My experience with France's health care system has been fine so far. Before arriving in France, I tried hard to keep my expectations neutral on their system de santé. However, coming from the United States where socialized medicine is treated like a death sentence, one tends to have low expectations- long waits to get care or low quality for example- because that is the perception of it in the US.
I don't pay into the social health care system (my organization has its own insurance), but I do use the same doctors and facilities. The main difference is that instead of the state paying the doctor, like they do for the French, I pay the doctor first and then the insurance company reimburses me.
Granted, I've only been to one doctor and only once so far, but from this experience it seems like I will have the same level of quality here... not exactly the same, but at least the same level. For one thing, never try to make a doctor's appoint in the summer time. Mid-August, I called to make an appointment with the doctor. She was on vacation, so I couldn't see her until the early September. That, however, is to be expected given that everyone in Paris leaves the city in August for the vacances. One positive aspect of this system is the transparency in pricing. Even with insurance, every time I went to the doctor in the US, I was never certain if I was going to get a bill a few months later because the insurance did not cover everything. Here in France, when I called to make the appointment, they told me exactly how much the visit would cost (80 euros).
The actual doctor's visit was interesting. I found the doctor to be competent, her facilities more than adequate, and her demeanor, while business like, was personable enough to keep me comfortable. Her office was simple and her secretary a character. The secretary was super sweet but spoke as slow as she walked- which was at a snail's pace. At first, the slowness in her speech was an advantage for me to comprehend her French. But I grew weary as I listened to her spend fifteen minutes helping a caller make a future appointment, while doing my paper work. I also had to laugh (internally) when I tried to make my next appointment in February and the secretary said that that was too far in advance. She asked me to call and make an appointment in January. I think she could not schedule me in February because the paper calendar where she wrote down the appointments did not go past December 2012.
While the setup is simple, this slow pace at the doctor's office seems more civilized. There was no one in the waiting room but me. The doctor wasn't overbooked. I didn't feel rushed. I never felt that any of my doctors in the States ever sped through my exams, but I did sense how busy they were because of the mobs of people in the waiting area.
Overall, my first visit to the doctor exceeded my (albeit neutral) expectations. By the end of the exam, I found myself a doctor in the France, and I got the prescriptions I needed -- my two objectives of the day. But for next time, I will bring my own dressing gown. I was a little unprepared when I had to undress and realized that they don't use gowns here in France. Even in the privacy of the doctor's exam room, it was a little strange to be that exposed.