Reply to comment

Fellow North Americans:

Please, do not be sucked in by the rhetorical verbiage that suggests publicly-funded health care is bad for your health because it looks like 'socialism'.

Publicly-funded health care in Canada is no more socialist than a medical insurance plan in the U.S.A. underwritten by any insurance company and provided as a partially paid benefit by your employer or a union that you may happen to belong to.

Employee or union plans are 'collective' plans, in that you are entitled to the plan's benefits only if you are part of the collective, abide by its conditions, and pay the premiums associated with it. A publicly-funded health care plan for all those Americans that are not covered by employer or union-subsidized plans, or those who cannot afford to purchase health care insurance out of their own personal incomes, is no different in that it provides coverage to a collective (group of people), albeit a larger one currently estimated to be around 46 million or so Americans.

Any references about Canada's publicly-funded system being dysfunctional, not successful or not taking good care of Canadians is pure fallacy perpetuated by those who gain from keeping the status quo in the U.S. I am a Canadian who has had nothing but the best of health care services for 61 years.

In Ontario, where I live, our Provincial government provides more than 80% of the capital funding for new hospital construction and major equipment like cat scan units. Hospitals are incorporated as individual non-profit business units. Operational direction is provided by each hospital corporation's Board of Governors, all chosen from and elected from within the community served by it. Operation of all medical services is governed by the Ontario Health Act. The same general relationships apply in all of Canada's provinces and territories.

Doctors, for the most part, are self-employed, either as members of a group practice (a business unit, usually incorporated like any other business) that runs its own clinic within owned or leased premises. Doctors, like dentists, opticians or other licensed medical professionals, are free to purchase and operate their own equipment, even a large can-scan machine if they wish.

All hospitals, and doctors in medical clinics, bill the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) for qualifying procedures. OHIP pays by invoice, for the procedures performed, according to a fee schedule that contains the fees paid for all qualifying procedures. This is no different in the U.S., where privately-operated hospitals and doctors send their invoices to the insurance companies for payment.

My family is covered by an employee-based group health benefits insurance plan, underwritten by a private insurer. The company pays 3/4 of the monthly premium and I pay the other quarter as a salary deduction. All dental procedures are covered up to 90% by the plan for all of my family members. I pay the invoices up front, the dental office sends in the claim over the internet, and the check arrives in the mail within 7 days, no questions asked.

Although visits to the optometrist are not covered under OHIP (in Ontario) so we pay for these out of our own pockets. However, OHIP does pay optometrist invoices for diabetics. I am most appreciative of this benefit since I was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

What happens if I need an ambulance in an emergency? Ambulance services are generally operated by private-sector firms who provide services under contract to local or regional health services coordination organizations, either a regional hospital, a district health unit (DHU) or, in some cases, a municipality. When I dial 911 in my community, a dispatch call goes out to my local municipality's volunteer Fire and Emergency Services unit, and they are usually the first to respond with emergency assistance within 5 minutes or less. At the same time, a dispatch call also goes out to our regional Emergency Medical Services (EMS) centre which also dispatches an ambulance to the scene. Both the local and regional organizations work together. I've needed an ambulance three times in my life and, each time, I've never received a bill for the trip to the hospital.

When I visit my local medical clinic for a doctor's appointment, or use any hospital services, I am always required to present my OHIP card to verify that I am covered under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). I assume everyone in the U.S. must do the same, by providing their respective Insurance Plan Membership card to verify coverage.

In effect, our Ontario Health Insurance Plan is no different than any health insurance plan provided by insurance companies. The only difference is that it is operated by the Province. Health services covered by OHIP are not free. Instead of collecting huge monthly premiums from every plan member as an insurance company does, the OHIP system gets its revenue from only a few sources; a portion comes out of the personal income tax we pay to the Province, a good portion comes from the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Commission's revenue (a provincially-owned crown corporation), some from federal transfer payments to the province, and some is provided by employers who contribute according to a pre-determined formula set by the Province.

Does any of this interfere with or take away my right to make my own choices in life? Absolutely not. I have the freedom to use the OHIP system as I automatically become a 'plan member' by virtue of the fact that I am a Canadian citizen and have lived and worked in the Province of Ontario for all of my life. If I want more coverage than OHIP provides, I am free to purchase additional health insurance from any number of insurance companies. Either way, I am also free to choose which doctor I see or which clinic or hospital I walk into anywhere in Ontario.

I can even choose to travel south to the U.S. and purchase medical services from a U.S. hospital or doctor with my Visa card, though I can't imagine why. A new $500 million hospital is almost completed in my area, to replace two aging facilities, and will have the best of new technologies, equipment and medical expertise in all departments. Surgeries can already be handled by remote control units by specialist surgeons in other large urban centres as well. It's just 20 minutes from where I live.

Either way, neither the Ontario or Canadian government have any influence over my decisions. If anyone tells you any different, don't believe it.

Yours Truly,
A Healthy, Free (Ontario) Canadian