With reference to a recent letter to the editor, yes we need more doctors, but are we prepared to pay?
The demand for medical services has never been greater, and is outpacing our ability or willingness to pay. To make matters worse, technology in the health care industry is exploding with new medical procedures and miracle drugs designed to rebuild the human body and extend life well beyond what nature may have intended. Further, more than 80 per cent of our immigration applicants are now from areas of the world most affected by diabetes, a very costly disease to control.
We currently spend more than $6,500 per person for health-related services in the province. This is 20 to 25 per cent higher than the national average. If only one-third of the population pays income taxes, we are spending $19,500 per taxpayer. A person earning $100,000 would pay less than $8,000 provincial income tax per year. The shortfall has to be made up from corporate taxes and resource revenue. And it means less money for other services funded by the government, namely education, infrastructure and other safety-net programs.
Our current health coverage is not limited to illness or preventive medicine; it also covers accidents, self-inflicted injuries, and in some cases, acts of stupidity. Jump in the lions’ den, get mauled, act surprised and we pay to have you stitched up. It’s just like no-fault auto insurance where the province pays for everyone — and keeps on paying.
Yet, we not only expect but demand that the ‘government’ pay all our health-related costs. There is no deductible, or usage fees of any kind. Even the health-care premiums have been cancelled, most likely due to pressure on the politicians that desperately want to get re-elected.
We continue to smoke, drink alcohol to excess, overeat to the point we are obese, exercise less, and expect the government to pay because that is our right. Don’t forget the drugs. Just pop a pill and everything will be OK. Why be responsible for yourself when the government will pay?
Since the days of Tommy Douglas, who promised free medicare to get elected, our health care costs have skyrocketed. In his days, medicare paid for long overdue doctor’s visits and some minor surgery. You did not go to the doctor or emergency room simply because you scratched yourself, or had the flu or were not feeling good. You looked after yourself.
Yes, we need more doctors, but we also need to pay for the services before we bankrupt the country, and the province. We do not have a bottomless pit when it comes to tax revenue, but we have a bottomless pit when it comes to health care costs. We do not have the political will to make much-needed changes to the system to make it viable, and we do not have the personal will to pay for it. We would rather go on $5,000 annual vacations, buy that new car or spend thousands of dollars on Christmas presents to outdo the neighbours. You name it — we will throw money at it, but let the government pay for our health care.
We need to restore the health-care premiums, establish a $25 per-visit fee for doctors and emergency rooms, discontinue free services for self-inflicted health problems or accidents and introduce co-insurance where medicare covers 90 per cent of the cost with the patient paying a maximum of $1,000 per year. It is a start, but we need to do it now; otherwise we will pass the point of no return. We won’t need the Friends of Medicare, we will need a bankruptcy lawyer.
Or better yet, let’s borrow the Salvation Army kettles and place them in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms for donations.
Norm Harley, St. Albert
