A couple of weeks ago a serious car accident took place on Highway 401 in the Toronto area. A speeding van containing seven people lost control and flipped over. The driver was subsequently charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Four of the SUV’s occupants were not wearing seatbelts and suffered extremely serious injuries after being thrown from the vehicle. Three others, who were strapped in were also injured when the SUV flipped but their injuries were relatively minor.
The fact that the outcomes differed greatly for those who were wearing seatbelts and those who weren’t, thrust the issue of wearing seatbelts into the news. A lot of people simply don’t bother to strap themselves in when they get into an automobile. Dr. Louis Francescutti, a University of Alberta researcher told the Globe and Mail that seatbelt laws need stricter enforcement. Dr. Francescutti suggested that fines for not wearing seatbelts be raised to $1,000 or those who are injured in car accidents and who were not using their seatbelts, be forced to pay for their own hospital and medical costs.
Dr. Francescutti is not the first doctor to suggest that our universal healthcare system be used to punish people for illegal or even unwise behaviour. It has previously been suggested that those who smoke be required to either pay for their treatment or more drastically, not be treated at all. Not unsurprisingly, while those addicted to tobacco are prime candidates for paying for their own treatment, this point is never made about those who are addicted to drugs other than nicotine such as heroin or cocaine. For those who use illegal substances, the money just flows and flows.
Doctors like Francescutti are of course entitled to their opinion. And Canadians, especially those who are at least a little bit religious and can distinguish between God and someone with an MD after their name, are free to laugh off these suggestions. The danger of these statements is that it is only a matter of time before the politicians use this type of thinking and use the healthcare system to do what they really want to do; control more and more of the behaviour of Canadians – all for the greater good of course.
It is only a matter of time before governments begin to regulate people’s lives not by criminal sanctions but by denying them access to scarce health system resources because of their own behaviour. Those who smoke, drink too much or become involved in accidents while not wearing seatbelts will be denied medical coverage for their treatment. The only exception to this will be obesity, the condition du jour. Obese people will never ever be denied health care benefits because of their weight. The reality is that there are too many politicians who if not obese are certainly tending in that direction. And despite what many people think about politicians, they are not as stupid as they look on television, especially during Question Period.
Denying medical coverage to those who don’t use seatbelts or who engage in other anti-healthy behaviour is grossly unfair. It is most unfair to those physicians who want to be able to charge for their services and those law abiding Canadians who do not engage in unhealthy behaviour who want to be able to pay for medical services. If giving governments more and more control over people’s lives results in a two-tiered medical system, it won’t be considered as terrible as the dreaded two-tiered system that would result if Canadians are given a choice.
It is unlikely that denying medical coverage for injuries that are sustained in automobile collisions when not wearing seatbelts would save much money. Many people would be unable to pay their own hospital bills and the government would end up paying anyway. If we really want to punish people for not wearing seatbelts, we would just leave them on the side of the road to die. But of course that will never happen.
It is only a matter of time before the healthcare system is used more and more to control the behaviour of Canadians. After all, that’s the real purpose of socialized medicine. If we were really concerned simply about health, people would be allowed to opt out of the government system and take care of their own healthcare needs.
