Placing the terms “private sector” and “health care” in the same sentence makes Canadians uneasy.
But that hasn’t stopped the Manitoba government from mandating that the private sector, by virtue of community fundraising, help fund the Flin Flon General Hospital’s new ER.
To put it mildly, residents aren’t enamored with this obligation. An online Reminder poll last month found that 95 per cent of 21 respondents opposed the idea.
The lion’s share of respondents simply weren’t comfortable with the reality that in Canada, “free” health care is sometimes anything but, even under NDP governments such as in Manitoba.
If you need an ambulance to take you to the ER, you pay. If you need daily prescription drugs that will save your life, you pay. If you need glasses or a wheelchair just to function, you pay.
Horror stories
Some Canadians pay so much, in fact, that their horror stories would fit right in with those told during the push for universal health care in the US.
As Brett J. Skinner of the American Enterprise Institute wrote in 2009: “Survey research commissioned by the Canadian government found that despite having a government-run health system, medical reasons (including uninsured expenses), were cited as the primary cause of bankruptcy by approximately 15 percent of bankrupt Canadian seniors (55 years of age and older).”
Very few politicians are talking about this problem, probably because they assume health-related bankruptcies only happen south of the border (or at least did before Obamacare).
So while the Manitoba government’s fundraising requirement for the Flin Flon ER offends our Canadian sensibilities, it’s not all that abnormal.
When it comes to health care in Canada, the size of your wallet still matters.
