Posted on 06/11/2005 10:24:12 AM PDT by fanfan
The supporters of our supposed single-tier health-care system are aghast that Thursday's Supreme Court ruling could threaten Canadians' equal access to treatment.
It is a long-held myth, of course, that there is no queue-jumping in this country. Most Canadians have no special privileges when it comes to receiving care, but some do. Military personnel, the RCMP, prisoners and workers' compensation claimants don't fall under the medicare umbrella.
So while the typical Canadian waits and waits for a diagnostic test or surgery, the members of these groups are entitled to speedy access. All of them are exempt from the Canada Health Act.
I'm not suggesting that certain groups shouldn't be entitled to faster treatment. If our soldiers and cops had to wait as long as ordinary folks for care, Canada would fall short in both the peacekeeping and policing arenas.
It irks me that a prisoner can get quicker specialist consultations or surgery than law-abiding Canadians, but that's the law. Go bark to your MP about it.
Just last week, you may recall, a New Brunswick man who told police in Toronto he was planning a shooting rampage was jailed for three years. He wasn't actually going to kill anyone. The 44-year-old man, who had no prior criminal record, just wanted heart surgery. And he got it quickly while in custody.
Yes, he resorted to drastic measures to jump the queue, but people desperate for treatment will do extraordinary things. Some spend $50,000 to get surgery abroad.
Injured workers don't have to wait, though. Last year, a Workers' Compensation Board claimant in Alberta wrote us about his experience. "The average person waits, what, months or years for an MRI? I waited two days," he wrote in a letter to the editor.
He only waited 12 days for back surgery, he added. "Only a fool would believe we all get the same treatment."
The myth lives on, however. "We're not going to have a two-tier health-care system in this country," Prime Minister Paul Martin declared Thursday.
We've probably got a four-tier system, quips Nadeem Esmail, senior health policy analyst with the Fraser Institute. The first tier comprises those who are wealthy enough to go abroad for timely care, he says.
The second is made up of the aforementioned special population groups - military, RCMP, prisoners and WCB claimants. I suppose you could include professional athletes in that tier. They have private insurance and don't have to wait in line.
People in the third tier have pull or influence - they know a doctor or have a friend on the hospital board, says Esmail.
In the fourth tier are average Canadians who need care but have no way of expediting the process.
Esmail argues that instead of suspending the privileges that have been bestowed on certain groups, all Canadians should have the option of buying private insurance.
Dr. Joel Lexchin, an emergency physician and York University health policy professor, says there will always be some manipulation of the system.
But he doesn't think people should be given special consideration and permitted to jump the queue.
A stay-at-home mom with small children who breaks her leg needs to get back to her duties as urgently as an employee who's injured on the job, he says.
"I don't think there should be any distinction," he adds.
Predictably, the difference is about money, says Esmail. If you're injured at work, the WCB has an incentive to patch you up quickly because you're getting income support while you wait for care.
It's in their interest to get you into a private clinic fast. The rest of us? Take a number.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1117666821519_24/?hub=Canada
I had to find this story about the guy going to jail to get heart surgey. Someone needs to pass this on to rush. I can't wait to write about it.
Perhaps you need a "Tax paying Wait Time" equal to the wait for medical services. That would wake them up.
Great post!
It is sad, when one has to choose between being lawfull, or getting important health care.
I loved your post #5.
Art Eggelton (sp) was sent to Toronto for prostrate (cancer)surgery because people were waiting over 12 months for it in Ottawa. He had the procedure 2-3 weeks after diagnosis, IIRC.
Not quite. The richest people don't bother with insurance. They just get what they want when they want.
Insurance is for the middle classes, who could be wiped out by a major illness. There are different kinds of policies, but most people use the one subsidized by their employer.
Medicare insurance covers everyone over 65, and Medicaid covers the very poor.
In life threatening situations, you get care and they ask about payment later.
What a lot of people forget is that we have some really top-notch children's hospitals that treat seriously ill children without regard to their ability to pay.
IMO, we could do better if we had tort reform. Doctors have to pay so much for insurance against law suits that their prices are much higher than need be. They also order expensive and needless tests just to cover them in case of lawsuits.
the government requires businesses to pay for health care because they offer large tax breaks that businesses must take in order to remain competitive. If not, there would probably be personal accounts, which make more sense from a market point of view - but since when did government care about a market point of view?
Not exactly true. WalMart is the poster child for this. They don't offer health benefits, and they are competitive.
Other companies would do the same thing if they weren't hampered by Union contracts.
Canada...Peacekeeping...That's a good one.
,,, for all the Americans - "queue" means wait in line. Tommy Douglas would turn in his grave, I'm sure.
You have reminded me that health care costs in countries with universal "free" health systems are also on the rise. The reason? Everything, from diagnostic tests, etc, is subsidized by the government, and patients and doctors prescribing the tests don't need to pay a single cent over these procedures. When you feel it is "free" you are prone to abuse it.
The same goes with prescription drugs. Once upon a time all prescribed drugs were truly "free"! The results? Rising costs due to drugs, and the New Zealand Labour government introduced a flat prescription drug charge in 1985 and it brought the costs under control to an extent.
http://rogerdouglas.org.nz/b020306.htm
Not exactly true. WalMart is the poster child for this. They don't offer health benefits, and they are competitive.
---
That's only to their lowest paid, mostly part time, workers. A majority of their workers still get wallmart health care and the company still gets huge tax breaks for this health care. But you're right, my statement before was a bit too general.
What a bunch of bunk. The nation's health care problems are not due to "peak" demand. Supply has not been able to meet demand for decades. And it's not due to the fact that we aren't willing to pay for it either. We pay up the nose. Health care consumes more than 1/7 of our economy.
The sad fact is that whether you're in Canada or the US, the health care industry is not market driven. It's the most regulated industry in the country. Of course, it's more true in Canada than the US, but the regulators have made a royal mess of things on both sides of the border.
The fact that there is no monetary out of pocket expense doesn't mean that demand becomes infinite and that it will always be impossible to satisfy demand. There is always a cost, even when it is "free." In Canada, the cost is that you've gotta wait in line for months before getting basic treatment.
You can say that there is no problem... You can say we pay a lot for health care, and we should... You can say that not everyone can afford the health care they want or need, but maybe that's the way it should be.
But I don't wear those rose-colored glasses. There is a serious problem with the health care industry, and it's one that can't be fixed by more government, but rather by less government.
When government regulates an industry as heavily as our government does, it effectively blocks or discourages some people who would go into the industry from doing so. And that means that there is inadequate capacity to supply demand at free market prices, so prices go up, and those who are least willing or able to pay the higher prices get pushed out of the market.
That's what's been happening for decades, and our politicians just keep adding new bandaids to the wounds they've inflicted over the years. They've got no clue how to fix the problem. More regulation is their answer to every problem.
I hate to say it, but I think the US health care system is only a few years behind in that area. As the media is so fond of saying, the Canadians are the "leader" in this exercise. They are leading the entire world into the abyss, and the fools in Washington are following.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.