There are people out there who think the present model of health care can
survive if we just keep throwing money at it. Where does this money come
from? My taxes have only been going up and up and are taking a greater
percentage of my income every year. Those Americans with good health care
can afford the premiums and enjoy much lower tax rates. If we had the lower
tax rates here we could also afford to buy excellent health care coverage.
Lets not always compare two tiered health care to the US. There are much
better models around the world which we will have to one day (soon)
seriously look into. Ralph Klein is the only Premier thinking ahead.
Health care cost are spiraling upward exponentionally. The population is
aging - increasing the use on the system, and we do not have the population
growth needed to sustain this system. Waiting lines only get longer and
longer - even though in Alberta we are pumping more and more money into the
system every year. As a side note, I heard a fellow say on a talk show the
other day that Sweden has NO waiting list. You need the service, you are
in. I am enclosing an excellent article from the Western Standard to help
us all think "outside the box".
Two-Tier health works all around the world
Monday, 11 October 2004
Candis McLean
When it comes to health care, Canadians seem convinced there are only two
options: the Canadian way, with our universal health system and no access to
privately funded medical procedures; or the American way, with no guaranteed
care and many citizens left uninsured. Yet in reality there are as many
different options as there are countries in the developed world, and of all
the models out there, Canada is getting the least bang for its health care
buck, according to health analyses conducted by the Vancouver-based Fraser
Institute.
Of 30 developed countries in the world, all but two--the U.S. and
Mexico--have programs that ensure access to care regardless of ability to
pay, Nadeem Esmail, a health policy analyst for the free market think tank,
told the audience at a Calgary luncheon in June. Of the 28 remaining
countries with universal health care access, every single one of them also
allows access to private care for those citizens who choose it. "If you look
at the four health care systems with the best measurable health
outcomes--Sweden, France, Australia and Japan--all of them allow patients to
contract for private care," Esmail says. "If you look at the seven countries
that have no waiting lists, the same is true." Even the United Kingdom, the
system upon which Canada's was based, permits a parallel private health care
system that offers the same services as those provided by the public sector,
and allows its residents to buy from private insurers and health providers.
Of developed countries, "only Canada disallows the delivery of privately
funded services," says Esmail. Yet while Canada has the highest age-adjusted
spending on health (10.8 per cent of GDP, compared to 7.2 per cent in the
U.K.), Canada does not rank first in access to care, supply technologies or
number of physicians.
According to Esmail, better health outcomes for money spent enjoyed by other
governments worldwide often come when health policies permit cost-sharing
between patient and government. The majority of developed countries require
patients to pay "nominal or not-so-nominal fees" to access physicians, says
Esmail. That leads to less demand, as people are less likely to abuse a
system that is not entirely free, with no detrimental effect on health.
Esmail holds up Australia as an example Canada might want to emulate. There,
roughly 15 per cent of total health care expenditures come from patients'
pockets. Physicians can bill any amount they wish, but the government
reimburses patients only 85 per cent of a standard fee it has established.
In addition, he says, there are major advantages gained by allowing the
contracting-out of services to the private sector. Even though bills may
still be covered largely by taxpayers, allowing private clinics to operate
leads to greater efficiencies through competition--without disenfranchising
the poor or financially ruining citizens facing catastrophic medical
expenses.
The key lesson for Canadians, he says, is that allowing privately funded
purchases of core health services, and allowing the private sector to
deliver that care, means a better system, because patients are getting the
care they want and are not simply stuck with accepting the care the
government will deliver to them--no matter how inadequate it may be.
While many Canadian politicians warn that allowing any private care will
result in so-called two-tier health care, implying that some Canadians will
have access to better care than others, Esmail says we're already there. "A
survey out of Ontario found that 80 per cent of physicians had been involved
in cases where patients had received preferential access to care for
non-medical reasons," he says. Wealthy Canadians--and even high-ranking
politicians--can fly to the U.S. or other countries for care, while the
well-connected pull strings to get themselves faster access to the
treatments they need. "This means that good Canadians waiting in queue for
what the government is going to give them are the ones to suffer," says
Esmail.
Arthur Entlich said:
You want it both ways. The reason so many people in the US cannot
afford health care, why the cost of medical insurance is so high, and
why the quality is so variable, is due to the business model used. The
"market" determines the value, and since most of us eventually require
healthcare of some sort, we are willing to pay whatever it costs, even
allowing ourselves to get bankrupted doing it.
By constraining costs by maintaining a socialized medical system, where,
at least, in principle, all doctors get the same base wages within a
category, and all people have equal access, the playing field remains
relatively even.
Once you allow individuals to opt out of the plan and go private, the
best doctors will tend to leave the nationalized health plan because
they can make more by opening private clinic. That leaves the mediocre
doctors to care for those who can't afford private medicine or private
insurance.
They tried this in England, and the system is completely failing. There
are two distinct tiers of medicine now, the "national plan" for those on
fixed incomes, the poor, those out of work, and the "private plan" which
is for those who have money in the bank or good benefits.
Health care in Canada is rationed. It's not some service like getting
your nails done. When people need it, they need it. I agree that
waiting periods are too long. This is part of the sabotage going on to
make people demand something else (like private or pay as you go
services).
Canada still has one of the best nationalized health services in the
world. Our population lives longer and is healthier, and dollar per
dollar our system is cheaper than the US by quite a bit, and the
services there aren't great in most cases. Mal-practice insurance fees
are out of the stratosphere, pediatricians are all but giving up because
the cost of the insurance due to the high risk and liability of
delivering children is not affordable.
Creating a two tier health system will eventually be the end of
nationalized health care in this country, and when that occurs you will
be at the mercy of the private companies exclusively.
We need to put more money into healthcare and clean up Ottawa, so that
the money that is earmarked for health goes there.
Unless you have lived in the US and had to pay a few hundred bucks every
time you go to the doctor and lab, you might obtain a different
perspective as to how valuable the health care system we have is.
Art
I would like to be able to pay for it here. Why should I not be able to
if
I want the service? If a doctor or hospital wants to set up privately,
what
business is that of the state to say no? I'm not saying I want to pay
out
of pocket but I would like the option to buy the insurance with possibly
a
deductible. Canada is only one of 3 countries in the world that do not
allow the individual this option.
Since you want to pay for private medical, go down and find out what it
really costs, and the quality of it. (I already know, because my family
lives in the states, and the costs are unbelievable, particularly if
hospitalization is required).
But your problem is simple to get around. You might even get part of in
reimbursed by your provincial gov't, but if not, so what, you say you
want
to pay out of pocket, right?
So, why are you allowing your wife to suffer with her ear problem when
the
solution is a few miles down the road? Are there "communists" at the
border who won't let the two of you go to the US and pay? Maybe you can
stay with your friends down there, so you don't have any lodging costs.
Art
gary wrote:
Matt Silberstein (
[email protected]) writes:
[lot nuked]
Oh, you mean socialized medicine? Doesn't work. Many countries try
it,
Works well in Costa Rica and Canada.
It's really outside the comp.periphs.printers topics, but I cannot
resist:
Canadian health care system does not work. If you have to endure many
months of pain before you can get an 'elective' surgery, like a hip
replacement or fixing a herniated disk, or have to helplessly wait for
diagnosis and then cancer treatment knowing full well that it may be
too
late
when your turn in the hospital comes - and the law does not alow you
to get it done fast privately if you want and can pay, then something
is wrong, isn't there?
(Well, unless you subscribe to the idea that if two people are drowning
and you know you can save just one of them, you let both of them drown,
because saving one would be unfair to the other you could not save.)
Canadian health care system is OK for you if you are:
(a) rich enough to buy any urgent treatment outside the country, or
(b) a high level politician or athlete who gets an immediate attention,
or
(c) generally healthy and all you need is to buy some aspirin
from time to time.
Pavel
[rest nuked]
I cant let that go either. We have excellent care when you get in.
That
is WHEN you get in. Good post here I like your analogy about the
drowning. The RCMP get in ASAP, politicians get in ASAP, hockey players
get in ASAP and WCB claims get in ASAP and people who can afford it go
to
the US. The average Joe waits. My wife has been waiting 8 months to
see
a specialist about an ear problem. We have friends in the US who say
she
would be in under a week. I would pay for that service here if the
communists in power would let me. But alas like the only other 2
jurisdiction in the world, North Korea and Cuba, we are not allowed
private health care.
