Quote:
Originally posted by Dennis Kalma
... if I have the money and want my hip replaced RIGHT NOW...why shouldn't I be allowed to use my own personal resources to get something which I want?
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But that's kinda (read: exactly) the point of "universal" healthcare, isn't it? Canadians have decided that they view healthcare as being so fundamental that everyone should have
equal access to it. As soon as you allow someone to buy "immediate service", then healthcare access is no longer
equal is it?
It's like the example of a 90 day waiting list for a non-urgent MRI, yet in Calgary you can pony up 3 or 4 grand tomorrow for a private MRI with no doctor referral or medical justification other than "you want one". Clearly, your decision to buy an MRI means that an MRI machine is quite likely being used "frivilously" and absolutely directs resources away from the areas of greatest need.
There are lots of places in the world where you can buy private healthcare. As with a few other topics - Canadians prefers to adopt a different posture on this one. Canadians want to live in a place where access to healthcare is as fundamental as any other right or freedom. You will never hear stories about Canadians going broke or dieing or being unable to thrive because of a lack of money to cover medically necessary services.