An end to the party line
The fallout from the Canadian Supreme court decision ruling a patient’s right to seek care supercedes the right of the government to enforce a health-care monopoly continues to reverberate throughout the country. Canada is the only developed nation which dissallows private citizens from seeking private medical insurance. NWM cub reporter jc noted that when you read an article like this in Macleans (Canada’s largest newsmagazine), then the times they are a changing:
People wait for practically any diagnostic test, surgical procedure, or consultation with a specialist. The doctor shortage is so severe that, in Norwood, Ont., winning the town lottery isn’t a ticket to material wealth. With just one family doctor to service the entire town, the physician will take only 200 new patients over the next four years. As a result, the town held a lottery, with the 200 winners getting an appointment with him.
Ours is a consumer-driven society, in an era of high-tech, high-expense medicine. Yet the paternalistic system envisioned by Douglas Jay carries on in Canada today. The times have changed. So must medicare.
Looks like we’re finally going to get an honest debate on medicare in Canada.