As university students, we have relatively easy accessibility to the basic services in our community. If we get sick, it is a simply a matter of booking an appointment at the campus health centre, or walking into the emergency room at the hospital. However, the current debate surrounding the Canadian healthcare system could change this situation. With numerous advocates for health care privatization or a dual public-private system, we could be facing a significant shift in the healthcare field. In fact, many argue privatization has already arrived in Ontario with several private clinics operating in the GTA.
One such organization is the Medcan Clinic in downtown Toronto. With over twenty-five thousand square feet of space in the heart of downtown’s financial district, Medcan is one of the largest private clinics in the country. It focuses mainly on preventative medicine with services in travel medicine, genetics, optometry, dermatology, cardiovascular risk assessment, nutrition consulting, endoscopy, sports medicine, and fitness consultation. The catch is that almost all the services provided by Medcan are funded out of the client’s own pocket. Perhaps you’ve paid for travel vaccinations or have had a physiotherapy appointment billed to your private insurance; you may be thinking that many of these services aren’t covered by the healthcare system anyways. And you’re right. The fact that these services are not covered under the Canada Health Act creates a legal loophole that Medcan uses as a front to cover up the fact that they demand extra-billing on medically necessary services. The Canada Health Act stipulates that all “medically necessary” treatments and services must be publicly funded. To get around this, private clinics such as Medcan offer non-medically necessary treatments and use membership fees to generate their revenue. Those who can afford the $2900 annual fee are given exclusive access to not only these services that are non-medically necessary but to medically necessary services as well, which in essence violates the Canada Health Act. Those who go to the clinic for medically necessary services are only those who can afford the membership fee, and their care is being provided on the basis of the financial ability rather than their medical need. This is not only unfair, but seemingly illegal in Canada.
These clinics often tread a fine line, arguably crossing the barrier between public and private healthcare. For example, during the H1N1 flu epidemic, Medcan ordered and obtained 3000 vaccines. Instead of these vaccines being administered to those with the greatest need, they were given to individuals with memberships to Medcan while the news was scattered with reports of shortages to treat children and the elderly. Those with money used their wallets to jump the queue and obtain vaccinations in a healthcare system that is supposed to be need-based.
So what exactly does this mean to us as students? We cannot and should not take our accessibility to health services for granted. Until the recent H1N1 outbreak Medcan has quietly offered two-tiered health services, removed from the public eye and protected through loopholes in the legislation. Medcan represents an intrusion of private for-profit healthcare threatening the need-based and publicly funded system already in place. Today, clinics like Medcan offer primary services like physician care but if this activity remains unchecked it can only spearhead those looking for cash-grabs in our hospital and emergency care services. Preferred access will never and cannot be equal access. It is hard enough to have to sit through lengthy waits to find a family doctor but what about a heart surgeon? With patient prioritization being based on ability to pay, many of us will be left behind.
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