Do Harper/Martin/Layton Wait in Line?

[August1991]

This was an issue in the past Quebec election. Charest went for a check-up in a "private" clinic.

Hockey players do this, as do federal civil servants. Ordinary Canadians would be surprised to know the number of Canadians who have "private" medical insurance (with premiums paid by the the govenment), and the number of private medical providers operating in Canada.

Who does Paul Desmarais see when he has a medical check up? More pertinently, where were his grandchildren born?

Rather than being caught out like Charest, Layton and Harper better have answers ready.

I sense something serious.

G&M Martin has no private plan

G & M Martin's Med Clinic in Montreal

English-speaking Canadians seem to define Canada by the health system. Is that really Canada? God help us all if Canada is only a government health scheme.

[maplesyrup]

Would someone please explain to me what the difference between the Liberal and Conservative medicare policies are because I do not think there are any?

The way I see it, the Cons & the Libs both want two-tier, and the NDP do not.

[willy]

Not much difference but the nuances can make a lot of difference to eventual outcomes.

The Tories still hold strong that provinces are responsibly for delivery and with that they need a level of flexibility. The role for the feds is to ensure the universality and accessibility is being complied with.

The Liberals want to direct small amounts of funds for political purposes, so as to appear to be managing healthcare. (e.g. the national shots program, national equipment funding program) They are not adequately funding the health transfer payments. They have increased these by $2 billion, put in context the national health bill is around $100 billion annually. This is only a 2% increase. The feds now fund 16% of the total cost and for this minority share holder they hold opinions of a majority share holder. They want to tie all new funding up in strings. This is not good for the money getting to direct patient care.

With adequate funding we could once again hold the provincial governments responsible for healthcare outcomes but the Liberal policies for the last 10 years make this difficult. This is not prudent fiscal management, but rather incompetent stewardship of the nations infrastructure.

Little differences can have a big impact on outcomes.

Side not maplesyrup, we have two tier now with med labs, MRIs and cosmetic surgeries, ect.. As for private provision most GPs in this country run private offices that bill the medical plans in each province. This debate needs to loose the rhetoric and focus on accessibility and universal payment.