> From: Mark Dapoz <md@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Technically all doctors are "private", they're just paid by the health
> system.
That is not true for all doctors, and probably not true for even most
doctors in BC. Those who work for hospitals or clinics are provincial
employees, and get a regular salary. I have two friends "in the
system," a doctor and a surgical nurse, who have told me this.
> Private hospitals are forbidden under the current
> system so there's no way to bypass the queues.
That also seems not quite accurate. I do not know of private
hospitals in BC, but there are a very few private clinics here.
There was a big fuss in Vancouver recently, when a private clinic
started charging $30 to make an appointment -- versus come and wait
until someone sees you. There was a huge public outcry, and I believe
the clinic backed down when threatened with legal action by the
province.
> It's mostly the provincial governments sending patients to the US and
> picking up the bills.
This may be regional, but is unheard of where I live.
> Sometimes people go on their own and later
> apply to get the bills paid.
Absolutely not, in BC! When you leave the country, you are "on your
own," unless you purchase special health insurance for travel. If you
go outside Canada for a pre-existing condition (which you certainly
could not purchase traveler's insurance for), you are on your own. At
least that's what the brochure says in the insurance agency office
where I got my auto insurance.
Mark, your perceptions seem to be very different from mine. Where do
you live?
It could be that regional differences account for this. I know that
even within BC, there are differences in waiting times. I live in a
small community, and it takes a couple days to see a doctor. To me,
that seems like a reasonable time -- some scheduling is necessary;
you don't want them sitting around, waiting for someone to walk in.
Heck, I make people wait longer than that to get their picture taken!
But as I mentioned, some people in Vancouver nearly had to pay just
to make an appointment, because the private clinic said the
government per-visit payments weren't keeping up with their per-
Porsche payments... :-)
Another anecdote: my doctor friend is on Hornby Island. She came from
upstate New York. BC pays her about 30% more than she was getting in
NY (she's a provincial employee, not private-practice), paid all her
moving expenses, paid the difference in price between her old house
and her similar new one, and is doing all her immigration paperwork
and fees (as a "Provincial Nominee"). She works two weeks straight --
80 hours in the clinic, and on-call the rest of the time -- then gets
two weeks completely off. It seems immigrating doctors can write
their own ticket here. At least if they're willing to be on
provincial salary.
I'm not saying there are no problems, but from my perspective, it's
not nearly as bleak a picture as Mark paints. Or shoots. With an
Olympus camera. (Obligatory on-topic sop. :-)
::::A revolution is interesting insofar as it avoids like the plague
the plague it promised to heal. -- Daniel Berrigan
:::: Jan Steinman <http://www.EcoReality.org>
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