Gauntlet Health Care Letter
Thisletter is in response to two columns published last week in the Gauntlet, the student paper for the University of Calgary. Thefirst is a right-wing view of Ralph Klein's proposed Health Care legislation and thesecond is a left-wing viewpoint.
Brian Low [fromthe right] bases much of his argument on the fact that there arealready many private providers in our health care system. Using pastmistakes as excuses to make further ones is not an argument. He alsoclaims that private systems ease waiting lists, despite a lack ofevidence for this.
Tyler Shandro [fromthe left] misses a crucial point: as more privatization enters our heath care system, doctors become more like salesmen selling their products (eye surgery, hip replacement, etc.) which necessarily means consumers (patients) must become more distrustful of the salesman (doctor); they must become knowledgeable about the services they are buying; they must compare one service to another; they must question the motives behind treatment recommendations. This is not a good thing. It happens now in drug prescriptions -- rare is the doctor who prescribes a generic drug -- but it shouldn't be happening in Medicare in general.