Good News For Medicare

8 posts / 0 new

Thu, 2020-09-10 18:55

Aristotleded24

Champion of private health care loses court case:

Quote:

The B.C. Supreme Court has dismissed a years-long court challenge of public health-care rules in B.C. that claimed the province's health-care system denies patients the right to timely care.

The constitutional challenge launched by private health-care advocate Dr. Brian Day, the owner of the Cambie Surgery Centre in Vancouver, claimed that prolonged wait times for medical procedures violated two charter rights, including the right to life, liberty and security of the person.

Day argued patients have a constitutional right to pay for private care when wait times in the public system are too long.

Day opened the Cambie Surgery Centre in 1996 and launched court action against the B.C. government in 2009 over sections of the Medicare Protection Act. It prohibits doctors from billing the government for work they do in the public system while also earning money from private clinics as well as billing patients or their insurance companies.

Justice John J. Steeves dismissed both charter claims, noting that B.C.'s Medicare Protection Act is focused on medically necessary care, not ability to pay.

...

Lawyers for both the B.C. and federal governments have argued such a system would erode Canada's universal health-care system and negatively impact patients with complex chronic conditions and the elderly.

While the court ruled against Day, Steeves did find that surgical patients are not receiving care in a timely manner, and that these lengthy wait times for surgery result in prolonged pain and suffering for patients.

"Some of these patients will experience prolonging and exacerbation of pain and diminished functionality as well as increased risk of not gaining full benefit from surgery," Steeves wrote.

This is big. Access to health care is a vital public service, not to mention an important aspect of how we identify as Canadians. I wanted to highlight this because I think it is an important item that is worthy of discussion.

Fri, 2020-09-11 09:00

epaulo13

Fri, 2020-09-11 20:13

laine lowe laine lowe's picture

It's always nice to have some satisfying news. Hopefully day packs up his toys and emigrates to the US.

Fri, 2020-09-11 21:21

(Reply to #3) #4

Aristotleded24

laine lowe wrote:
It's always nice to have some satisfying news. Hopefully day packs up his toys and emigrates to the US.

He might not even like it there much longer. The pandemic has exposed shortcomings in the profit-based system in the US, and the idea of Medicare for All has wide support across different political lines. Even everyday Republican voters like the idea.

Sat, 2020-09-12 08:47

lagatta4

There is a f-ing clinic with the sign Private Medical Clinic on one of the streets just south of McGill University (obviously also in French). I'll leave that stuff to younger folk now, but god it needs some paint bombs and pointed graffiti, as well as some glue in its lock.

Sat, 2020-09-12 14:02

(Reply to #5) #6

Pondering

lagatta4 wrote:

There is a f-ing clinic with the sign Private Medical Clinic on one of the streets just south of McGill University (obviously also in French). I'll leave that stuff to younger folk now, but god it needs some paint bombs and pointed graffiti, as well as some glue in its lock.

I was sent to a clinic which I think is private for an optometrist appointment for glaucoma and cataracts. I had to pay 150$ for "extra" tests meaning tests not covered by medicare.

That's the loophole allowing doctors to charge medicare and extra bill for services not covered.

Someday medicare will cover only 1970s procedures.

Sat, 2020-09-12 19:53

laine lowe laine lowe's picture

Pondering, the services and diagnostic techniques used by an opthamologist is covered in Manitoba. I have been in and out of my specialist's office for more than a decade, sometimes in the early days, I was in there bi-weekly and when things were under control, every 3 months and for the last few years, every 6 months. Early in the going prior to diagnosis there was one high tech imaging test that was not covered and cost about $150 some 12 years ago.

Sat, 2020-09-12 20:10

Misfit

It is the federal government who really is to blame. The federals are supposed to fund 50% of all healthcare funding. That has been eroded down to roughly 15% which has put a heavy burden on the provinces to make up for the shortfall. So provinces keep de-listing piece by piece specific services from their healthcare coverage. All provinces are doing this. They are suffocating universal healthcare to death while keeping up the image that we have universal healthcare. And it is only going to get worse.