The election of Dr. Brian Day as president of the Canadian Medical Association must become a catalyst for a renewed campaign to support the gains of public medicare, says the Ontario Health Coalition.

“The choice of the delegates is an unfortunate one for the majority of patients in Canada,” said Natalie Mehra, director of the Ontario Health Coalition. “Brian Day has spent years advocating for the dismantling of the public health system through privatization and the de-listing of health services. These are not innovative ideas. They are old ones relentlessly pushed by the small but well-heeled group who have personal business interests in promoting privatization. We are deeply disappointed.”

Mehra said that the pretense that two-tier advocates are concerned about wait lists is stunningly disingenuous. In fact, she said, the two-tier proposal would quickly turn a doctor and health professional shortage situation into a crisis as physicians and health professionals would be siphoned out of the public health system to serve queue-jumpers in the private system.

“Two-tiering encourages wealthy people to purchase unnecessary procedures while those in real need languish on longer wait lists in the public system. Two-tiering means that regional disparities in access to care intensify as more health professionals move into private businesses in larger cities where they can make money. While the greediest physicians-turned-businesspeople make more money, patients suffer,” she added. “No one with an accurate understanding of the demand and supply of health resources and the well-being of the majority of Canadians in mind could advocate for destroying the gains and efficiency of the public health system through this type of privatization.”

Mehra said that in response to Dr. Day’s election, the Coalition and others of like mind need to reach out to physicians with the world-wide evidence that for-profit health care costs more for less care.

“We will use this opportunity to remind people that those who are pushing privatization almost inevitably are those who stand to profit directly from the higher costs of private health businesses. With redoubled urgency, we will communicate a clear message that the creation of a parallel system for those who buy private health insurance or pay out-of-pocket for procedures are actually advocating for dismantling public health care — not improving it. We need to remind physicians and Canadians alike that the values that underlie our public health system are sound and critically important for our communities and our economy.”

She concluded that Dr. Day’s election will no doubt embolden those that want to profit from privatization. “For advocates of public health care, it will be a catalyst for us to re-dedicate ourselves to the fight to protect the economic and social gains made when Canadians adopted our public health system.”

The Council of Canadians waged a strong campaign against the election of Dr. Brian Day. Here are some of the facts they shared with delegates to the convention:

Canada’s health care system is under threat.

First, from private investors, many based in the United States, who are clamouring to cash in on Canadian health care.

Second, by for-profit providers and insurers within Canada who are trying to dismantle public health care for their own personal gain.

And third, from provincial governments actively undermining the Canada Health Act by courting the private sector into taking a greater role in health care funding and delivery.

Instead of renewing its support for public health care, the federal Conservative government is letting the forces of privatization dismantle our most treasured social program.

Unless ordinary Canadians from every part of the country rise up to defend it, our public health care system will not survive this onslaught from the for-profit sector.It’s time to stand up for public health care and let our government know that profit is not the cure!

  • Profit is more expensive

    The U.S. government spends nearly twice as much per person on health care as we do and still over 40 million people have no health care whatsoever. In contrast, Canada’s universal single-payer system covers everyone for much less money.

    Health cost data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows that our public health system costs less than $180 per month per Canadian. You would have to pay a private insurer three times that in the U.S. to get comparable service.

  • Profit discriminates

    Promoters of for-profit health care say it should be okay for people to pay thousands of dollars at a private clinic if they need a hip replacement, knee surgery, or other treatment. But what about the people who can’t afford to pay?

    What about seniors, single parents, or those dealing with chronic disease? Letting the rich pay to get faster health care in the private sector contravenes the principles of the Canada Health Act by threatening the equality of access to medical services. All Canadians should have equal access to quality health care.

  • Profit will not reduce wait times

    For-profit “solutions” will not reduce wait times. Yet they are continually proposed in British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper supporting Quebec’s plan to use private for-profit clinics.

    Allowing provinces to fund surgeries in private for-profit clinics will take much-needed money away from public hospitals and give it to private providers. Studies have shown that adding for-profit health care services actually lengthens waiting times in the public system because doctors opt to perform services in the private sector where they are paid more.

  • Profit puts lives at risk

    “With for-profit care, you end up paying with your money, and your life,” concluded Dr. P.J. Devereaux in a comparative study of death rates in the Canadian and U.S. health care systems. The study, which was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, suggests that if we switch to for-profit hospitals, over 2,000 more Canadians will die needlessly each year.

    The culprit is profit. When private health providers have to pay huge salaries to senior administrators and keep investors happy, they cut costs by hiring less qualified doctors and fewer nurses. The consequences are lethal.

  • Profit leads to Americanization

    The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is very clear — the exemption for health care, which has kept large U.S. health corporations out of Canada, applies only to a fully public system.

    Once we privatize even some health care services, NAFTA will force Canada to give equal treatment to U.S. companies competing for patients with our public system. That means the argument that Canada could copy models in Sweden, France or Switzerland is a complete fallacy because unlike Canada, these European countries aren’t tied to the U.S. by a free trade agreement.