The first step...

[Catty1]

I didn't read the links - but just to point out that people on 'free' health care in Canada are subject to very long wait times.

There are now private and paid services for MRIs etc so that people who have the money can get service more quickly.

We are moving to the 'two tiered' system, it seems...can hardly wait til all the good practitioners move to the private sector as it grows, and the public system becomes a morass of crowds and substandard care.

I would hope the "doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective" would prevent docs from charging outlandish fees. In each province and territory in Canada, there are set fees for each process or procedure - kind of like the cost book for auto mechanics that says what amount of time a certain repair should take. Everything from a blood test to surgeries has a set fee to it.

Which is why the private area is becoming more appealing to docs, and why our public health care advocates are really screaming against it.

Price caps could be a good thing - let's see how it goes.

[IRescue452]

Its all a load of bull. What about those people with an unknown diagnosis? Is it going to be cost effective to draw blood and take tests, or send them home and say they're imagining? This bill is freaky. Its like the movie Eagle Eye with a computer calculating whether or not the doctor gets to treat you or send you home to die.