Calgary clinic charging membership fees runs contrary to Canada Health Act: Health Canada
https:// www.cbc.ca /news/canada/calgary/canada-health-act-jean-yves-duclos-alberta-marda-loop-1.6917091 Calgary clinic charging membership fees runs contrary to Canada Health Act: Health Canada
These moves to privatize healthcare need to be resisted in whatever ways they can be. Obviously that provincial government would never so it's fortunate Health Canada is able to step in.
I wonder if Alberta will try to use their Sovereignty Act to protect the clinic. That will make for some interesting times.
40There's been privatized healthcare in Alberta for quite a while already. There's also privatized insurance and somewhere around the 70-75% mark of health care services are ran by private firms although they abide by provincial and federal guidelines and regulations. While I don't support privatized healthcare my confidence in socialized healthcare has been shaken the last few years. In the last 5 years there have been 7 people in my little circle of people I know personally who have went to other countries for care because they couldn't afford to wait the 6 months to 2 year wait.
Most recently my father. Was in dire need of a hip replacement, a month maybe 2 from being in a wheelchair which would leave him unable to work as he runs a business in the oil patch in Saskatchewan. With an estimated 9 months left, we as a family decided he's going to Mexico. We got the money together and he had a new hip 6 days later. 6 days. Yes, it costed $30,000US(45,000US for private in canada and estimated 75,000 in the states) for the hip surgery and a 2 week all inclusive for recovery before flying back home. But it was done in less than a week. Canada is ranked last place out of all the socialized healthcare countries for wait times.
Friend took his kid to the Stollery here in Edmonton a couple months ago with a broken arm, 12 hours before a doctor looked at him. I just don't know anymore. While I don't agree with anything this new cunt of a premier says, private existed long before her.
Oh, an important edit. The 45000$US estimate for Canada was a private clinic in Montreal, so it's not just Alberta. Just wanted to clarify that since people generally love shitting on Alberta for... Anything.
3You say socialized healthcare can be done good or bad yet you seem to paint it with a bad brush like it's inherently a bad system.
It's really how you manage it and in Canada it's been poorly managed and lots would argue that's been done on purpose so they can use it as an excuse for privatization.
So don't lose faith in the system because no matter how bad it is, you'll be in far worse position if it was privatized and ended up like it is with our neighbors to our south because they'll eventually have their way if we let them.
13Do you think it's purposeful that your confidence in socialized healthcare is shaken? Both the AB and SK governments have been chronically under funding healthcare, seemingly with the goal of dismantling the system, or at least having public confidence in the system shaken enough to give them reason to implement a privatized system.
The solution is definitely complicated, but our governments seem to be completely avoiding even looking like they're seeking solutions at this point.
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Good, I'm glad Health Canada is stopping this bullshit in it's track.
25Close to 10 years ago I ran into a subscription clinic in Calgary. At the time they said the funds went to pay for paramedical services rather than physician services. I wonder if that’s technically permissible.
At any rate, I can’t afford private healthcare so I didn’t go with them.
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