There have been assertions private health care would increase waiting times and only benefit the rich. I can assure everyone, in my opinion, that this ludicrous claim is patently false. I base this on the experience of my wife who suffers from allergies. For years the process she followed was simple. She visited her allergist twice yearly, who gave her family doctor the resulting prescription at which time she contacted the lab directly, who then obtained the prescription from the family doctor. She paid the lab directly and instructed the lab to send the serum directly to her family doctor. A simple routine procedure at a personal cost of $261.00 for each prescription filled.
The more complicated process now demanded by Health Canada, requires her to visit the allergist annually, after which the allergist again sends the prescription to her family doctor. The doctor now instructs her “to request that the pharmacy obtain a faxed copy of the prescription from said doctor”? The pharmacy orders the allergy serum and she pays for it when delivered. The entire process is further complicated because the pharmacy is required to obtain authorization from its Head Office to carry out this transaction. It took three months to resolve this issue with a 24 per cent increase in the price of the serum ($324.00). This has resulted in making her more responsible for the process but she’s paying more for it. Why couldn’t she simply give the pharmacy a copy of the prescription directly? Obtaining prescriptions for all medications could and should be a far more simplified process.
We have two issues with this illogical procedure, the first is that allergies may change annually and sometimes seasonally, who is to say that an annual serum prescription will continue to be effective? Secondly, why has a simple procedure become more complicated?
Canada’s health care program is among the most costly and inefficient among the OECD countries. According to the Fraser Institute, the annual tax bill for so-called “free health care” for an average family is $14,474.00, while a single person earning $42,000 per year will pay $4,381.00 for his or her “free health care!" In addition, waiting time for many health services average 22.6 weeks. I have personally been waiting to see a specialist for almost two years!
Canada needs private health care clinics that would automatically shorten waiting times by half by allowing those who could afford it to use these services.
I challenge anyone to question this research based on my family’s experiences.
L. (Tex) Leugner
