2009-11-23 19:51 | fche blog politics great moments in socialized medicine
We found out today that the nurse-practitioner who has been looking after our two little ones has moved onto bigger and better things than serve young kids in the area. She is to be a nurse-practitioner for people at large in the city. Considering the pathetic scarcity of family doctors / GPs in the province, this means that to maintain non-emergency care, we must follow her to her new office, and sign up the kids for her new clientele waiting list. We were told that it will help our application if we state on the form that we are healthy people.
In other words, the routine canadian socialized health system works great … as long as you’re healthy and don’t need it.
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Well, I don’t know if I’m proving or disproving your argument. When I recently got sick, I have no family doctor or nurse practitioner. I went to a walk in clinic, where they referred me to a specialist, who saw me the next day. Over the next month, the specialist monitored me closely, 3 lab tests a week. Even though I only met the specialist in person twice, for a combined 15min, he watched my case till the end. I think I got good service because I am at high risk for complications. If I was a ‘normal’ case, maybe I wouldn’t have got to see the specialist for several months. So, I don’t really see what the problem is for low risk people to receive less medical attention. I’d rather be ‘normal’ or ‘low risk’ and not see the doc at all. Li - 2009-11-24 14:24
The core offensiveness of the new situation here is that one apparently has to claim to be healthy in order to sign up with a physician for future routine work.
General emergency handling is, as far as I know, adequate. I’ve heard of horror cases, and I’ve experienced multi-hour waits for moderate emergencies, but that’s only anecdotal.
But the great wisdom™ of socialized medicine is that there is just one system – with one budget and total possession of the “market”. One can’t buy into a private routine system, where the service providers would be glad to have paying customers.
Well, actually one can, for those areas jettisoned by the provincial health care system due to cost cutting — eye exams, dentistry, some long-term therapies, drugs. And strangely, those services do not seem under-supplied with trained staff: you can get an eye exam or a tooth extraction schedule in days. This probably confounds someone with no understanding of capitalism. Frank - 2009-11-24 14:41
When a new family doc opened office in town, I submitted an application. It surprised me that I have to apply to be a patient! I too was told healthy people will get chosen first. Well, it’s been several months and I haven’t heard anything. Wonder if they chose the sick ones over me?
The irony is, health care systems provide very good employee benefits. Their benefit plan reimburse unlimited dental cleanings, so employees can do fancy laser sonic this and that to their teeth at a private dental clinic, says she with pearly white teeth who just signed up for a 4 week never-before-heard treatment because it’s fully covered.
In seriousness though, rather than ranting at the government, why don’t you rant at the selfish stranglehold OMA/CMA and their colleges put on doctor supply. Artificially limiting supply creates shortage, high cost and the problems you are experiencing. The doctors have the control to demand whatever they want. In the last 10 years there was a real shortage of pharmacists, where hourly rates went as high as $100/hr. The Pharmacists association and college, controlled by pharmacy owners have a vested interest in lowering labour cost, tripled enrollment at UofT pharmacy faculty, as well as opened a new pharmacy school in Waterloo. There are so many grads now, the wage has been as low as $35/hr in big cities. You tell me, why med school can’t triple their enrollment? And I’ll tell you it’s scaremongering BS the OMA/CMA is spreading. The OMA/CMA has total control of the government, they will never let what happened to the pharmacist profession happen to them. You are a free market capitalist, why don’t you start a revolution to free us from the medical establishment? Li - 2009-11-24 17:50