I really wanted to do my column this week on the health care system, specifically to advocate a two-tier system. Essentially, what I mean is introduce private health care - corporate-owned hospitals and clinics.
It's done in England, and it's a constant political debate, which boils down to a battle between the classes. Is it morally right, the question asks, in a society which offers free health care, to then introduce the possibility of better health care - if you can afford it?
And obviously, that's a tough one.
Ask most anyone who's been to an emergency ward in Ontario recently (not via an ambulance) how long they waited to see a doctor, and it's usually upwards of two hours. This is most often because there's a shortage of staff - there's just not enough money in the system to employ the nurses, doctors and administrative staff any hospital needs to function.
More hospitals are being closed down across the province as services are amalgamated between towns. People who once had an ER down the street now face a 20 minute drive in what could be a dire situation.
So it's not hard to see, our health care system is in trouble - this isn't news.
There are only so many ways to inject cash into any business, and if it's a crown corporation, there are even less ways. One option is to start charging for health care across the board to bring in revenues. Obviously nobody wants to see this - it's our Holy Grail to forever hold over the U.S., and we're not gonna let go.
Another is to raise taxes with funds specifically directed to the system, and then funneled to staffing. However, political climate is never hospitable to any candidate advocating a tax hike. The other option is to privatize.
While it's not a dire problem, there's no doubt we lose doctors every year to the south. Some go for training and return to work, but there have to be some who are lured by the prospect of a more lucrative practice. So to open up the option here for doctors to work in the capitalist sector would give one less reason for relocation.
There would be additional job creation as well. A new clinic can't open with just two or three doctors, they'd need nurses, administration staff, management. Plus the construction of new buildings - hospitals take a bit to get up, and don't come cheap.
So there would be job creation, new opportunities for doctors, less wait-time at the public hospital as other patients migrate to the private system... and there would be one standard of health care for the rich, and one for the poor. I've always considered myself to be fairly communist with my politics, with very occasional leanings to the extreme right. So I don't think I could support a two-tier system, despite how much sense it makes.
Perhaps there's a happy medium of sorts. What about simple naming rights? Imagine 'Groves Memorial Hospital, brought to you by FunStation V Max (Platinum Edition)'. It's got a certain ring to it - to the tune of several million!