Dispatches from the sunburned wastelands

A recent bad experience with a "customer care" representative from the New Brunswick health care industry have set me thinking about the sad state of health care in this country. For reasons beyond our control, we were stuck without our international student health insurance for a couple of weeks last September, and unfortunately I had an appointment for a follow-up with my GP during that time period. I almost expired from shock when I received the bill for the 5-minute consultation - it was a staggering $158!!! After querying this amount ("it seems excessive for a 5-minute consultation", I told the health care admin person), I was snottily told that this is the standard rate charged for this sort of thing. No wonder the Medicare system is virtually bankrupt - if this is the amount the government has to pay for every consultation (even a 5-minute one). I know many Canadians treat Medicare as some sort of holy cow, always comparing the "superior" Canadian system with how bad they perceive the American system to be. Well, let me tell you, it seems to me the Canadian Medicare system is on life support, and fading fast. It is one of the most bureaucratic and money-hungry systems in the world, and any dealings with this mammoth piece of red tape is reminiscent of an old soviet institution. Money is poured in from all sides, there are 5-year and 10 year "wellness" plans, but just try to get an appointment to see a doctor, or try to book a diagnostic test..."Wait in line", is usually the response, and the wait can sometimes be for as long as 6 months (that happened to me, actually). It seems strange that Canadians are not questioning this mentality. After all, you are one of the top 10 richest countries in the world...Surely there are ways to fix this? Britain, for example, have reduced the waiting times for their public healthcare sytem to almost zero under the Blair administration, so it can be done.

Posted by HannesB at 5:16 AM Comments