Executive Vice President's Report

The Unmitigated Healthcare Disaster

Philip H. Gilbert, Executive Vice President

Lunacy of the highest magnitude is for the Congress to continue to look at Canada's system of universal healthcare as a model of anything besides what not to do in our country. The most liberal of politicians in Canada are calling their system of national healthcare a failure and even talking in some of the Provinces about a private sector solution. Once called a "one-tier" healthcare system it now resembles a no-tier system where everyone gets virtually no healthcare.

For example, I recently read in an article by Kerri Houston that the Minister for Health in Newfoundland closed some of their major health facilities between May and September in order to accommodate staff vacations. Can you guess what would happen in Jacksonville if Shands, Baptist, St. Vincent's or St. Luke's closed down between May and September for staff vacations?

Ontario is reports a critical shortage of radiation therapy machines and technicians. They were even unable to have a single new graduate qualified to be a radiation technologist last year. Not even one in a single year.

In Manitoba, it was reported that last summer there was a waiting list of 317 at the only radiation clinic. Also, in Ontario from April 1999 to July 2000, over 1,400 patients were sent to the United States for treatment costing the Ontario taxpayer $15,000 to $20,000 per patient. If this situation occurred in the United States, I guess our government would have to send patients to Mexico.

Doctors in Ontario are paid under "billing thresholds" based on the number of patients they see regardless of the time spent or how difficult the care. Once they reach a certain threshold, they must send overpayments back to the government. In the first seven months of 1999, 251 Ontario doctors went over their limits and had to send checks totaling $7.2 million back to the government. This resulted in the migration of Canadian geese being joined by migrating Ontario doctors.

How about in 1995 when Canada's federal government cut the Ontario healthcare budget by $45 billion. In response, Ontario limited the number of enrollees in medical schools as a way to cut costs. This combined with a burgeoning population, the retirement of older doctors and the mass migration of other doctors left Ontario with a perilous doctor shortage. Stupid you say! How about the national government and the province fighting over the cuts with the feds calling for the province to reform their system and the province stating they will reform when they get back the money. Hey, Ontario recently spent $3 million on an ad campaign designed to shame the feds into repealing the cuts and the feds have countered with a $2 million campaign beating up on the province. The taxpayers that are now out $5 million for the media fight continue to wait eons for just a few healthcare scraps that might fall their way.

Canadian politicians are finally acknowledging that their once sacred cow no longer gives milk. In Alberta for example, legislation was passed that now allows private clinics to compete for public healthcare money.

Let us hope that the Senator from Massachusetts and the Senator from New York take the time to find out the facts about the Canadian "System". One parting shot - thank you so much Senator Jeffords for making the new Kennedy/Clinton healthcare team a reality.

Jacksonville Medicine / October, 2001

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