhaps telling that the founder of the NHS, Aneurin Bevan, called his book on the subject In Place of Fear - which sums it up really.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aneurin_Bevan
NB I find illnesses and injuries in a family stressful enough to deal with as it is - adding bureaucracy and financial stresses would be a nightmare.