by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
august 23, 2004
a new survey on health care that was prepared by Ipsos Reid was released last week. Commissioned by the Canadian Medical association for its annual meeting, the poll revealed that 41 percent of Canadians give the health care system a grade of C or F. That proportion increased from the previous year when only 33 percent of respondents gave the medical system a failing grade.
What the survey does not reveal is how much if any experience the respondents personally had with Canada’s health care system. are they patients, or relatives of patients who suffered from serious health problems? Or were they Canadians who had no personal experience with the system other than perhaps routine visits to their doctors? In other words, are their opinions based upon direct observations of the health care system or are they derived from merely listening to the steady stream of propaganda that emanates from Canadian politicians.
I have written before that whereas americans define themselves by their freedom and liberty, Canadians define themselves as a people by who pays for their rectal examinations. In an effort to distinguish this country from the Great Satan to the south, Canadians and their governments cannot stop talking about our socialized system of medical care. Canadians pride themselves in being one of only three countries in the world (North Korea and Cuba are the other two) that, except in certain defined circumstances, prohibits doctors from charging patients for medical services.
In light of the bombardment of negative statements that come from politicians and saturate the media, it is no wonder than a significant number of Canadians give our medical system a failing grade. The steady stream of negativity cannot help but have that effect. Health care was at the front and centre of last June’s federal election campaign. Prime Minister Paul Martin made hospital waiting times the centre piece of the campaign. and his scandal-ridden Liberal Party managed to squeak through with a minority after he successfully scared some voters into voting Liberal again, when he kept bringing home the point that a Conservative victory would bring in "american style health care".
Like most successful propaganda, a lot of it wasn’t true. The federal government decried private sector involvement in our health care system. They frowned upon public health care services being provided by the private sector even though it is perfectly legal and the government has no desire to change it. and although the federal government does provide broad standards that the provinces have to adhere to, health care is a provincial matter. Other than provide federal funds to the provinces to reduce waiting times, health care falls within the jurisdiction of the provinces.
We are never told this, but as the United Kingdom has discovered, reducing waiting times is not as simple as it appears. If a patient has been waiting four months for an operation on an ingrown toenail while another has been waiting two months to have a cancerous tumour removed, the person who has been waiting four months takes priority in system where the prime directive is to reduce waiting times.
It is difficult to know how much the governments say about the health care system is true, not true or simply pure politicking. Prior to next month’s meeting of the federal, provincial and territorial leaders, the latter two met to try and reach an agreement on dealing with waiting times. They couldn’t so they decided to agree on something else--a national pharmacare system to free up provincial funds so that those funds can be used to reduce waiting times. Pure posturing that neglects the fact that there is only one taxpayer and shuffling taxpayers’ money between different levels of government does not really help the health of Canadians.
There is more talk than action over our health care system. The preoccupation with it for political purposes keeps governments from dealing with other priorities. after all, as the prime minister likes to say, everything is a priority.
With all of the negative news about health care, it is surprising that only 41 percent of those who were polled awarded a failing grade.