Canadian HealthCare System Falling Apart

For all of the advocates of a national healthcare system controlled by the federal government, we only need look north to the recent history of the Canadian healthcare system that covers all of its citizens.

According to the New York Times, one of the unique features of the Canadian system, that differentiates it from all other national healthcare systems used around the world, is that it is illegal to have commercial for-profit healthcare competing for healthcare dollars, with the logic being that private healthcare will seduce the best doctors. In most European countries with national health plans, there is a mix of public-private health insurance and delivery systems.

But that may all be changing since the Quebec Supreme Court ruled last June that the provincial ban on private health insurance was unconstitutional because people were dying waiting for treatment in the government-run system. Since that ruling, numerous private practices are flourishing, although they have been threatened with stiff fines, but it is highly unlikely it will wind up in court, as it may open the door for widespread exposure and publicity about the inept national system. We must remember that in a government-run system without any form of competition, there is little incentive to be efficient or responsive to patient’s needs.

Now that Canada’s system has matured (or decayed), severe problems have developed. Costs for the national and provincial governments are exploding and some cancer patients are waiting months for diagnostic tests and treatment.

Some of the telltale statistics are frightening;

· The time it tales to be referred by a family doctor to an appointment with a specialist has increased from 3.7 to 8.3 weeks

· The time between the appointment and actual treatment has increased from 5.6 to 9.4 weeks, ranging from 5.5 weeks for oncology to 40 weeks for orthopedic surgery

One for-profit practice, The Cambie Surgery Center, run by Dr. Brian Day, has 120 doctors working there. His practice is growing because public hospitals are sending him many patients who would normally wait for months before receiving treatment. Since the Quebec Supreme Court ruling, private clinics are opening at a rate of one per week. Dr. Day plans on opening private hospitals in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton. Dr. Day, although continually threatened by the government, stated, “We’ve taken the position that the law is illegal. This is a country in which dogs can get a hip replacement in under a week and in which humans can wait two to three years.”

Over the last 18 months, Dr. Day’s hospital has been under contract to perform knee, spine and gynecological operations on more than 1,000 patients.

As anyone who has ever run a business has learned, competition is the lifeblood of efficiency. What liberals never seem to understand is without that competition, complacency and waste become commonplace. One visit to a Veteran’s Administration (VA) hospital in the U. S. might challenge any positive thoughts you may have, as the Apathetic Voter can attest to in his numerous visits.