In my opinion, our provincial government is trying to sneak in private health, using public money and many Albertans don’t realize the consequences that entail such a move.
First of all, private health care in America is in shambles. It’s costly, twice as much as our universal health care in Alberta.
It’s plagued by delays to patients unless the patients have adequate health care insurances or who have the money for immediate services; it’s plagued by medical scandals, and it’s plagued by high mortality rates, especially to those who are poor and to those who are non-white.
Bottom line: If private health care is costlier and less efficient, why do some of our politicians want to bring it in?
Answer: MONEY ! Private health care brings in a “ton of money” to private doctors, private hospitals and private clinics, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and for the lawyers who defend them in the courts (for malpractice, as one example).
How does our government sneak in private health care? By underfunding our public system and by claiming that private health care is the solution to our health care crisis (shortages of doctors, nurses, facilities, shortages of medicine, etc.).
Basically, the government uses the same arguments for supporting private schools, charter schools, private pension plans, provincial police forces and private corporations.
George Thatcher
Trochu, Alta.
