2006/02/16

Quebec opens the door to private healthcare

Quebec announced Thursday that it will open the door for private care. Hospitals will be able to subcontract care to private clinics for some operations

Jean Charest described " a limited role for the private sector within Quebec’s public health-care system to ensure timely access to hip and knee replacement and cataract surgery." Quebec would allow hospitals to essentially subcontract private clinics for the three types of surgery. Only hip and knee replacement and cataract surgeries would be initially subject to private delivery, and only if publicly run institutions could not deliver the services within six months. For details see the Toronto Star.

Charest said the changes were prompted by a recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling on private health-care insurance. The Supreme Court decision partially struck down Quebec’s ban on private health-care insurance.

The Council of Canadians denounced the Quebec government’s proposal to enable for-profit delivery of essential medical services.According to the Council of Canadians, the for-profit sector will require more funding than the non-profit sector.The Council is concerned that Quebec's plan will drain resources from the public health care sector. It also expressed concern that “This proposal means that more affluent Quebeckers will have access to better health care services. It goes against the very core of the Canada Health Act, which seeks to ensure equal access to all.”

Given these developments in Quebec, and interest in British Columbia and Alberta in moving in the direction of some private delivery, is Canada moving to a two-tier health care system, notwithstanding political commitments to the contrary?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some province are colluding to move to a two-tier system. Without a strong federal response, we will end up there even though the vast majority of Canadians are opposed to such a system. Will Harper stand up for Canada? Unlikely in this case.

Anonymous said...

The inexorable erosion of our public healthcare system has begun. What happened to Paul Martin's fix for a generation?

Anonymous said...

it's already here people

i don't know in which province you people live in, but just call your local provincialy owned community college and ask them about the new health care management program, and how it ties in to preparing the provinces deal with 2/3 health care in the next few years

Anonymous said...

Both Martin and Harper pledged to defend our healthcare system but don't count on them to do so.Do you want your health info in the hands of U.S. multinationals subject to american law immediately accessible to Homeland Security?

Anonymous said...

hate to break it to you

but there is a new world order
and they will introduce a common currency for north america soon.
"why do you think our dollar is almost on par with the us dollar?"
same for health care, for both our economies to merge canada has to adopt a health care system closer to that of the us (2/3)

free trade between the usa, canada and mexico was phase one, phase two will be common currency, phase three
total take over by corporations
we are to become slaves,accept the microchip and slave at your work, or die

just saying!