Scene from the Soviet Union, or business as usual?

I was brought to a local  hospital emergency room due to shortness of breath at 6 p.m.  I was there until 4 a.m.  No explanation was given to those in the waiting room.  At around 10:30 p.m a young man who was accompanying his wife lost his patience and began to remonstrate loudly.

  Immediately, this young man was surrounded by 6 security guards and driven out of the building. I attempted to record this on my phone but one of the security guards made me stop.

  The rest of the patients either slept, purchased snacks at the snack machines and ate them, or stared aat their cell phones.

  At 4 a.m., a nurse came and got me.  She explained that there was a shortage of rooms and a shortage of nurses.  There were doctors waiting who were unable to see the patients because there was no room in which they could see them.  I complained, jokingly, that people could be found dead in this emergency room.  She admitted that this had actually happened.  She was not joking.

  I can't complain about the care I was given.  The doctors and nurses were very professional and thorough, except that they neglected to ask what medications I was already taking.  However, I had brought my medications with me and was allowed to take them, after the doctor had been consulted and permitted it.

  Imagine what this scene would be like if we were all on Medicare--better yet, imagine the scene in the UK, where patients are made to wait for life-saving surgery for months, or until they die of their diseases.