Emergency room in Paris...

Today I had to go to the Emergency Room at the nearby hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière (the one famous for Lady Diana's death....), which is one of the biggest hospital in Europe. 

I couldn't handle the pain any longer but there was no other alternative. The problem is that, not only it's a huge and extremely busy hospital, but we also are right in the middle of the high-touristic season so I expected a very long wait. I couldn't be more wrong. I arrived at 11:00 am and with nobody in line in front of me, I was registered at the "accueil" within 1 minute. I was only asked an identity card and my Carte Vitale. I used my Californian driving license, which they accepted without problems. Of course I had my Carte Vitale with me and they registered me as Madame Caire (so funny!). I was asked my french address, which I gave them. End of the questions. The guy was nice and kind and in excellent mood: he didn't have any problem with my accent and invited me to wait in the triage room where a nurse would take my vitals as soon as possible. Again I sat on the chair, psychologically prepared to the longest wait ever. The building is old (about 400 years) and didn't look sparkling and sterilized, but definitely cleaner that the County L.A.!!! At 11:25 am the nurse called me in the room, took my vitals and some generic medical information. I was assigned a code and asked to wait outside the door for the surgeon to visit me. I stepped out of the room, thinking: "Here is it, now it will be at least 2-3 hours....get out your book and read and be ready to alert another parent to pick up your son at school at 3 pm". Wrong. As soon as I sat on the chair, I heard my name being called from the other end of the corridor: I looked at my watch. It was 11:30....I couldn't believe it. The surgeon, a smiling 50-55 years old guy, dressed with his white coat with his name clearly visible, introduced himself and  started visiting me. His words were clear and he made also some effort to speak in English, just to make sure that everything was perfectly understood. He asked all pertinent medical information, much detailed, as I expected him to do. At the end of the visit, he typed all the information on the computer, went through all the details of the drugs he was prescribing me and asked me if something wasn't clear. He was very nice, polite and patient. The visit was finished. It was 11:50 am and I was ready to walk out from the ER with everything clear in my mind except .....the payment. I asked him where could I take care of the payment for the consultation in the ER and he told me that I would receive the bill directly at home (not more that 25 euros, according to him). Awesome!!!!! 

Can someone please explain to me what is the problem with socialized medicine? Because I don't see it!!!! 

Update (July 07): I just received  the bill in my mail box.....6.23 euros.....I don't know whether to laugh or cry !!!!