Private Medical Care Flourishs In Canada To Provide What Canadian National Healthcare Doesn’t?

• September 29, 2009

There is at least one private organization in Canada trying to fill the healthcare gaps left open by the Canadian National Healthcare system. The mission of Timely Medical Alternatives is:

to provide Canadians from every province with information about the medical waiting lists in Canada, options for Canadians unable or unwilling to wait for care and finally, referrals to hospitals, clinics and diagnostic imaging facilities.

Why is there a market for a service such as theirs?

This distinguishing feature of Canadian public healthcare is the nearly universal waitlists (approxiamately 875,000 on waitlists) for virtually all diagnostic procedures and for surgeries. We are able to facilitate private medical services and diagnostics within 2 – 3 days and surgeries as quickly as 48 hours, in urgent cases. Many of our referrals are to facilities within Canada.

What does Timely Medical provide?

The role of our firm is to act as a facilitator, brining our clients together with private medical services and clinics which can provide the needed services and / or procedures in a timely manner. Once arrangements have been made to the mutual satisfaction of our client and their physician, we have no ongoing involvement in the doctor-patient relationship.
Timely Medical Alternatives Inc. is able to expedite virtually any surgery, diagnostic imaging, or biopsy. Many of our private medical services are available in Canada; some are available in the US, where we have a network of hospitals and private medical services clinics with which we work.

From the above it should be obvious that a national healthcare system cannot provide the needed care for all and that alternate private enterprise will by necessity come into fruition to fill the voids. From the numbers quoted above (875,000) the gaps are pretty large and one has to wonder what happens to those that can’t afford the cost of alternate healthcare.
Hottip – Moonbattery

Tags: Politics

http://Array carrick

MikeAdamson:

I simply prefer it to a system where millions have no coverage, many face financial ruin even though they have coverage and private insurance companies are the ones doing the rationing.

I don’t think that Canadian care is that much different in quality than the US (exception being the waiting lists for people who can’t afford to pay out of pocket), but I think you are making a bit much of private insurance companies doing the rationing.

There are set rules up front for what they cover and don’t cover. They don’t stop covering people in a given year because a set number have been treated for example, and if you are gainfully employed in most full time positions, health care is included as part of your benefits.

For the others, there is emergency room care, which is a back-door US health care system for people who don’t have insurance. And as I’ve said in the past, just because you don’t have insurance and can’t pay for it, doesn’t mean you are always denied treatment.

I know the sad case of a woman who is terminally ill with cancer but is being treated by a local cancer clinic even though they are fully aware they will never recoup their costs.

That’s called “charity” in this part of the world. It used to be expected that people would offer charity to those less fortunate. One of the effects of having the government take over and do this for you (and often in a ham-handed fashion), is that people have lost any moral requirement to help each other, and this is frankly dehumanizing.
JohnInMontreal

The slow privatization of health care here is starting. In Quebec private clinics are springing up all over the place since the Supreme Court decision (which applies only to Quebec). A woman at work here in Montreal got a carpal tunnel operation done at a private clinic and paid out of pocket for the diff between the clinic’s fee and the province’s schedule. Paid a few hundred bucks and waited a week vs 14 months.
docdave

Unfortunately, john, dual systems are terribly expensive but that’s what you will be having for a long time and perhaps forever since when invoked, government programs seldom are abandoned.
DINO

Great idea! A public/private system just like Obama and the liberals want!

But why do you stems oppose it?
Mickey

The majority of Canadian doctors have private health insurance that covers treatment in the USA. That should tell you something about rationing and other conditions in Canada.

One problem is that once we lower our standards to Canadian levels, where do we go for quality treatment?
FlyOnTheWall

Private company offering neighboring foreign nationals better health care. Obviously, only the elite get it. But more interesting, would private companies pop up in Canada to serve Americans, those who could afford the quality and speed?

More likely it just becomes a longer trip to some place like South America. It would lack the quality but you could still get the speed.
Mark

Dino just doesn’t get it.
MikeAdamson

So governments in Canada cover the basic medical services and private companies provide enhanced services to those who want to pay for them…sounds pretty good to me.
docdave

So governments in Canada cover the basic medical services and private companies provide enhanced services to those who want to pay for them…sounds pretty good to me.

Apparently you didn’t read my article or the link or you are just satisfied with mediocre. To summarize for you, THE CANADIANS ARE USING THE PRIVATE CARE SERVICE BECAUSE OF THE LONG WAIT FOR THEIR NATIONAL MEDICAL CARE. If you still find that acceptable, you are truly confused.
MikeAdamson

I read it dd…some Canadians are willing and able to pay for speedier service. It would be nice if every Canadian could receive such prompt attention within the basic health system but imagine the tax increase that would be required.

Like pretty much everything in life it’s a trade off. Every Canadian is assured of medical coverage, unlike another country that I know, but you might have to wait before a specific service is available. If a Canadian doesn’t want to wait then quite often he can pony up to jump the queue…personal choice and all that. Service delivery can always be improved whether it be health care or whatever but I’m happy overall as are most Canadians.
robert108

I know the irony of this escapes you, Mike, but the reason Canadians have the choice to get better healthcare(in some cases, healthcare delayed is healthcare denied) is that “another country that you know” exists and is available.
Obama wants to make that choice impossible, for both Canadians and the residents of that “other country”.
HG

If it takes a neighboring free market to supply the healthcare needs of Canadians, what will they do if we are unfortunate enough to adopt Obamacare? You libs can’t think past your noses. Likely because you can’t see past ‘em either.

This point is lost in these sort of discussions. Free markets provide solutions to problems the gov’t creates like in Canada. Many socialized economies are dependent upon America’s free market system. Without it, they would be far, far worse off.
docdave

Mike, if you ever have to wait at the end of the 12 month line for a critical procedure, perish the thought, I think you will not have the same good thoughts about your ‘rationed and often unavailable’ healthcare system.
MikeAdamson

HG…you’re right of course although critics of the Canadian system exaggerate the Canadian utilisation of American medical services.

dd…twelve month waits for critical procedures are rare events. The biggest complaint Canadians have with the system is the waiting times for some services so you won’t hear me calling it perfect. I simply prefer it to a system where millions have no coverage, many face financial ruin even though they have coverage and private insurance companies are the ones doing the rationing.

It’s a cultural difference between America and the rest of the world…I understand why you feel as you do.
Mickey

Mike,

Some people in Canada and the UK “die” before they get the treatment they would get ASAP here in the USA.

Move to Canada, get cancer and see if you get fast treatment.
robert108

I simply prefer it to a system where millions have no coverage, many face financial ruin even though they have coverage and private insurance companies are the ones doing the rationing.

You repeat exaggerations and untruths about our country, while insisting that the negative reports about your country are exaggerations; double standard?
robert108

Rob: I guess we are of one mind on this one. Look at the times.
MikeAdamson

r108

You repeat exaggerations and untruths about our country

I stand by my accurate statement. If I wanted to exaggerate I’d say that millions are dying every day or that greedy insurance company executives look just like Snidely Whiplash.

Rob

People do have to wait for some services and procedures and this is an area where Canadians expect improvement from their governments. OTOH, the number of deaths attributed to wait times is small, certainly much smaller than the number of deaths in America due to lack of health care insurance.

I also want to emphasise that I understand the cultural, political and historical differences between Canada and America that help explain why the two health care insurance systems are different. I get that Obama’s proposals do not flow from America’s relatively conservative traditions and that a significant proportion of the American populace is not buying what he is selling.

Mickey

Move to Canada, get cancer and see if you get fast treatment.

Already there, my ex-wife has been treated for two separate cancers and the service was extraordinary. I have certainly heard of individuals whose wait for procedures had medical consequences but I don’t know any personally. People dying because they had to wait too long is a rare occurrence.
docdave

Trading off freedom to choose for the alleged security of government provided and mandated services is a lose-lose proposition to me. Additionally freedoms lost are seldom ever attained again. You want proof. Ask the people in Cuba, Iran, Venezuela,,,,.
JohnInMontreal

Great idea! A public/private system just like Obama and the liberals want!

But why do you stems oppose it?

Because it’s the WORST of both worlds not the best of both worlds you brainless leftist putz…

We pay ruinous taxes AND have to pay out of pocket for health care without waiting a year.

Geezzzzz
robert108

I stand by my accurate statement.

It’s really just a bunch of Dem talking points, all of which have been refuted many times over.

It is the opposite of “accurate”. You have no evidence of any of those claims, Mike, because it doesn’t exist.
Of course, you are trying to change the subject, since it obviously makes you uncomfortable. That’s entirely understandable.
Mickey

Here is a good review from a Canadian agency on the state of Canadian healh care.

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/
MikeAdamson

Rob

I want independence, and I don’t understand why anyone thinks they should be able to force me into a health care system I don’t want.

Which is fair enough as far as I’m concerned. The emphasis on self-reliance and distrust of government has always been characteristic of America while Canada, not so much. I’m speaking in broad general strokes here of course and I’m not actually saying that America should adopt the Canadian system. Americans have to establish criteria on which to evaluate the health care system and act accordingly. Canadians tend to expect that everyone should have access to medical care when required without regard to ability to pay but I get that America is different, culturally speaking.

Carrick…I’m not stuck on the government providing the health care insurance. My ideal system must include basic coverage for everybody, the ability to avoid financial catastrophe should someone get sick and reasonably cost effective administration. I’d be comfortable with a private insurance model so long as those points are addressed and I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t.

r108

It is the opposite of “accurate”.

Some Americans die because they can’t access the health care they require. Some Americans are forced to declare bankruptcy because they can’t afford the medical services they require. Medical care is rationed to day in America.

To all…I believe that the political and/or philosophical objection to universal health care insurance coverage is legitimate. It’s not a view I share but it’s logically coherent and in keeping with American traditions. OTOH, I reject the impression left by some that the Canadian system is bad and/or threatened because people are dying due to waiting times. This implication is an exaggeration that doesn’t reflect reality. Thanks for the chat.
sayanything-6955

I want independence, and I don’t understand why anyone thinks they should be able to force me into a health care system I don’t want.

Which, to me is the crux of this whole argument! Freedom and liberty! There are better ways to solve reform than Government intervention.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

People do have to wait for some services and procedures and this is an area where Canadians expect improvement from their governments. OTOH, the number of deaths attributed to wait times is small, certainly much smaller than the number of deaths in America due to lack of health care insurance.

Oh really?

I don’t think that’s actually true. For instance, if we look at cancer survival rates, Americans do much better than Canadians.

Do you think that’s because Americans are healthier? Hardly.

And the WHO recently concluded that some 25,000 Britons die every year due to delays in their health care system (which, admittedly, isn’t Canada’s).

Plus, even if you could prove that Canada’s health care system is superior (you can’t, but stipulating that for the moment), I’d still reject it. Because I don’t want to be dependent on anyone else for my health care even if you could prove that it would better for me (which, again, you can’t). Because I don’t want that dependency to open the door to them telling me how to live my life.

I want independence, and I don’t understand why anyone thinks they should be able to force me into a health care system I don’t want.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

I simply prefer it to a system where millions have no coverage, many face financial ruin even though they have coverage and private insurance companies are the ones doing the rationing.

Says the guy who just accused us of exaggerating Canadian health care wait times.

Sheesh.

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Private Medical Care Flourishs In Canada To Provide What Canadian National Healthcare Doesn’t?

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