To the editor,
Re: Two-tier health care isn’t right for Canada, Letters, Dec. 12.
Our health care delivery needs competition. Operating rooms remain seriously under-utilized because of ineffective provincial funding.
Moreover, active members of the RCMP, our military as well as WorkSafe B.C. cases and federal jail inmates go to the front of the medical services queue. No wonder the average orthopedic patient will have to wait years in agonizing pain before they have their operation. Our current family physician shortage can be attributed to under-funding and the government’s earlier erroneous decision to reduce medical university openings.
OECD statistics show Canada in second-last place in the efficiency of health-care delivery while the Netherlands with similar per-person health-care expenditures is near the top. The Netherlands has both private and public insurance systems, and no waiting lists. Our ill-informed provincial governments ignore common sense to the detriment of the consumer. Free market competition is always good for the consumer as reflected by the choice of high quality automobiles that are available. Anyone interested in a socialist East German Trabant or a Russian Lada?
Anthonie den Boef, Nanoose Bay
The views and opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of Black Press or the Nanaimo News Bulletin. If you have a different view, we encourage you to write to us or contribute to the discussion below.