Re: Ruling Could Transform Canada's Health System

["jblau@xxxxxxxxx" <jblau@xxxxxxxxx>]

Yes. Canadian media has emphasized the response of the liberal government,
i.e., that this ruling makes it all the more important to reduce waiting
times. But, of course, it is highly unlikely that anything like that will
happen. My anecdotal experience only includes summers, but 15 years ago,
care was generally quite prompt  and good. Four years ago, however, I went
to local hospital, and there was one doctor on duty and one nurse to take
blood in a regional hospital that serves 20,000 people. That's become the
essence of the system. Starved for funds, it's nominally universal, but so
understaffed especially in rural areas that it just begs for the filing of
legal actions like the one in Quebec.

Joel Blau 

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Michael Perelman michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 12:50:07 -0700
To: PEN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Ruling Could Transform Canada's Health System




This is a very interesting illustration of how individualistic market
relations cannot easily coexist with socialized relationships.  May a
Gresham's law of relationships.


On Sun, Jun 12, 2005 at 07:17:23AM -0400, Michael Hoover wrote:
> 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 justices took a year to rule on a case that began in 1997, when
George Zeliotis, an elderly Montreal man, tried to pay for hip replacement
surgery rather than wait nearly a year for treatment at a public hospital.
>
> Zeliotis told the high court that he suffered pain and became addicted to
painkillers during the yearlong wait for surgery, and he should have been
allowed to pay for faster service with private insurance.
>
> "It is indeed a historical ruling that could substantially change the
very foundations of Medicare as we know it," said Dr. Albert J. Schumacher,
president of the Canadian Medical Association.
>
> Mostly Free Health Care
>
> Although the ruling was made on the Quebec law, it likely will affect
other Canadian provinces that forbid residents from buying private health
care insurance for treatment under the country's Medicare system.
>
> Opponents of changes to Medicare claimed it could force Canada into a
two-tiered health care system in which those who have deeper pockets get
faster, better service from doctors who opt out of the public health-care
program.
>
> Zeliotis' doctor, Jacques Chaoulli, argued that his patient's
constitutional rights were violated because Quebec could not provide the
care he needed and did not offer him the option of getting it privately.
>
> Chaoulli also argued that doctors should be allowed to open private
hospitals if patients are willing to pay.
>
> The 1984 Canada Health Act affirmed the federal government's commitment
to provide mostly free health care to all, including the more than 200,000
immigrants arriving each year, under a system called Medicare.
>
> But the universal health-care system -- while considered one of the
fairest in the world -- has been plagued by long waiting lists and a lack
of doctors, nurses and new equipment. Some patients wait years for surgery,
MRI machines are scarce and many Canadians travel to the United States for
medical treatment.
>
> Marker of Egalitarianism
>
> In most Canadian provinces, it is illegal to seek faster treatment and
jump to the head of the line by paying out of pocket for public care.
Private health clinics have sprouted up even though they are technically
illegal, though the provincial governments tend to look the other way.
>
> If Zeliotis had been from outside Canada, he could have bought treatment
in a private Quebec clinic. That is one way the system discourages the
spread of private medicine -- by limiting it to nonresidents.
>
> Most polls indicate Canadians support Medicare, despite the high taxes
needed to fund the service, seeing it as a marker of egalitarianism and
independent identity that sets their country apart from the United States,
where some 45 million Americans lack health insurance.
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> Please Note:
> Due to Florida's very broad public records law, most written
communications to or from College employees regarding College business are
public records, available to the public and media upon request. Therefore,
this e-mail communication may be subject to public disclosure.

--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu

--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .