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Saturday, November 29, 2008
Legalize better health care in Ontario
Here's a nice new Facebook group put together by Paul McKeever, leader of the Freedom Party who writes for the Western Standard occasionally. The message of the group is a good one: legalize voluntary market exchanges in health care. Here's the description:
On October 1, 1969, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario gave
the government of Ontario a monopoly on health care insurance. It did
so by passing a law making it illegal to buy or sell private health
insurance for most medical services. Prior to the ban, everyone in
Ontario was free to buy private health insurance, and to buy medical
services. Most Ontarians who wanted private health insurance had it,
and they were quite happy with it.
The government health
insurance monopoly has made unions more politically powerful and
well-financed. It has also given privately-owned health care providers
guaranteed cash flow from the taxpayer-financed government trough.
However, the monopoly has not served Ontario’s patients and taxpayers
well at all. Delays are inhumanely long and completely unjustifiable.
Ontarians are forced to wait months, or even a year, just to obtain a
scan to determine whether or not they are ill and in need of treatment.
According to the Supreme Court of Canada, Canadians are suffering,
getting worse, and even dying in government health care waiting lines
as they wait for health care rations. To make matters worse, in 2004,
the Liberal government of Ontario brought in legislation that made it
illegal to spend our own money on health care services that are covered
by OHIP. In effect, fines are imposed on any individual or company that
tries to sell us better, faster health care. The unions are happy with
the legislation, but are we?
The Liberal, Progressive
Conservative and NDP parties say that it is morally wrong for us to get
faster or better treatment by spending our own earnings. They imply
that if the poor are going to suffer or die, it is morally right that
everyone suffer or die to the same extent.
We take the
opposite view. It is not right for the government to prolong our
suffering and subject us to delays that may put our lives at risk. It
is not right for the government to prevent us from spending our own
money on our own health. It is cruel and wrong!
We want to legalize faster, better health care:
1.
It should be perfectly legal for us to buy health care insurance from a
private insurer, if we want to do so. Private health insurance premiums
and deductibles should be controlled by competition among insurers who
are trying to win our business: competition will force insurers to give
us better health care at a lower price than their competitors.
2.
To satisfy the Canada Health Act, the government should continue to
offer non-profit public health insurance that is publicly-administered,
comprehensive in its coverage, available on uniform terms and
conditions, portable, and accessible. Just like now, we should have an
undeniable right to pay into and to be covered by public insurance.
Like now, public health insurance premiums can continue to be
controlled by controlling the prices of health services provided to
publicly-insured patients. The Canada Health Act does not require
government-owned/operated health insurance to be funded with taxes.
Taxes should no longer be directed into government-owned/operated
health insurance/services.
3. We should not be required to buy
private or public health insurance. We should be free to pay-as-we-go,
instead, if it is our preference.
4. The government should end
the current practice of dividing physicians and other medical
professionals into public and private systems. A physician should be
free to serve publicly-insured patients, privately-insured patients,
and pay-as-you-go patients.
5. It should be perfectly legal to
open a non-profit or for-profit health care facility (e.g., clinics
that specialize in diagnostic measures, such as MRI and CT scans;
nursing or paramedical facilities that can carry out simple procedures
at low cost). Those facilities can lighten the load in Ontario’s
hospital waiting rooms. Wait times will shorten if the bans on such
facilities are lifted.
Check out the nifty pic below the fold.
Posted by P.M. Jaworski on November 29, 2008 in Economic freedom | Permalink
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On October 1, 1969, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario gave the government of Ontario a monopoly on health care insurance. It did so by passing a law making it illegal to buy or sell private health insurance for most medical ... [Read More]
Tracked on 2008-11-30 3:51:43 AM
Comments
Ontario already has the best health care because they can loot from other areas.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2008-11-29 1:41:29 PM
" It should be perfectly legal to open a non-profit or for-profit health care facility (e.g., clinics that specialize in diagnostic measures, such as MRI and CT scans; nursing or paramedical facilities that can carry out simple procedures at low cost)."
It;s a pity that the First nations Brant County don't make use of their nationhood and invest in an MRI Facilty and offer that service, as opposed to illegal smokes, as an example..
I suspect they would get plenty of non native support very quickly.
And who's to stop them ?
McGuinty?
Ha!
Posted by: Joe Molnar | 2008-11-29 2:09:21 PM
Right on Joe!
Best thing they could do would be to get into the health-care business. Get the Montour family on to it right away.But please leave the smokes alone.Some of us count on it to stay within our budget. These folks have a track record of operating successful businesses-legally. Grand River Enterprises won the right to supply cigarettes to the German Armed Forces. The Rez is booming.
Posted by: Atric | 2008-11-29 3:04:52 PM
The reservations may be thriving but no one would come if they built a medical facility there. That would mean a) leaving Toronto for someplace outside the city; b) mingling with non-white peoples; and c) admitting that Ontario's system has a flaw. Sorry, not going to happen.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2008-11-29 8:23:14 PM
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