The Unspoken. Canadians and private health care.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 8:07AM I was amused to read the article this morning about Newfoundland Premier, Danny Williams, accessing heart surgery in the United States. Folks, this happens all the time.
My previous boss, from a past life; long, long ago, is a very wealthy man. He also lived a fairly unhealthy life for much of his first 69 years. Luckily for him, late in life, he met a nice lady who taught him about healthy living. Part of what that meant for them, was the ability to access privatized health services at a specialized clinic in California, which for lack of better words, did "full-body scans". In his words, you could pay $1500 for a full day set of scans and tests, and the physician could see anything and everything wrong inside of you. So he has this done, and he is told that he has artery blockage so bad, that it would be an exception for him to live more than 6 months.
So, in a chauffered sedan he goes, from LA to the Mayo Hospital in Scottsdale Arizona, where he receives a major bypass surgery for the heart condition THE NEXT MORNING. I never asked the question, but was led to believe that this costs nearly $175,000 for him to access. I have no doubt that now at 78, he can count at least a half-dozen years of his life to that decision.
So, Danny Williams may well have gone and done the exact same thing. I hope it works out for him as well as my old bosses did. It doesn't sound like the taxpayers of Newfoundland will be paying for it, so it really is none of their business. But of course some people are mad for a number of reasons.
Firstly, there are those economically challenged idealists (I respect these folks), who think that everyone should get whatever they might need from the health care system, exactly when they want it, and of course with no costs attached. Even if that was physically and logistically possible, how could we pay for it? Health care costs today are SKYROCKETING due to changing demographics, increased drug costs, and ironically from new advancements in medicine that actually allow us to treat what was largely untreatable. If we don't find a balance here, the tax structure stretches to a point where it is impossible to maintain a competitive economy.
Secondly, there are those who think that Danny Williams should have to stay in Canada and risk a worsening condition or even death, because of some kind of fairness ideal (these folks drive me mad). I can guarantee you that Danny Williams is not getting free heart surgery in the US, nor is he accessing it because he is the Premier of a Province, he is getting it because he can afford to pay for it. Mr. Williams was a financially successful lawyer and because of the time and investment he made in himself and his career, he can now spend some of that hard earned money to hopefully find health again. If you are a hard-working average Canadian, and wanted the same you could have it. You may have to sell your house to get it, but you could have it.
Don't get me wrong folks, if we could achieve a utopian balance between universal healthcare for all (which is a must), services that are world-class in every discipline (which is harder), and then unlimited capacity in a system, so any service can be accessed at any time (impossible to everyone but the completely crazy), then I would be it's biggest supporter. But we can't.
We MUST demand from our government highly efficient healthcare systems, first rate funding to ensure that ALL CANADIANS get equal access to health care in a timely fashion, and a comittment that no one person should ever suffer or die from waiting or lack of funding.
BUT, if I have the ability to access the same or better care, and are not preventing another Canadian from accessing something withing the Canadian healthcare system, then so be it.
It may seem unfair, but unless you have a magic bus or some fairy dust, and can stop the ways of modern economies, then life is unfair. (Taxes and Death... baby). Of course, holding our government acountable to give us a working and efficient health care system is a reasonable goal. So, since most of us are stuck here, having to rely on our system, we should get started with that.
NOTE: If the chips are down, and I was dealt some kind of medical blow by God, Yahweh, Allah, The Great Spaghetti Monster, or more likely in my case the simple scientific effect of laziness and fat; I reserve the right to do whatever it takes. That includes even using my much beloved Canadian Tire Money to go wherever it takes to get whatever I need.
In this picture, I have enough Canadian Tire Money to purchase a root canal, a his and hers body scan package, or a lifetime supply of Cialis. Instead, I am hoping for a lawn-tractor.
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Reader Comments (3)
Love it! And Crappy Tire must love you! :-)
You are quite right, I think, to point out that limitless, universal health care is unsustainable. But I don't think you are suggesting that a pure market system is appropriate either? What do you see as the best strategy for govt involvement then? Complicated by the fact that the more technologically advanced we become here, the more difficult ethical questions are raised.
There is some really interesting epidemiology out there on population health with respect to preventative stuff. Policy solutions not in nagging people to take better care of themselves, but in creating "walkable" urban spaces and ease of access/affordability re: decent food -- if inclined check out this Two Parter on CBC Ideas: (http://earideas.com/earideas/explore/show/41809/Sick+People+or+Sick+Societies%3F+-+Part+One). I also found this podcast interesting; it discusses supply and demand with some applications to health care. I don't have all this stuff figured out by any means, but the interesting part is that there are all sorts of options to explore *between* state funded universal health care on the one hand, and a fully private system on the other.
First off, whatever Danny Williams decides to do about his health is none of our business, but I wish a successful outcome to his surgery. One of the issues that is not discussed about the private and public health care systems is an issue that was explored at length in Australia by the current CEO of AHS and that is that the more resources that are used by the private system, the less there are available for the public system. The government has responsiblity to all citizens and to do the "best for the most".
We have all kinds of evidence-based research that could lead to resolving a lot of the issues in healthcare. Unfortunately there is so much distrust of the government that nothing is going to happen until trust is rebuilt between the government and citizens. One thing I could never understand was why the "third way" that was looked at was modelled on the very unsuccessful American system. Really, when you have 44,000 of your citizens die a year because they cannot afford health care you do not have a successful system, unless, of course, part of the system design is to have the poor die. The health care systems with the best outcomes for its citizens are in the Scandinavian countries. The American system rates considerably lower despite spending more money on it. (Information from OECD).
I can speak with some experience to the issues that the nurses are bringing up in regards to "overcapacity" in the hospitals. Up until last year, my only experience in the hospital was having my kids and that was a few years back. I was injured and subsequently had to undergo emergency surgery. The day before I was to be moved to a subacute care facility the charge nurse asked if I would be willing to be moved to an over-capacity stretcher that was in a semi-private room (that made it 3 patients instead of just 2) as the emergency room was backed up with patients and they needed a regular bed for an elderly seriously injured patient. I was not getting around all that well and in a lot of pain, but I figured that I was still way better off than the person lying on a stretcher in emergency, so I spent the night on the over-capacity stretcher, jammed into a semi private room. This tight fit of beds made it difficult for the nursing staff to work not to mention manoveuring to the bathroom. I did get excellent nursing care even though the staff was busy. I got very good care from the EMS staff and the emergency room staff as well. Eventually I was able to go back to work full time.
If I lived in a place where this quality of health care was only available privately I may very well have died or been left disabled to the point of not being able to return to work and bankrupted because unlike your wealthy friend (and I don't begrudge him his advantages) I have limited financial resources. The funny thing about this accident, the whole time I was in the ambulance going to the hospital all I could think about was how do injured people in poor war torn countries that have little or no access to painkillers and medical assistance ever survive.
By the way there is a liquor store on Stony Plain Road around 153 Street that takes Canadian Tire Money just in case the lawn-tractor dream dies.