Across Canada, governments are spending more on health care than ever before. From British Columbia to Prince Edward Island, health care costs have ballooned to become the single largest cost facing provincial governments. Canadian Institute for Health Information It noted that Canada is already “one of the highest spending countries” in the world.
Despite record spending, systems across the country are in crisis. While more funding won’t solve the woes the system faces, health care reform would certainly help.
Collected from state governments, Second StreetCurrently, more than three million Canadians are waiting for surgery, a specialist appointment or a diagnostic scan.
it is, 6 million Canadians People who can’t find a family doctor.
All this has led to tragic consequences.
Since 2018-19, almost 60,000 Canadians are dying on waiting lists, unable to get the care they need. This figure includes a wide range of health services, from MRI scans and hip surgeries that could improve a patient’s quality of life, to procedures (such as heart surgery) that could potentially save a patient’s life. In any case, this total is probably much higher, as it is derived from incomplete data, and it is incomplete data because the government simply doesn’t bother to track it.
Additionally, we don’t hear the numbers of Canadians who face serious health problems because of delayed treatment. Cancers that are much more easily treatable if caught early go undetected, or even worse, progress before necessary testing occurs. Autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis can leave patients in excruciating pain and unable to live a normal life before the disease is identified and treated, sometimes for years. Even trying to get antibiotics to treat a sinus infection can mean waiting hours at a walk-in clinic or taking days or weeks to get an appointment with your family doctor.
The government also does not track the costs to the health care system of lack of access to preventive care. 2013 CBC article It’s estimated that the treatment could cost an extra $10,000 for patients who are already in poor health. Inflation Calculator This figure would rise to more than $13,000 in 2024 dollars. It’s safe to say that Canadians who end up on waiting lists or can’t find a family doctor are at higher risk of their health deteriorating before they can access care.
So not only is a lack of access to health care costing Canadians their lives, it’s also taking billions of dollars away from other parts of the system to treat patients with illnesses that would cost very little if caught early.
As the population ages, more people will have to rely on the health care system, yet we seem completely unprepared for the challenges we face today.
Again, more money alone is not the solution.
This is not to say that the health care budget should be cut, but rather that we should recognize that, as things stand, Canadian patients are not getting the care they need, when they need it.
Some provincial governments are beginning to consider needed reforms. For example, some provinces are extending prescribing powers to pharmacists to treat some minor illnesses. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario have all taken important steps to contract with private providers to perform surgeries for public health-care patients in order to reduce wait times for health problems like cataracts and knee replacements and free up hospital beds for more serious medical needs.
But these reforms alone are not enough.
Cities like Vancouver are home to numerous private healthcare facilities offering innovative and world-class medical care. Patients from across Canada often travel to British Columbia to pay for private treatment, but government policies mean Canadians living there cannot pay for the same services.
Oddly enough, Ontario court decision Despite a recent ruling that states must cover the cost of flying to a private clinic in Austin, Texas to have a vagina created behind the penis, Canadians waiting for cancer treatment or emergency care still can’t even access private clinics in Canada.
If we make these clinics available to Canadians, it will create new opportunities for patients to receive care when they need it, rather than after being on a waiting list for months or even years.If the question is how to get more Canadian patients off the waiting list and into the care they need, the answer is simple.
Harrison Fleming is the director of legislative and policy at SecondStreet.org, a Canadian think tank.
