By NextBestFitLaunch the wait-time guarantee
Year 1 (registry), Year 2 (enforceable guarantee) · UHA Office of Patient Advocacy; regional officesDiscuss this step
How other countries handled this same piece of implementation, what happened, and what it means for this plan.
Side by side
| Country | Approach | Result | Lesson for this plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| This plan (U.S.) | Legally binding maximum waits, monitored in a national registry. If UHP misses the standard, the patient may go to any provider, including opted-out providers, and UHP pays up to 150% of its rate. | ||
| Denmark | 30-day treatment guarantee (diagnosis and treatment); after that, patients may use private hospitals at public expense. | Waits fell substantially after introduction. | A guarantee with a funded exit option disciplines the system. |
| Sweden | '0-7-90-90' guarantee: same-day contact, GP within 3 days (revised), specialist within 90 days, treatment within 90 days. | Guarantees are often missed in some regions. | Guarantees without automatic consequences become aspirations. |
| England | 18-week referral-to-treatment standard with a 92% target. | Met only about 59% of the time in 2025. | Targets without capacity investment and enforcement fail. |
| Canada | 2004 Health Accord set benchmarks for five procedures (hips, knees, cataracts, cancer radiation, cardiac). | Benchmarks met for some procedures; median overall wait 28.6 weeks in 2025. | Benchmarks for a few procedures shift capacity away from others. |
Denmark
- What they did
- 30-day treatment guarantee (diagnosis and treatment); after that, patients may use private hospitals at public expense.
- What happened
- Waits fell substantially after introduction.
- Lesson for this plan
- A guarantee with a funded exit option disciplines the system.
Sweden
- What they did
- '0-7-90-90' guarantee: same-day contact, GP within 3 days (revised), specialist within 90 days, treatment within 90 days.
- What happened
- Guarantees are often missed in some regions.
- Lesson for this plan
- Guarantees without automatic consequences become aspirations.
England
- What they did
- 18-week referral-to-treatment standard with a 92% target.
- What happened
- Met only about 59% of the time in 2025.
- Lesson for this plan
- Targets without capacity investment and enforcement fail.
Sources: NHS England (2025)
Canada
- What they did
- 2004 Health Accord set benchmarks for five procedures (hips, knees, cataracts, cancer radiation, cardiac).
- What happened
- Benchmarks met for some procedures; median overall wait 28.6 weeks in 2025.
- Lesson for this plan
- Benchmarks for a few procedures shift capacity away from others.
Sources: Fraser Institute (2025)
More precedent
- Denmark: a 30-day treatment guarantee, after which patients may use private hospitals at public expense.
- Sweden: a 0-7-90-90 care guarantee.
- NHS England: 18-week referral-to-treatment standard (met for about 59% of patients in 2025, against a 92% target).