Posted on 12/01/2006 6:49:09 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
VICTORIA - A showdown over the future of medicare is expected to unfold in Vancouver today as the B.C. government threatens to shut down a private clinic that may start charging patients for services that should be free under the health care system.
''We need to ensure universal access to health care is maintained in this province,'' B.C. Health Minister George Abbott said Thursday.
In what Abbott called ''an extraordinary move,'' the B.C. government pushed through a cabinet order Thursday that will empower government auditors to enter the premises of the Urgent Care Centre that has promised to open its doors today in Vancouver.
While the private clinic's operators have yet to charge anyone for emergency services, they have made it clear they plan to challenge the status quo of Canada's medicare system.
In advertisements, in which they call their facility a place ''for conditions requiring prompt attention,'' the clinic's operators seem to suggest they will seek a $199 evaluation fee from patients and charge $70 to set a broken arm in a cast and $50 for X-rays.
Abbott said that would likely violate the Canada Health Act and the provincial B.C. Medical Services Act, which make it illegal for any doctor within the medicare system to extra-bill for procedures that are supposed to be universally available and free under medicare.
The operators of the clinic could not be reached for comment.
But the B.C. government said it can't immediately shut down the clinic. It will be sending in an audit team from the independent Medical Service's Commission to investigate its billing practices.
Abbott said the investigation could take days, weeks or month, but if extra billing is found to be taking place, a court injunction would be sought to shut down the clinic.
The emergence of private clinics and queue jumping has become a major issue in Canada.
There are many private clinics operating in the country, but they have mostly found ways to avoid openly confronting Canada's medicare laws.
However, a Supreme Court of Canada decision last year which ruled that the Quebec government couldn't stop patients from purchasing private insurance for health-care procedures provided under medicare, given that the public system often fails to provide service in a timely manner has emboldened private clinic proponents, who believe the decision gives them legal support.
In British Columbia, the health care budget is ballooning and the provincial government is under fire for bed shortages and long waits in emergency rooms.
In recent months, the B.C. New Democratic Party has attacked the provincial Liberal government for not cracking down on doctors it says have allowed patients to pay for access to private clinics.
In some cases, patients have been able to use their access to the private clinics to get to the front of the line for diagnostic tests, saving months or even years of waiting.
''I think this is the tip of the iceberg,'' said the NDP's health critic Adrian Dix. ''The government's position on private health care has been 'don't ask, don't tell'. It's been a failure.''
Dix called for the government to audit all private health clinics, not only the Urgent Care Centre.
Vancouver Sun
Joys-of-socialism ping to Today show list.
Those B@stards!
Exactly. How dare these people think they should be allowed to purchase possibly life-saving services with their own money? We must all be willing to sacrifice in the name of serving Mother Socialism!
My sister in law lives in VT, where Howard Dean imposed socialized medicine before leaving office. She had hip replacement surgery (she's in her forties, but fell off her horse and broke the hip in three places)this week as an out patient. Her husband had to drive her home from Burlington in the car and get her into the house, himself. This time she only had to wait about two months for the surgery, when she needed back surgery, the wait was nine months.
It's a quest for power.......
And by doing so they will end up putting people out of business
I think it falls under the category of population control
Actually, what they have done is destroyed capital investment in Canadian medicine because governments always, always, always set prices to certain kinds of producers way too low. The country's radiologists estimate that virtually all of the diagnostic imaging devices are in need of upgrade. Some are so old that they don't turn them off. There is a huge doctor shortage. Physicians are on a budget. They see patients until their budget is exhausted and then take a long vacation. If, that is, they haven't moved to the U.S. where they still can practice something that resembles medicine.
The people who support this kind of thing are emeshed in a utopian vision of equality. When it doesn't work out in practice, they will trash quality in order to make sure that everyone is equal.
And, make no mistake, they are busy doing that in the U.S., too.
I agree
This is exactly what the Clintons had in mind for the rest of us.
GMTA - see #1.
There is infinitely more sanctimony involved in forcing people to wait and wait and wait for necessary "free" treatment when they are ill than to allow them to pay. It's just like the song says: "Oh. Canada."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.