Yeah, its was like that in Taiwan. 
They should just have teledoctors who prescribe cold medicine. 
Its such a drag on the system for the patients that actually need help. 
Taiwan has the highest rate of kidney failure because it prescribes medicine to anyone and everyone.  

Satosora

Yes this is true. Many years ago I used to manage a retail drug store (what would be similar to CVS in US) and we had a doctor's office connected to the store and so a lot of the patients would shop in the store while they waited to get called for their appointment. It was good for business but it also used to create a lot of crowding and people loitering in the areas near the doctors office. I was talking to the doctor one day and he said many of the patients he saw didn't need to go to the doctor they just went because it was "free". So if they had a cold they went to the doctor. Sore knee, they go to the doctor. 

grayruby

charts_and_numbers

Canadians Financially Stretched

But there is one thing l realized with universal healthcare. 
There are a lot of people that bog up the system for common things like a cold. 
Thats what really slows the system down. 