Quote Originally Posted by Catty1 View Post
Pat, there is a movement afoot to make for-profit services available, and some of it is in place.

For example - my new doc wants me to have a sleep study. I can wait 8 months to a year for the detailed overnight one, which is paid for by the government insurance - or I can do a short one where I bring the test machine home for $183 and change. They were able to take me in two days from the time they called me - I had to make it later, to Monday.

But no, to have it ALL for-profit? A lot of people would suffer, and would even die here.

The only concern with a for-profit element here is that the better doctors and others would work for the profit system, and the public system would be inferior. That is NOT fair.

JMO
Thanks, Candace. This is the kind of thing I hear about from the anti-"socialized-medicine" crowd. Their slant is, "People in Canada have to wait forever to get something done, so they come here to get it done sooner."

I don't think any system can be all-good, or all-bad for that matter. The trick is how to work it all out best for the health of all concerned.

This topic really deserves its own thread, I think. Maybe I'll start one.