> Associated Presss
> Ruling Could Transform Canada's Health System
> 09 June, 2005 19:18 GMT
>
> Canada's Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Quebec law that banned
> private insurance for services covered under Medicare, a landmark decision
> that could affect the country's universal health-care system.
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The right-wing columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, Randall Denley, actually
had an uncharacteristically balanced piece about the decision. He notes it
merely legitimates a two-tier system which various provinces already
informally tolerate with respect to private clinics for such things as MRIs,
hip replacements, eye surgery and physiotherapy, and hopes more private
"competition" will prod governments to put more money into the public system
to improve it. It's wishful thinking, and I think the decision has much more
significance than he attributes to it. It will open the door to US hospital,
health management and health insurance interests which have been eager to
gain entrance into the Canadian market. It will turn higher-income
Canadians, among the most vocal critics of the current system's
shortcomings, away from demanding improvements to it to reduce wait times
and improve services. And it will provide governments with a pretext to
continue reducing the pressure on their public health budgets by hiding
behind the Supreme Court decision clearing the way for the growth of the
private tier.
As a matter of interest, Denley - in arguing against a wholesale adoption of the US model - offered the following:"In 2002, Americans spent $5267 per capita on health care, Canadians only $2931. What is more surprising to Canadians is that the American government spends $2364 per capita on health care, while ours provides only $2048...The point that Canadians fail to grasp is that our public medicare system is pretty good value for the money." He didn't say where the stats were from - perhaps the OECD.
Denley's comments are another indication of the wide support the public health system has, warts and all, extending into even the most unlikely places. Whether it will survive the inevitable encroachment of the US-based private health care industry remains to be seen.
MG