Joanna
Marvin Gandall wrote:
> Michael Hoover copied:
>
>> 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.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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
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