It seems where the government balks (at 2-tier health), capitalism will find a(n end-around) way…
A couple quotes from the editorial page of today’s Winnipeg Free Press:
Timely Medical Alternatives finds cash customers for hospitals in Washington state and collects a fee for every patient it delivers. Canadians fed up with waiting for surgical procedures covered by their public insurance plan assure a steady source of clients for the service.
…
In Manitoba as in other provinces, the hospitals and the surgeons are not able to offer hip and knee replacements to all the patients who need them. As a result, some patients wait years and years in great pain, and more or less immobilized by arthritis. Once the pain gets bad enough, some are willing to pay the $20,000 or $25,000 US that the procedure may cost at a U.S. hospital. These people become clients of Timely Medical Alternatives and the other firms in the same line of work that have sprung up because of the innefficiency of Canada’s health services.
Heh, we have such putzes running this country. They would rather see millions of dollars flowing to U.S. hospitals across the border, than admit that we need a 2-tier system in this country. And it is only going to get worse people…